Alberta

Alberta is one of Canada's provinces. It celebrated 100 years as a province in 2005 on September 1st. As part of the Centennial celebration, Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip visited the province from May 23 to May 25, 2005.

Fauna and flora

Fauna

The three climatic regions (alpine, forest, and prairie) of Alberta are home to many different species of animals. The south and central prairie was the land of the bison, its grasses providing a great pasture and breeding ground for millions of buffalo. They were virtually destroyed by early white settlers, partly for sport, partly for the warm buffalo fur, which was used to make coats, and partly as one means of destroying the culture of the native people. The white settlers felt that the best way to "civilize" the natives was to make sure that they thought and behaved like the white men, and by removing the buffalo, a critical element of native culture, thought they could do so. Since then, buffalo have made a strong comeback, and thrive on farms and in parks all over Alberta, and the native culture is also growing stronger again.

Related Topics:
Alpine - Forest - Prairie - Buffalo - Settler - Sport - Fur - Coat - Culture - Native people

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Alberta is home to many large carnivores. Among them are the grizzly and black bears, which are found in the mountains and wooded regions. Smaller carnivores of the dog and cat families include coyotes, wolves, fox, lynx, bobcat and mountain lion (cougar).

Related Topics:
Carnivore - Grizzly - Black bears - Dog - Cat - Coyote - Wolves - Fox - Lynx - Bobcat - Mountain lion

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Herbivorous, or plant-eating animals, are found throughout the province. Moose and deer (both mule and white-tail varieties) are found in the wooded regions, and pronghorn antelope can be found in the prairies of southern Alberta. Bighorn sheep and mountain goats live in the Rocky Mountains. Rabbits, porcupines, skunks, squirrels, and many species of rodents and reptiles live in every corner of the province. Alberta is fortunate in that it is home to only one variety of venomous snake, the prairie rattlesnake.

Related Topics:
Herbivorous - Moose - Deer - Varieties - Pronghorn antelope - Bighorn sheep - Mountain goat - Rabbit - Porcupine - Skunk - Squirrel - Rattlesnake

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Central and northern Alberta and the region farther north is the nesting-ground of the migratory birds. Vast numbers of ducks, geese, swans, and pelicans arrive in Alberta every spring and nest on or near one of the hundreds of small lakes that dot northern Alberta. Eagles, hawks, owls, and crows are plentiful, and a huge variety of smaller seed and insect-eating birds can be found. Alberta, like other temperate regions, is home to mosquitoes, flies, wasps, and bees. Rivers and lakes are well stocked with pike, walleye, white fish, rainbow, speckled, and brown trout, and even sturgeon. Turtles are found in some water bodies in the southern part of the province. Frogs and salamanders are a few of the amphibians that make their homes in Alberta.

Related Topics:
Duck - Geese - Swan - Pelican - Eagle - Hawk - Owl - Crow - Temperate - Mosquito - Flies - Wasp - Bee - Pike - Walleye - White fish - Trout - Sturgeon - Turtle - Frog - Salamander - Amphibian

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Flora

In central and northern Alberta the arrival of spring brings the prairie anemone, the avens, crocuses, and other early flowers. The advancing summer introduces many flowers of the sunflower family, until in August the plains are one blaze of yellow and purple. The southern part of Alberta is covered by a short grass, very nutritive, but dries up as summer lengthens, to be replaced by hardy perennials such as the buffalo bean, fleabane, and sage. Both yellow and purple clover fill the roadways and the ditches with their beauty and aromatic scents. The trees in the parkland region of the province grow in clumps and belts on the hillsides. These are largely deciduous, typically birch, poplar, and tamarack. Many species of willow and other shrubs grow in virtually any terrain. On the north side of the North Saskatchewan River evergreen forests prevail for hundreds of thousands of square kilometres. Aspen poplar, balsam poplar (or cottonwood), and paper birch are the primary large deciduous species. Conifers include Jack pine, Rocky Mountain pine, Lodgepole pine, both white and black spruce, and the needle-shedding tamarack.

Related Topics:
Avens - Crocus - Sunflower - Buffalo bean - Fleabane - Sage - Clover - Deciduous - Birch - Poplar - Tamarack - Willow - Aspen poplar - Balsam poplar - Cottonwood - Paper birch - Conifer - Jack pine - Lodgepole pine - Spruce

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