According to the Ecological Framework of Canada that was published in 1999, the Aspen Parkland ecoregion (#156) is the largest and northernmost section of Prairies Ecozone.

[6] According to the World Wide Fund for Nature the Canadian Aspen forests and parklands (NA0802) encompass eight ecoregions as used in the Ecological Framework of Canada.

[7] The aspen parkland biome runs in a thin band no wider than 500 km through the Prairie Provinces, although it gets broader to the west, especially in Alberta.

[8][9] The region has a humid continental climate accompanied by a subhumid low boreal transitional grassland ecoclimate.

The Peace River Country in northwestern Alberta and northeastern areas of the North Interior in British Columbia has the coolest climate, but still supports extensive farmland.

[citation needed] Four significantly different habitats are common in the aspen parklands: The fescue prairie, the woodlands, the ravines and the wetlands and lakes.

[10] The fescue prairie is a meadowland rich in vegetation variety which forms the cover for the development of the richer soils that underlie the parklands.

The close association with woodlands and wetlands makes this a choice location for many plants and a preferred range or home site for a wide diversity of wildlife.

The richer soil and increased precipitation favours the natural growth of fescue grass, but varying conditions such as moisture level and grazing pressures allow for the invasion of secondary plant species.

Other native species may include box elder, tamarack and willow, while the foothills area in the southeast of the region, such as Turtle Mountain or Spruce Woods Provincial Park, have woodland of white spruce and balsam fir but quaking aspen will dominate where the woodland has been cleared by fire.

This increase is partly due to the reduction of prairie fires which used to destroy the new saplings on the fringes of the aspen groves.

Aspen woodlands support an extensive understory consisting of mid-sized and small shrubs, some herbs and ground cover.

Spruce-dominated woodlands usually do not support a dense understory due to more acidic and nutrient-poor soils and a denser canopy, which reduces sunlight reaching the forest floor below.

They contain rushes, sedges and grasses and provide excellent opportunities to study the similarities and differences of these forms of vegetation.

Warm soil and air temperature at the base level result in rapid melting process in spring which favours the growth of shrubs.

Year round reduced sun exposure below the canopy restricts the forest undergrowth to shade tolerant species.

Some species of plants in the understory are Green Alder, low bush cranberry, prickly rose, bunchberry, twinflower, wild lily-of-the-valley, northern Comandra and wintergreens.

Animal and vegetation associations from each type combine to create considerable diversity of habitat which is typical of either spruce or aspen stands.

Black spruce, tamarack, willow and bog and sphagnum mosses are the major vegetation types found in these lowlands.

Dwarf birch and sedges cover large, wet areas with jack pine occurring on the sandy ridges.

The literature indicates that the height growth of understorey spruce should be maximized when light levels exceed 40% or when aspen basal area is less than 14 m2/ha.

Wildlife in the parklands include moose (Alces alces) , white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus), black bear (Ursus americanus), coyote (Canis latrans), northern pocket gophers (Thomomys talpoides), thirteen-lined ground squirrels, Richardson's ground squirrels, North American beaver (Castor canadensis), snowshoe hare (Lepus americanus), weasels, Canada lynx (Lynx canadensis) and gray wolf (canis lupus) .

White-tailed deer finds shelter in the aspen and graze on the grasslands; coyotes and foxes hunt the resident rodents.

Bison, however, can still be seen in protected areas such as Elk Island National Park east of Edmonton and in farms, where they are raised for meat.

Black-capped chickadee, hairy woodpeckers, ruffed grouse, magpies, and great horned owls can be observed in all seasons.

Shore birds include: avocet, piping plover, spotted sandpiper, willet, Wilson's snipe and killdeer.

Fire also swept the Rocky Mountains aspen as frequently as every ten years, creating large areas of parkland.

[15] Most of the aspen parkland, like the prairie biome, has been extensively altered by agriculture over the last 100 years since settlement first began in the late 19th century.

Once European settlement began, this region was desired by the peasant farmers of Eastern Europe and the smallholders of Quebec for its wooded land, so that they could build and heat their own homes.

As a result of these different styles of indigenous hunting agricultural settlement, the ethnic makeup of the Prairie Provinces is somewhat divided north and south.