Natural Regions:
TOTAL AREA:
49,071 km2
TOTAL Human Footprint:
2,660 km2
Region Overview
The Rocky Mountain Natural Region stretches for over 700 km along Alberta’s western border, covering approximately 49,000 km2 (7.4% of the province). This dramatic landscape features jagged mountain peaks, glaciers and snowfields, forest-covered mountain slopes, and an abundance of streams. The variation in terrain, climate, and latitude has created niches for a whole range of species. High altitude alpine meadows are blanketed by dwarf shrubs, grasses, and flowering plants, which support species like the Gray-crowned Rosy Finch, American Pipit, Hoary Marmot, and Grizzly Bear during the summer months. The rocky terrain is also hospitable for some species like the Mountain Goat and Pika. Moving down in elevation to the conifer-covered mountain slopes, Engelmann Spruce, Subalpine Fir, Lodgepole Pine, and White Spruce dominate in the canopy, while species like False Azalea, Bearberry, and Buffaloberry are commonly found in the understory. Bird diversity includes species found nowhere else in Alberta, such as the Varied Thrush, Clark’s Nutcracker, and Townsend’s Warbler. Human footprint status and trends are presented for the Rocky Mountain Natural Region.
Status
As of 2021, human footprint was low in the Rocky Mountain Natural Region, covering 6.5% of the landscape. More than half of this footprint was composed of forestry footprint, which occupied 3.4%. Agriculture footprint covered 1.0% of the region, and the remaining footprint categories each covered < 1.0% of the region.
| Human Footprint Type | Area (km2) | Area (%) |
|---|
Figure: Status of Human Footprint. Summary of percentage cover of total human footprint broken down by human footprint category in the Rocky Mountain Natural Region, circa 2021.
Trend
- Between 2000 and 2021, the total area of human footprint in the Rocky Mountain Natural Region increased by 2.3 percentage points, from 4.2% to 6.5%.
- This increase in human footprint was driven by the expansion of forestry footprint, which increased from 1.7% to 3.4%. This increase in forestry footprint is slightly lower when forest recovery is considered: forestry footprint increased by 1.1 percentage points (1.3% to 2.4%) when recovery of regenerating forest is included.
| Human Footprint Type | 2000 (km2) | 2021 (km2) | Change (km2) |
|---|
| Human Footprint Type | 2000 (%) | 2021 (%) | Change (%) |
|---|
Figure: Trend in Human Footprint. Trend in the percentage area of total human footprint, and by human footprint category in the Rocky Mountain Natural Region between 2000 and 2021. Click on the entries in the legend to turn human footprint categories on and off.
Status of Linear Human Footprint
- Density of linear features was generally low in the Rocky Mountain Natural Region, at 0.8 km/km2.
- Conventional seismic lines were the predominant linear feature, representing 62.5% of the total linear footprint, with a density of 0.5 km/km2, followed by roads (0.2 km/km2) and pipelines (0.05 km/km2).
- Transmission lines and railways had very low densities.
| Type | Density (km/km2) |
|---|
Figure: Status of Linear Human Footprint. Density (km/km2) of linear features in the Rocky Mountain Natural Region, circa 2021, overall and broken down by linear feature type. Hover over bar or legend to view density of specific linear feature type. Please note low impact seismic lines are not included in the summary of linear footprint density.