Quebec Natural Vegetation

The geological events of Quebec has been influenced by the last glaciation that ended over 10,000 years ago and covered most of Quebec in giant sheets of ice. In the last 3000 years, Quebec's main vegetation zones were established. The three main geological regions in Quebec is the igneous plains of the Canadian Shield, the Appalachians in southern Quebec and the St. Lawrence Lowlands that lie between them.

The Canadian Shield is quite flat and punctuated by higher relief of mountain ranges such as the Laurentian in southern Quebec. The topography of the Shield has been shaped by glaciers.

Tundra is a vegetation zone associated with arctic and alpine areas of the Canadian Shield. This vegetation endures the harshest of climates, the annual temperature in this zone is -8°C. In the summer, the natural inhabitants of this zone consist of about 500 plant species. The tundra covers about 24% of Quebec.

The Boreal forest overlaps with the deciduous forest that lies in the mixed forest zone. The transitional of this zone creates a diversity of habitats which results in high number of plant (1000) species. The inhabitants include beaver, black bear and moose. The mixed forest zone covers 11.5% of Quebec.