Editing Canadian Prairies (section)

{{Use Canadian English|date=November 2022}}
{{redirect|The Prairies|other uses|Prairie (disambiguation)}}
{{Short description|Region of Western Canada}}
{{Infobox landform
| name = Canadian Prairies
| other_name = Prairies canadiennes ([[Canadian French|French]]) 
| type = [[Ecoregion]]
| photo = Sifton (Manitoba).jpg
| photo_caption = Farm on the prairies near [[Hartney|Hartney, Manitoba]]
| photo_width = 240
| location = [[Alberta]], [[Saskatchewan]], [[Manitoba]] in [[Canada]]
| highest_elevation = {{cvt|3747|m}}
| area = {{cvt|1,960,681|km2}}<ref name=area/>
| map_image = Prairie provinces in Canada.svg
| map_caption = Map of the Prairie Provinces
}}

The '''Canadian Prairies''' (usually referred to as simply '''the Prairies''' in Canada) is a region in [[Western Canada]]. It includes the Canadian portion of the [[Great Plains]] and the '''Prairie provinces''', namely [[Alberta]], [[Saskatchewan]], and [[Manitoba]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=McGinn |first1=Sean |title=Weather and Climate Patterns in Canada's Prairies |date=2010 |volume=1 |pages=105–119 |doi=10.3752/9780968932148 |url=http://www.biology.ualberta.ca/bsc/english/grasslandsbook/Chapter5_ACG.pdf |isbn=9780968932148 |editor1-last=Shorthouse |editor1-first=Joseph |editor2-last=Floate |editor2-first=Kevin }}</ref> These provinces are partially covered by [[grassland]]s, [[plain]]s, and [[Upland and lowland#Lowland|lowlands]], mostly in the southern regions. The northernmost reaches of the Canadian Prairies are less dense in population, marked by [[forest]]s and more variable [[topography]].<ref name=guide>{{cite web |last1=McCullough  |first1=J.J. |author-link=J.J. McCullough |title=The Prairies |url=http://www.thecanadaguide.com/places/the-prairies/ |website=The Canada Guide |access-date=8 April 2019}}</ref> If the region is defined to include areas only covered by [[prairie]] land, the corresponding region is known as the [[Interior Plains]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Prairies Ecozone |url=http://www.ecozones.ca/english/zone/Prairies/index.html |website=www.ecozones.ca}}</ref> Physical or ecological aspects of the Canadian Prairies extend to northeastern [[British Columbia]], but that area is not included in political use of the term.<ref name=atlas>{{cite web |title=Facts About the Canadian Prairie Provinces |url=https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/important-facts-associated-with-the-canadian-prairies-or-the-prairie-provinces-of-canada.html |website=WorldAtlas |last=Chepkemoi |first=Joyce |date=25 April 2017 |access-date=8 April 2019}}</ref>

The prairies in Canada are a [[biome]] of [[Temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands|temperate grassland]] and [[shrubland]] within the prairie [[ecoregion]] of Canada that consists of [[Canadian Aspen Forests and Parklands|northern mixed grasslands]] in Alberta, Saskatchewan, [[southern Manitoba]], as well as [[Northern Shortgrass Prairie|northern short grasslands]] in southeastern Alberta and southwestern Saskatchewan.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Quiring |first1=S. M |last2=Papakryiakou |first2=T. N. |title=An evaluation of agricultural drought indices for the Canadian prairies |journal=Agricultural and Forest Meteorology |date=2003 |volume=118 |issue=1–2 |pages=49–62|doi=10.1016/S0168-1923(03)00072-8 |bibcode=2003AgFM..118...49Q }}</ref> The [[Prairies Ecozone]] of Canada includes the [[Northern Tallgrass Prairie|northern tall grasslands]] in southern Manitoba and [[Aspen parkland]], which covers [[central Alberta]], central Saskatchewan, and southern Manitoba.<ref>{{cite web |title=Prairies Ecozone |url=http://www.ecozones.ca/english/zone/Prairies/index.html |website=Ecological Framework of Canada |publisher=Government of Canada |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160602234643/http://www.ecozones.ca/english/zone/Prairies/index.html |archive-date=2 June 2016}}</ref> The Prairie starts from north of [[Edmonton]] and it covers the three provinces in a southward-slanting line east to the Manitoba–[[Minnesota]] border.<ref name=wide>{{cite web |title=Wide open spaces, but for how long? |url=http://www.canadiangeographic.ca/wildlife-nature/?path=english/ecozones/prairie |website=The Royal Canadian Geographical Society |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160403174135/http://www.canadiangeographic.ca/wildlife-nature/?path=english%2Fecozones%2Fprairie |archive-date=3 April 2016 |date=16 October 2014 |url-status=live}}</ref> Alberta has the most land classified as prairie, while Manitoba has the least, as the [[taiga|boreal forest]] begins more southerly in Manitoba than in Alberta.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Quiring |first1=S. M |last2=Papakryiakou |first2=T. N. |title=An evaluation of agricultural drought indices for the Canadian prairies |journal=Agricultural and Forest Meteorology |date=2003 |volume=118 |issue=1–2 |pages=49–62|doi=10.1016/S0168-1923(03)00072-8 |bibcode=2003AgFM..118...49Q}}</ref>