Prince Albert National Park - Biology

Biology

Prince Albert National Park represents the southern boreal forest region of Canada. It is a rolling, mostly forested landscape that takes in the drainage divide between the North Saskatchewan and Churchill Rivers.

The very southern part of the park is predominantly aspen forest with an understory of elderberry, honeysuckle, rose and other shrubs and openings and meadows of fescue grassland. The fescue grasslands are considered ecologically important because of their rarity; outside the park, most of the native fescue grasslands have been lost to the plough or to urban development. The aspen forest/meadow mosaic in the southwest corner of the park is particularly unique as it sustains a growing herd of more than 400 Plains Bison, the only free-ranging herd in its original range in Canada that has a full array of native predators, including wolves.

Most of the park is dominated by coniferous forests, with the cover of jack pine and white spruce becoming more prevalent the farther north one looks. Woodland caribou from a regional population that is declining due to loss of habitat to forest logging range sometimes into the park, but their core habitat lies outside the park to the north. White-tailed deer, elk and, locally, moose are the common ungulates. Wolves are fairly common.

The park is noted for its numerous lakes including three very large lakes - Waskesiu, Kingsmere and Crean. The water quality is high and fish populations robust, except for lake trout that were commercially fished to near-extinction in Crean Lake in the early 20th century and, in spite of protection, have yet to recover their former numbers. Northern pike, walleye, suckers and lake whitefish are among the most common larger fish. One of Canada's largest white pelican colonies nests in an area closed to public use on Lavallee Lake in the northwest corner of the park, and pelicans, loons, mergansers, ospreys and bald eagles are common in summer. Otters are seen regularly, year round. Winter is an especially good time to find otters as they spend considerable time around patches of open water on the Waskesiu Lake Narrows and the Kingsmere and Waskesiu Rivers.