In the heart of a rural university campus in Wolfville Nova Scotia, a new six-acre public garden showcases all nine of the Acadian region’s distinct ecosystems and more than 1,000 native species of plants. A peat bog, a coniferous forest, a meadow and other environments thrive here under carefully managed conditions. It is the only public garden in existence that features all of the native species of the Maritimes and Maine.

Biologists refer to the landscape that encompasses Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island as the Atlantic Maritime ecozone. With a temperate  climate strongly influenced by the Atlantic Ocean , the area receives about 1500 mm of rainfall every year along the coast. The huge tracts of old-growth forest that once blanketed the region are mostly gone now, replaced by farmland, urban areas and dense second and third-growth forests. Softwoods like red spruce, balsam fir, hemlock and pine make up more than 50 percent of the trees in Maritime forests; hardwoods like sugar maple, ash, white elm and yellow birch are also important.

Most of the animals found in Maritime forests represent typical Canadian forest wildlife:  black bear, lynx, bobcat and coyote are the only large predators.  Moose and whitetail deer are the only common large herbivores. Other common mammals include red fox, porcupine, snowshoe hare, martin, skunk mink and river otter. Four species of freshwater turtles and five species of snakes (none of which are venomous) also live in the region.

The Maritimes is a popular destination for birdwatchers from all over North America. The region’s geographic position and variety of coastal and inland habitats attracts more than 350 native species. With its position stuck out in the Atlantic, catching storms and hurricanes that sweep in birds, the Martimes is also one of the best places on the continent to find accidental and rare species as well.

Maritime Canada is also fortunate to have large populations of marine mammals and other marine wildlife.  Most of the Northern Hemisphere’s great whales are regular visitors to Maritime shores, including the extremely rare right whale and the popular humpback. Four species of seals and three species of sea turtles also call the Maritimes home for at least a part of the year.