Lecture 3 Flashcards
What is environment?
- Flora
- Fauna
- Landscape
- Climate
- Humans are part of this process
Why is the environment important?
- Backdrop for all human activity
- Resource base
- Plays a role in how cultures develop and change
- Not deterministic
What role does the environment play?
Provides the resource base that can be exploited
T/F not all environments are the same
true
Describe the environment history of Canada
recently deglaciated
Nothern hemisphere of NA and Europe were covered by glaciers
Canada was covered by two large glaciers
Cypress hills of Sask and Alberta were not glaciated
Glacial retreat began 19,000 BP
Melting accelerated at 11,700 BP
Formation of meltwater lakes
Areas deglaciated were not immeidately habitable
What were the two glaciers covering Canada
- Laurentide Ice Sheet – covered eastern Canada from Newfoundland to
eastern Alberta, including Nunavut and the Northwest Territories - Cordilleran Ice Sheet – covered western Alberta, British Columbia, and
southern Yukon
What are the six cultural areas identified by linguist Edward Sapir
Based on similarities in language structure and origins
Arctic
Subarctic
Northeast
Plains
Plateau
Northwest Coast
Describe the Arctic?Tundra? Permafrost?
- Northern coast of Yukon territory, western Northwest Territories,
Nunavut, northern Quebec - Tundra: Coldest biome on the planet, Low amount of annual precipitation (150-250 mm) essentially makes the region a cold desert
- Permafrost: Permanently frozen ground found several centimetres below the surface, top layer thaws to allow for vegetation growth
- Large portions of the region are covered by water
- Islands connected by sea ice during the winter months
- Plant resources are present within the region
- Diminishes the further north you move due to restrictive environmental
conditions - Sedges, mosses, and lichens in moister areas
- Few dwarf trees found in the south
- Some berries
What is the subarctic
- Largest region
- Yukon, western Northwest Territories, northeast interior British Columbia, northern Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, and Ontario, north-central and central Quebec, Newfoundland
- Most of the region is located within the Canadian Shield, Hudson
Bay, Yukon River, and Mackenzie River lowlands
Arctic animals
- Terrestrial and maritime animal species
- Major land mammals – caribou, polar bear, musk ox, moose, wolf,
fox, and wolverine - Bird species are seasonal, migrating south in the winter
- Auk, gull, tern, geese, ducks, ptarmigans, and loons
- Maritime species
- Trout, char, and grayling
- Whales – bowhead, beluga, and narwhal
- Harp seal, walrus,
Arctic plants
- Plant resources are present within the region
- Diminishes the further north you move due to restrictive environmental
conditions - Sedges, mosses, and lichens in moister areas
- Few dwarf trees found in the south
- Some berries
Subarctic ecology
- Most ecologically diverse cultural region
- Largely comprised of boreal forests containing aspen, poplar, pine,
spruce, and birch trees - Smaller shrub species that subsisted under the larger forest canopy
- Also has treeless tundra, rainforests in British Columbia, mountains,
grasslands, and woodlands - Berries (raspberry, blueberry, strawberry, pincherries), rhubarb,
wild mint, mushrooms, and wild roots
Subarctic animals
- Wide range of terrestrial mammals
- Moose, bison, caribou, black bear
- Beaver, hare, marmot, wolverine, wolf, coyote, fox, cougar
- Abundant fish species
- Whitefish, pike, trout, salmon, and grayling
- Bird species
- Geese, ducks, ptarmigan, grouse
- Eagles, hawks, crows, and ravens
What is Northeast
- Also called Eastern Woodlands
- Southern Ontario and Quebec/St. Lawrence river valley, Maritime
provinces - Dominated by major bodies of water
- Coast, Great Lakes, St. Lawrence river
Northeast ecology
- Contains coastal regions, forests, lowlands, mountains, and river
systems - Canadian Shield in the west
- Appalachian uplands in the east
- Deciduous and deciduous-coniferous forests
- Maple, birch, beech, ash
- Shrubs and herbaceous plants closer to ground level
- Berries (blueberries, cranberries, raspberries, cherries)
- Hazelnuts and butternuts
- Wild rice and native corn, squash
