Southern Interior Mountains Ecoprovince

Southern Interior Mountains

The Southern Interior Mountains ecoprovince is in the southeast corner of the province. It is home to large mountain ranges, thick forests and rich wetlands. The region is the territory of several First Nations including the Ktunaxa, Kinbasket, Kalispell, Stoney, Secwepemc, Saulteaux, Cree, Sinixt, and Dakelhne.

Several large national parks cover parts of the Columbia Mountains and the Rockies, and these areas get huge snowfalls in the winter. In general, the winters are long and the summers are short.

Both coniferous and deciduous forests cover the mountain slopes and the valleys. Rivers and wetlands are found throughout the valleys in the area, and many of the ducks and other migratory birds in B.C. can be found in these waters.

The Flathead River Valley is one of the most biodiverse areas in the ecoprovince and in North America. It is rich in plant species and is an important habitat to animals like the grizzly bear.

The major cities are Cranbrook, Nelson, Revelstoke and Trail.

Species of the Southern Interior Mountains

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Gymnosperms (Conifers)

Angiosperms (Flowering Plants)

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Drosera (carnivorous plants)

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Alpine Larch

The alpine larch, also called the subalpine larch, stands 12-15 metres tall. These trees are found throughout the Cascade and Rocky mountains.

American Kestrel

The American kestrel is the smallest falcon in North America and weighs only 3 or 4 ounces.

Bald Eagle

Bald eagles are found all over B.C. and the U.S. The largest populations in North America live in B.C. and Alaska.

Beaver

The beaver possesses many gifts! They are adept at swimming, building, and tree chomping.

Bighorn Sheep

The bighorn sheep are important primary consumers in the food chain. They are vegetarians, eating grasses, bushes and leaves.

Black Bear

Black bears and Pacific salmon play an important part in maintaining our forest ecosystems.

Black Cottonwood

Black cottonwood gets its name from their fluffy white seeds, which look like cotton. These seeds can be seen floating through the air in late spring.

Black Huckleberry

Black Huckleberry is an important food in many First Nations communities. These berries can be eaten fresh, cooked, or dried into cakes.

Boreal Chickadee

Boreal chickadees are an important indicator species of boreal ecosystems!

Boreal Owl

Boreal owls are gifted with incredible hearing. The position of their ears allows them to locate their prey.

Bunchberry

Bunchberries flower in May and June, later in the Northern Mountains and frequently flower a second time in the fall.

Canada Goose

These geese are found across Canada and in parts of the US and Mexico at different times throughout the year.

Canada Jay

Canada jays are omnivores. They feed on the meat of small animals, fruit, insects, and seeds. They will frequent campsites with easy access to food.

Canada Lynx

These beings are gifted with excellent patience, hearing, and night vision to hunt prey.

Common Green Sphagnum Moss

Sphagnum moss is a small but mighty community member. Mosses are some of the first organisms to grow back after disturbances, such as fires and floods.

Common Juniper

Juniper berries stay on the tree for at least two years, and are eaten by American robins and black-capped chickadees.

Cougar

Cougars are a keystone species which means they are vital in maintaining ecosystem balance.

Coyote

Coyotes are tactical beings, who are vital for their roles as scavengers. Coyotes keep areas clean by mostly feeding on rodents, rabbits, berries and carrion.

Creamy Peavine

The creamy peavine reaches 0.3 to 1 metres in height and it is a climbing plant.

Devil's Club

Despite its name, the Devil’s Club holds many gifts of healing. Its flowers appear in late spring to mid-summer.

Dog Lichen

Lichens can often be overlooked, but they contribute to ecosystem health like any other species!

Douglas-fir

The Douglas-fir grows to 20-100 metres tall, but the tallest trees are only found on the B.C. coast.

Eared Grebe

Since these birds do not have good legs for walking on land and cannot fly long distances, they are gifted with an adept swimming ability.

Elk

Elk are herbivores. They eat shrubs and grasses such as bunchgrasses throughout the year.

Engelmann Spruce

These cold-tolerant trees can live up to 1000 years old! They start to produce cones after 20 years.

Fireweed

Fireweed grows up to three metres tall. It has clusters of pink four-petaled flowers and long, green leaves growing out of a single tall stem.

Grand Fir

Grand firs are gifted givers; these trees provide not only shelter, but also food and medicine.

Gray Wolf

Gray wolves can be found in Alaska, Canada, and a few small pockets in the northern US Rockies.

Great Blue Heron

These birds are expert fishers, graced with the gifts of patience and balance. It’s said that if you see one you’re more likely to have a good fishing day.

Grizzly Bear

Grizzly bears are omnivores, and they feed on salmon, carrion, trout, small rodents, insects, berries, leaves and roots.

Gull

Why do seagulls fly over the sea? Because if they flew over the bay they’d be bagels (bay-gulls)!

Hermit Thrush

Hermit thrushes are omnivores and help to balance the populations of insects, amphibians, lizards and plants.

Highbush Cranberry

Despite the name, highbush cranberry is not a cranberry at all! These are actually part of the honeysuckle family

Hoary Marmot

Hoary marmots live at high elevations, near the tree line on rocky slopes and alpine meadows. They are found throughout the mountainous areas of B.C.

Horsetail

Horsetails can be found almost everywhere around the world except Australia and New Zealand.

Kinnikinnick

Kinnikinnick is a small, trailing, evergreen shrub with dark green leaves. Its bright red berries look like miniature apples and have a large hard seed.

Knight's Plume Moss

In Knight’s plume, there is a brown capsule that grows out of the branches to release these spores.

Labrador tea

Found in low to mid elevations, they grow in peatlands and boggy areas. Labrador tea is able to grow in soil that is acidic and low in nutrients.

Leafy Aster

These plants provide nectar for native bees, moths, and most importantly, the migratory monarch butterfly.

LeConte's Sparrow

These sparrows have a mottled brown back with a white belly and crown stripe, an orange-yellow eye stripe and collar.

Little brown myotis

Little brown myotis live in a wide range of habitats, from northern and coastal forests to grasslands and pine forests.

Lodgepole Pine

Lodgepole pine has serotinous cones, which means they rely on fire to open. Cones open when heat is present, and the seeds are then spread on the open ground.

Marten

Martens are mainly threatened by habitat and food loss (especially because of logging), disease, and in the past, over-trapping for their fur.

Meadow Vole

Meadow voles are often called field mice, but they actually have shorter tails and ears than mice.

Moose

Moose are herbivores, and eat twigs, shrubs, bark and tender plants. As a grazing animal, moose can change the landscape to increase heterogenized vegetation.

Moss campion

Moss campion is found in slightly moist areas in mountains, on rocks or cliffs and in open cold areas.

Mountain chickadee

Mountain chickadees look very similar to other chickadees. Their body is about the size of a tennis ball with a white belly, greyish wings and have a black cap on their head.

Mountain Goat

Mountain goats are a critical species for alpine and high-altitude ecosystems. Mountain goats have the incredible ability to stand on an area the size of a Canadian quarter.

Mountain Heather

This beautiful alpine shrub is in full bloom from July through August and does not produce berries after the flowers have wilted.

Mule Deer

Mule deer are primary consumers. They eat grass, foliage, twigs, and shrubs.

Muskrat

Muskrats often get mistaken for beavers, and are specially adapted to chewing on plants underwater.

Mussels

Mussels are a type of clam that have a long shell. Mussels live in the same place their entire lives (they are “sedentary”) and fix themselves in place by their byssal threads.

Nootka Lupine

The Nootka lupine is notable for the beautiful pink and white flowers that pop up in the summers of British Columbia.

Northern alligator lizard

Northern Alligator Lizards are brown or grey with some dark spots and stripes on their belly.

Northern Flying Squirrel

Northern flying squirrels act as nature’s gardeners in the forest. These animals help plants grow by dispersing fungi spores that help new mushrooms, like truffles, to grow.

Northern hawk owl

Northern hawk owls are a little smaller than crows and have long, rounded tails and striped bellies.

Northern Leopard Frog

The northern leopard frog plays an important role in transferring nutrients between aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems.

Northern Long-Eared Myotis

Northern long-eared myotis are mouse-eared bats with long, rounded ears. They have a distinct dull-brown coloured spot on their shoulder.

Northern Saw-Whet Owl

This owl is an important predator that is necessary in forest ecosystems to eat insects, small mammals, amphibians and songbirds.

Oregon grape

Oregon grape is a tall evergreen plant with pairs of spiny leaves. It has bright yellow flowers and blue berries.

Osprey

Known as fish-hawks, these raptors can often be found gliding on their five-foot wingspan around coastal areas.

Pacific Salmon

The pacific salmon plays a vital role in maintaining our ecosystem balance in British Columbia.

Pacific treefrog

Pacific treefrogs are usually about 5 centimetres long full grown. They can be green, bronze, grey, and all colours in between.

Painted Turtle

Painted turtles are famous for their basking behaviour, sometimes piling on top of each other to warm up in the sun’s rays.

Paper Birch

Paper birch is a small to medium sized deciduous tree that grows 30 to 40 metres tall and has a trunk that grows up to 75 centimetres in diameter.

Pika

Small, brown, and fuzzy, pikas are a relative of the rabbit. They have short, round ears and short limbs.

Pine Siskin

Pine siskins are small birds that resemble a sparrow when perched and measure only 4.25 inches long.

Pinegrass

Pinegrass flowers in small green clumps, with seeds that are spread by wind, animals, birds, and animal’s fur. These seeds are eaten by birds!

Ponderosa Pine

This tree has a cone shaped top and grows 30 to 50 meters tall. Ponderosa pine has two or three needles in a bunch and yellow to red-brown bark.

Porcupine

Porcupines play a crucial role in the establishment of forests and the development of ecosystems. Porcupines eat mostly the inner bark of trees, but sometimes tender leaves and stems.

Prickly Pear Cactus

Prickly pears bloom in late spring and early summer. The flowers are large and yellow, and they turn into small, hard, pear-shaped fruits.

Prickly Rose

The prickly rose grows up to 1.5 metres tall and has stems covered in short, hard prickles. It has a large pink single flower with a strong sweet smell.

Queen's Cup

The Queen’s cup is an important species in B.C. It is a small plant, but its presence can help us learn a lot about the ecosystem.

Red Huckleberry

Red huckleberry is an important species to many beings in British Columbia. Red huckleberries are often found growing on rotting logs and stumps.

Red-Breasted Sapsucker

Sapsuckers drill holes in rows across trees. They get their name from the sap they drink, along with insects that are stuck in the sap.

Red-Osier Dogwood

Red-osier dogwood is a plant that protects and provides for its community.

Red-tailed hawk

Red-tailed hawks have many different colour patterns in both light and dark phases, but most adults have a red-coloured tail and a light belly with a dark band across it.

River Otter

River otters have a unique gift for communication! They communicate via speech, smell, touch and body language.

Round-Leaved Sundew

This is a small insect-eating plant that has sticky red tentacles for capturing insects such as mosquitoes, midges and gnats.

Saskatoon berry

The Saskatoon berry plant varies in size from being a shrub of one metre tall to a small tree of five metres tall. The berries are purple to nearly black in colour.

Scrub Birch

Also known as bog birch, swamp birch and dwarf birch. Scrub birch is a shrub with resin-filled wart-like glands on its twigs.

Skunk Cabbage

In many ways, skunk cabbage is an initial sign of spring as the heat created from the root system melts the surrounding snow.

Snow Bunting

Snow buntings are a kind of sparrow. They are an important part of the ecosystem and food chain.

Snowberry

The snowberry fruits ripen in the fall with two seeds. They spread out by their seeds and by underground stems.

Soopolallie

Soopolallie is an incredibly important plant for bears! The berries of this shrub appear from late July to mid-August. These berries are a main part of a bear’s diet.

Spotted Bat

Spotted bats have a great gift of communication. In fact, they use their communication skills to see through echolocation.

Spruce Grouse

Spruce grouse are unique in that they like to live in regenerating forests. They play an important part in the restoration of ecosystems after disturbance.

Thimbleberry

Thimbleberries contribute so much to the ecosystem throughout the year! Native bees love to eat the thimbleberry nectar hidden deep inside the flowers.

Three-Toed Woodpecker

True to their name, the woodpeckers peck at wood to get to the delicious insects that live under the bark of various trees.

Trembling Aspen

The trembling aspen is quick-growing but does not live for more than 50 years. These plants are gifted at fostering community.

Twinflower

Twinflower is a short trailing shrub, less than 10 centimetres tall, with long stems that run along the ground and send up shoots.

Western hemlock

The western hemlock always has droopy new growth at the top of the tree with soft foliage and needles. A full-grown tree can be 30 to 50 metres tall.

Western Jumping Mouse

Western jumping mice hibernate during the winter and spend most of their days in the summer building up fat reserves for this dormant period.

Western Red-Cedar

The western red cedar has long been known as the “Tree of Life” for its abundant gifts and contributions to ecosystem health.

Western Screech Owl

The western screech owl is a unique being that lives in low-elevation, woodland areas adjacent to streams.

White Tailed Deer

The deer will band together during the winter when food is scarce, as the snow may be high and feeding areas may be limited.

White-Tailed Ptarmigan

Ptarmigans change the colour of their feathers in winter and summer so they can blend in with their habitat and be protected from predators.

Whitebark Pine

Whitebark pine is one of the shorter pine trees in the mountains. Its round bushy treetop grows from many different twisted stems.

Wild Ginger

Wild ginger is an evergreen plant with thick roots and trailing stems with heart-shaped leaves on long stalks.

Wolverine

Wolverines are in the weasel family, but are shaped more like a small bear. Wolverines are carnivores, usually scavenging rather than hunting.

Wood Frog

Wood frogs eat mostly worms, insects, snails, and other small creatures, but they have also been known to eat small frogs.

Woodland caribou

Woodland caribou are found in the Yukon, Northwest Territories and in central/northern B.C. with a pocket in the Central Interior’s Chilcotin.

Woods Rose

Woods rose has flowers that are bright pink and look very different from roses you can buy in a flower shop.

Yarrow

Yarrow is a generous plant and a team player. The flowers, leaves, and entire plant have edible and medicinal properties.

Did You Know?

B.C. is the most biodiverse province in Canada but doesn't have a provincial law to protect endangered species or their habitats. Let’s change that.

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