Coast Mountains
| The Coast and Mountains ecoprovince is found all along the length of the BC coast including the Queen Charlotte Islands and much of Vancouver Island. In this ecoprovince the Pacific Ocean sits on the shallow continental shelf and so it stays warm through much of the year (at least warm for an ocean). Coming into this warmth is the North Pacific Current, which brings water from deep down in the ocean right up along the coast, carrying fresh food and nutrients with it. The warmth combined with the fresh current makes an excellent habitat for marine life to grow. The ocean is also the reason why this ecoprovince gets so much rain- up; to 5 metres a year in some parts! In the water cycle moist air evaporates off the ocean and it heads inland. When this air hits the mountains it loses its water and rains onto the land below. All this rain creates the Temperate Coastal Rainforest full of animals and plants that rely on the moisture to survive. There is a lot of decomposing plant material in these forests so the soil is rich and full of thousands of kinds of insects, mushrooms and mosses. The major cities are Queen Charlotte City, Port Hardy, Prince Rupert and Kitimat. |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
AnimalsPlants
Envirogroups |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
