Ecological land classification–ecoregions

In the 1950s, Angus Hills developed the first comprehensive, hierarchical, ecological land classification system for describing ecosystems utilizing climate and geological landforms. In 2009 the Science and Information Branch of the MNRF revised Ontario’s ELC and published “The Ecosystems of Ontario, Part 1: Ecozones and Ecoregions”. As with Rowe’s, the source layer does not include all great lakes water, so the total area is less than the provincial total.

Total area by land class and ecoregion (hectares)

Land class Hudson Bay Lowlands Ontario Shield Mixedwood Plains Total
Water 1,668,965 8,729,663 351,171 10,749,799
Wetland 7,504,440 1,778,729 193,064 9,476,232
Field/Agriculture   491,107 4,903,819 5,394,926
Other 365,652 1,051,607 701,383 2,118,642
Treed Wetland 9,607,984 4,476,998 886,091 14,971,074
Forest 5,658,825 49,194,926 1,226,252 56,080,003
Total Area 24,805,866 65,723,030 8,261,780 98,790,676

Total area by land class and ecodistrict (hectares)

Ecodistrict Crown Parks and protected areas Other Total
0E 2,326,414 1,471,214 4,047 3,801,675
1E 5,793,800 872,400 31,416 6,697,615
2E 14,135,445 105,974 65,158 14,306,576
2W 15,069,585 1,024,468 203,566 16,297,619
3E 11,376,309 1,064,512 1,238,477 13,679,298
3S 5,204,606 1,372,952 46,089 6,623,647
3W 6,991,847 1,519,714 372,020 8,883,581
4E 3,139,211 670,272 264,668 4,074,150
4S 4,766,683 927,520 273,200 5,967,403
4W 1,255,657 514,687 257,797 2,028,141
5E 3,719,056 775,712 3,343,889 7,838,657
5S 99,177 20,832 210,526 330,535
6E 103,461 61,324 5,833,079 5,997,865
7E 76,201 12,502 2,175,212 2,263,915
Total Area 74,057,451 10,414,083 14,319,142 98,790,676

Map of ecoregions and ecozones

map of Ecological land classification - ecoregions including Hudson Bay Lowlands, Ontario Shield, and Mixedwood Plains.

Enlarge map of ecoregions and ecozones

Area by ecoregion

pie chart of area by ecoregion, including army green for Hudson Bay Lowlands, dark green for Ontario shield and grey for Mixedwood plains.