Taiga Shield

---

The Taiga Shield is the second Northwest Territories (NWT) region to be revised and mapped. The region comprises the ancient bedrock heartland of northern Canada, and arcs west from Labrador to the eastern shores of Great Bear Lake. The Taiga Shield in the NWT lies directly east of the Taiga Plains and extends north to the edge of the tree line - a boundary that separates it from the tundra regions of the Southern Arctic.

Under the new ecosystem classification, the Taiga Shield is a level II ecoregion that like the Taiga Plains, also lies entirely within the broader Taiga Level I Ecoregion.  It is further divided into four level III ecoregions and nested within these are a total of 25 level IV ecoregions.

Click here for a high resolution version of the document, Ecological Regions of the Northwest Territories, Taiga Shield (2008) - (Warning 125 MB), or for a specific level III ecoregion within the Taiga Shield, please click on one of the individual sections below.

	1. The Taiga Shield High Subarctic (HS) Ecoregion arcs across the northern third of the Northwest Territories Taiga Shield. This Ecoregion contains 9 Level IV ecoregions.
	2. The Taiga Shield Low Subarctic (LS) Ecoregion extends from northwest to southeast in a broad band through the central portion of the Northwest Territories Taiga Shield and contains 10 Level IV ecoregions.
	3. The Taiga Shield High Boreal (HB) Ecoregion occupies the eastern third of the Northwest Territories Taiga Shield. This Ecoregion contains 5 Level IV ecoregions.
	4. The Taiga Shield Mid-Boreal (MB) Ecoregion occurs in the extreme southwest corner of the Northwest Territories Taiga Shield and has a relatively mild climate; it consists of only one Level IV ecoregion.