The Muskwa-Slave Lake forests is a taiga

Taiga

Taiga , also known as the boreal forest, is a biome characterized by coniferous forests.Taiga is the world's largest terrestrial biome. In North America it covers most of inland Canada and Alaska as well as parts of the extreme northern continental United States and is known as the Northwoods...

 ecoregion

Ecoregion

An ecoregion , sometimes called a bioregion, is an ecologically and geographically defined area that is smaller than an ecozone and larger than an ecosystem. Ecoregions cover relatively large areas of land or water, and contain characteristic, geographically distinct assemblages of natural...

 in Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

.

Setting

This ecoregion is located in northwestern Alberta

Alberta

Alberta is a province of Canada. It had an estimated population of 3.7 million in 2010 making it the most populous of Canada's three prairie provinces...

, northeastern British Columbia

British Columbia

British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...

 and a large portion of the southwestern Northwest Territories

Northwest Territories

The Northwest Territories is a federal territory of Canada.Located in northern Canada, the territory borders Canada's two other territories, Yukon to the west and Nunavut to the east, and three provinces: British Columbia to the southwest, and Alberta and Saskatchewan to the south...

 around the Mackenzie River

Mackenzie River

The Mackenzie River is the largest river system in Canada. It flows through a vast, isolated region of forest and tundra entirely within the country's Northwest Territories, although its many tributaries reach into four other Canadian provinces and territories...

 valley and the Great Slave Lake

Great Slave Lake

Great Slave Lake is the second-largest lake in the Northwest Territories of Canada , the deepest lake in North America at , and the ninth-largest lake in the world. It is long and wide. It covers an area of in the southern part of the territory. Its given volume ranges from to and up to ...

 for which the ecoregion is named. Specific areas include the boreal forest to the east of the MacKenzie (between Mackenzie

Mackenzie Mountains

The Mackenzie Mountains are a mountain range forming part of the Yukon-Northwest Territories boundary between the Liard and Peel rivers. The range is named in honour of Canada's second Prime Minister Alexander Mackenzie. Nahanni National Park Reserve is in the Mackenzie Mountains.The Mackenzie...

 and Franklin Mountains; the land along the Horn River

Horn River

The Horn River is a river in the Northwest Territories of Canada. It is a major tributary of the Mackenzie River.The river gives the name to the Horn River Formation, a shale deposit of the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin...

 west to the Mackenzie; the Liard River

Liard River

The Liard River flows through Yukon, British Columbia and the Northwest Territories, Canada. Rising in the Saint Cyr Range of the Pelly Mountains in southeastern Yukon, it flows southeast through British Columbia, marking the northern end of the Rocky Mountains and then curving northeast back...

 basin; and the Caribou Mountains

Caribou Mountains (Alberta)

The Caribou Mountains are a mountain range surrounding an elevated plateau in northern Alberta, Canada and which rise north of the lower Peace River, and are bounded to the north and east by the Wood Buffalo National Park....

 in north-central Alberta.

The landscape consists of wide, flat plains and lowlands broken by low mountains and plateaus, such as the Caribou Mountains. Almost half of the area is covered in wetland

Wetland

A wetland is an area of land whose soil is saturated with water either permanently or seasonally. Wetlands are categorised by their characteristic vegetation, which is adapted to these unique soil conditions....

s and bog

Bog

A bog, quagmire or mire is a wetland that accumulates acidic peat, a deposit of dead plant material—often mosses or, in Arctic climates, lichens....

s such as Zama Lake

Zama Lake

Zama Lake is a large lake in the Mackenzie County, in north-western Alberta, Canada.It is located approximately west of High Level, at the confluence of Zama River and Hay River. The lake covers and forms an intricate river, lakes and wetland system. The Hay-Zama Lakes complex is a Ramsar site...

 in Alberta. The ecoregion is in the zone of discontinuous permafrost and has a subarctic climate

Subarctic climate

The subarctic climate is a climate characterized by long, usually very cold winters, and short, cool to mild summers. It is found on large landmasses, away from the moderating effects of an ocean, generally at latitudes from 50° to 70°N poleward of the humid continental climates...

, with summer temperatures averaging around 12.5 °C (54.5 °F), and winter temperatures averaging from -18 °C to -24.5 °C. Annual average temperatures are between -2.0 °C and -6.5 °C. Precipitation is moderately low, averaging between 250 millimetres (9.8 in) and 500 millimetres (19.7 in).

Flora

Vegetation consists mainly of dense forests of trembling aspen (Populus tremuloides

Populus tremuloides

Populus tremuloides is a deciduous tree native to cooler areas of North America, commonly called quaking aspen, trembling aspen, American aspen, and Quakies,. The trees have tall trunks, up to 25 metres, with smooth pale bark, scarred with black. The glossy green leaves, dull beneath, become golden...

), white spruce (Picea glauca) and balsam fir (Abies balsamea), with smaller populations of balsam poplar (Populus balsamifera

Populus balsamifera

Populus balsamifera, commonly called balsam poplar, bamtree, eastern balsam poplar, hackmatack, tacamahac poplar, tacamahaca,...

), black spruce (Picea mariana) and birch

Birch

Birch is a tree or shrub of the genus Betula , in the family Betulaceae, closely related to the beech/oak family, Fagaceae. The Betula genus contains 30–60 known taxa...

.

Fauna

This ecoregion is rich in wildlife including large herds (numbering in the thousands) of Migratory Woodland Caribou

Migratory Woodland Caribou

The migratory woodland caribou , also known as the forest caribou or woodland caribou , is a subspecies of the caribou...

 (Rangifer tarandus caribou) and other large mammals such as moose

Moose

The moose or Eurasian elk is the largest extant species in the deer family. Moose are distinguished by the palmate antlers of the males; other members of the family have antlers with a dendritic configuration...

 (Alces alces), Wood Bison

Wood Bison

The Wood Bison, Bison bison athabascae, also called Mountain Bison, Wood Buffalo or Mountain Buffalo, is a distinct northern subspecies or ecotype of the American Bison...

 (Bison bison athabascae) (Wood Buffalo National Park

Wood Buffalo National Park

Wood Buffalo National Park, located in northeastern Alberta and southern Northwest Territories, is the largest national park in Canada at . The park was established in 1922 to protect the world's largest herd of free roaming Wood Bison, currently estimated at more than 5,000...

 is in this region), elk

Elk

The Elk is the large deer, also called Cervus canadensis or wapiti, of North America and eastern Asia.Elk may also refer to:Other antlered mammals:...

 (Cervus canadensis) and mule deer

Mule Deer

The mule deer is a deer indigenous to western North America. The Mule Deer gets its name from its large mule-like ears. There are believed to be several subspecies, including the black-tailed deer...

 (Odocoileus hemonius) along with smaller animals such as snowshoe hare

Snowshoe Hare

The Snowshoe Hare , also called the Varying Hare, or Snowshoe Rabbit, is a species of hare found in North America. It has the name "snowshoe" because of the large size of its hind feet and the marks its tail leaves. The animal's feet prevent it from sinking into the snow when it hops and walks...

 (Lepus americanus). The predators that feed on all this wildlife include Canada Lynx

Canada Lynx

The Canada lynx or Canadian lynx is a North American mammal of the cat family, Felidae. It is a close relative of the Eurasian Lynx . Some authorities regard both as conspecific. However, in some characteristics the Canada lynx is more like the bobcat than the Eurasian Lynx...

 (Lynx canadensis), grizzly bear

Grizzly Bear

The grizzly bear , also known as the silvertip bear, the grizzly, or the North American brown bear, is a subspecies of brown bear that generally lives in the uplands of western North America...

 (Ursos arctos horriblus), American black bear

American black bear

The American black bear is a medium-sized bear native to North America. It is the continent's smallest and most common bear species. Black bears are omnivores, with their diets varying greatly depending on season and location. They typically live in largely forested areas, but do leave forests in...

 (Ursus americanus) and gray wolf

Gray Wolf

The gray wolf , also known as the wolf, is the largest extant wild member of the Canidae family...

 (Canis lupus). Birds include the waterfowl

Waterfowl

Waterfowl are certain wildfowl of the order Anseriformes, especially members of the family Anatidae, which includes ducks, geese, and swans....

 of the many wetlands along with prairie birds such as grouse

Grouse

Grouse are a group of birds from the order Galliformes. They are sometimes considered a family Tetraonidae, though the American Ornithologists' Union and many others include grouse as a subfamily Tetraoninae in the family Phasianidae...

.

Threats and preservation

This ecoregion is well preserved, with an estimated 75% intact. Protected areas include western parts of Wood Buffalo National Park in Northern Alberta

Northern Alberta

Northern Alberta is a region located in the Canadian province of Alberta.Its primary industry is oil and gas, with large heavy oil reserves being exploited at the Athabasca Oil Sands and Wabasca Area in the east of the region...

 the south-central Northwest Territories, and Maxhamish Lake Provincial Park and Protected Area

Maxhamish Lake Provincial Park and Protected Area

Maxhamish Lake Provincial Park and Protected Area is a provincial park in British Columbia, Canada.-Conservation:The protected area completely surrounds Maxhamish Lake, and offers opportunities for fishing and wildlife sightings...

 in northeastern British Columbia. Logging is the greatest threat to the region's ecological integrity along with potential for mining, the effect of the Mackenzie Highway

Mackenzie Highway

The Mackenzie Highway is a Canadian highway in northern Alberta and the Northwest Territories. It begins as Alberta Highway 2 at Mile Zero in Grimshaw, Alberta...

and oil pipelines.