The plant life of Nova Scotia includes representatives of all main groups: algae, fungi, lichens, mosses, liverworts, and vascular plants (the seed-bearing plants, trees, and ferns and their allies). The vascular plants are the most conspicuous group, found mostly on land and providing the main energy and food supply to terrestrial ecosystems. The distribution of plant-community species in Nova Scotia is influenced by the province's geographic configuration, its climate, geology and the use of plants as a resource. Some species are better studied than others, and gaps in distribution often indicate a lack of study, rather than rarity.

The natural agents of change (i.e. wind, insects and disease, fire and natural succession) are discussed in this Topic. The following Topic, T10.2 Successional Trends in Vegetation, describes the successional sequence of vegetation affected by these agents and anthropogenic agents. T12.10 provides the historical context for anthropogenic change.

This Document Includes:

Historic Vegetation of Nova Scotia
Factors Causing Change
Wind
Insects and Diseases
Fire
Natural Succession

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Additional Keywords:
fungi, krummholz, Spruce Budworm, Balsam Fir, beech bark disease, Dutch Elm disease.

Associated Topics:

T4.1 Post-glacial Climatic Change
T4.2 Post-glacial Colonization by Plants
T6.2 Oceanic Environments
T10.2 Successional Trends in Vegetation
T10.3 Vegetation and the Environment
T10.4 Plant Communities in Nova Scotia
T10.12 Rare and Endangered Plants
T11.16 Land and Freshwater Invertebrates
T12.10 Plants and Resources

Associated Habitats:

H1 Offshore
H2 Coastal
H3 Freshwater
H4 Freshwater Wetlands
H5 Terrestrial Unforested
H6 Forests