100 Places To Remember: Charlevoix Region, Quebec, Canada
Geschreven op 10-5-2010 - Erik van Erne. Geplaatst in Natuur
A Forest Imbued with Spirits, Boreal forest covers more than a third of Canada, sweeping across the country in a band nearly 1,000 km wide from the Pacific to the Atlantic. Dating back 12 million years, the forest emerged in its most recent incarnation 20,000 years ago, after the last glacial era, when it also became home to the indigenous First Nations people of North America.
Dominated by conifers, and with a diverse mixture of wildlife, the character of the forest has been sustained for 5,000 years. It is a breeding ground for more than 200 bird species and home to mammals such as caribou, lynx, black bear, moose, coyote, timber wolf, wood bison, grizzly bear and beaver. Broadleaved trees like birch, aspen, rowan and poplar grow in the southern parts and along the rivers, including in Quebecs Charlevoix Region.
The First Nations people consider themselves an integral part of the forest, deeply linked to the wildlife and spirits that imbue their world.
The word boreal derives from Boreas, the Greek god of the cold north wind. Apart from Canada, this type of forest expands around the northern hemisphere in Europe and Asia, just south of the Arctic Circle, making up 25% of the worlds canopy forests.
During the next 80 years, the rise in temperature in North America is expected to exceed that for the rest of the world. Climate models show that the Boreal Forest might shrink by 50%, giving way to expanding grassland from the south.
Whooping crane, woodland caribou and wood bison are currently the most endangered species in the region but drastic reduction of the forest would affect all of the species that live in this vast ecosystem. It would also have a negative impact on the home of the First Nations people and contribute to the emission of even greater volumes of carbon into the atmosphere.
