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121-739: This article focuses on this biome in North America. Similar biomes also exist in Russia north of the steppes ( forest steppe ) and in northern Canada. According to the Ecological Framework of Canada , published in 1999, the Aspen Parkland ecoregion (#156) is the largest and northernmost section of Prairies Ecozone . This definition is the arc-shaped region (i.e. including the WWF 's central and foothills parkland but excluding

242-585: A communist-led revolution in Afghanistan, Soviet forces invaded the country, ultimately starting the Soviet–Afghan War . In May 1988, the Soviets started to withdraw from Afghanistan , due to international opposition, persistent anti-Soviet guerrilla warfare, and a lack of support by Soviet citizens. From 1985 onwards, the last Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev , who sought to enact liberal reforms in

363-653: A troika was designated to take charge. Eventually Joseph Stalin , the General Secretary of the Communist Party , managed to suppress all opposition factions and consolidate power in his hands to become the country's dictator by the 1930s. Leon Trotsky , the main proponent of world revolution , was exiled from the Soviet Union in 1929, and Stalin's idea of Socialism in One Country became

484-611: A Varangian from the Rus' people , named Rurik , was elected ruler of Novgorod in 862. In 882, his successor Oleg ventured south and conquered Kiev , which had been previously paying tribute to the Khazars . Rurik's son Igor and Igor's son Sviatoslav subsequently subdued all local East Slavic tribes to Kievan rule, destroyed the Khazar Khaganate, and launched several military expeditions to Byzantium and Persia . In

605-467: A bird which prefers a mixed wood habitat is the yellow-rumped warbler . The mixedwood forest wetlands consist mainly of bogs , fens and marshes. 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. For boreal aspen stands less than 40 years old, Comeau (2002) found that basal area provided

726-399: 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. There are numerous grasses and sedges in the fescue prairie. Gravelly and rocky terrain

847-865: A continuous decline in radial increment with increasing aspen basal area. When applied to Comeau's 2002 data, the Wright models suggest that spruce mortality will remain very low until aspen basal area exceeds 20 m/ha, above which mortality will increase rapidly. 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) . Bear, moose, foxes, coyotes, beaver, snowshoe hare and red squirrels are found most often in

968-510: A crisis. By 1991, economic and political turmoil began to boil over as the Baltic states chose to secede from the Soviet Union. On 17 March, a referendum was held, in which the vast majority of participating citizens voted in favour of changing the Soviet Union into a renewed federation . In June 1991, Boris Yeltsin became the first directly elected President in Russian history when he

1089-413: A denser canopy, which reduces sunlight reaching the forest floor below. However, in areas where a mixture of aspen and spruce occur, a fairly dense understory can still thrive. The mixed wood understory, as it is called, supports the greatest diversity of forest wildlife in the aspen parkland. Large shrubs such as red-osier dogwood , beaked willow , saskatoon , chokecherry and pincherry , along with

1210-664: A global superpower. After World War II, according to the Potsdam Conference , the Red Army occupied parts of Eastern and Central Europe, including East Germany and the eastern regions of Austria . Dependent communist governments were installed in the Eastern Bloc satellite states. After becoming the world's second nuclear power , the Soviet Union established the Warsaw Pact alliance, and entered into

1331-800: A large confederacy, which was subsequently taken over by the Cumans and the Kipchaks . The ancestors of Russians are among the Slavic tribes that separated from the Proto-Indo-Europeans, who appeared in the northeastern part of Europe c.  1500  years ago. The East Slavs gradually settled western Russia (approximately between modern Moscow and Saint-Petersburg ) in two waves: one moving from Kiev towards present-day Suzdal and Murom and another from Polotsk towards Novgorod and Rostov . Prior to Slavic migration, that territory

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1452-582: A large role in the Peace Country economy. Pulp mills were built in Chetwynd, Peace River and Grande Prairie beginning in the 1970s. The economy received another boost when oil and gas were found in the region. In 1952, gas was struck in the Fort St. John No. 1 well, and the first refinery was built in 1957 at Taylor . The massive Elmworth natural gas field in northwestern Alberta was discovered in

1573-615: A new aspen groves. White-tailed deer finds shelter in the aspen and graze on the grasslands; coyotes and foxes hunt the resident rodents. Historically, bison grazed on the grassland and helped to prevent the spread of aspen groves. However, bison are now mostly absent due to over hunting during settlement in the 19th century and extensive loss of habitat due to agriculture. 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. Boreal woodland caribou (Rangifer tarandus caribou) also used to roam

1694-618: A preferred habitat. Extensive cultivation has disturbed the habitats of some birds which nest and feed on the fescue grassland. However, the horned lark and meadowlark have managed to adapt to the new conditions. Song sparrow , vesper sparrow , and American goldfinch can often be seen in open areas. The woodlands meanwhile are abundant with a variety of bird species. Black-capped chickadee , hairy woodpeckers , ruffed grouse , magpies , and great horned owls can be observed in all seasons. Summer residents include: red-eyed vireo , least flycatcher and northern oriole. Birds which prefer

1815-633: A secret protocol within the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact with Nazi Germany . The Soviet Union later invaded Finland , and occupied and annexed the Baltic states , as well as parts of Romania . On 22 June 1941, Germany invaded the Soviet Union , opening the Eastern Front , the largest theater of World War II. Eventually, some 5 million Red Army troops were captured by the Nazis;

1936-517: A struggle for global dominance, known as the Cold War , with the rivalling United States and NATO . After Stalin's death in 1953 and a short period of collective rule , the new leader Nikita Khrushchev denounced Stalin and launched the policy of de-Stalinization , releasing many political prisoners from the Gulag labour camps. The general easement of repressive policies became known later as

2057-808: A total population of 1.689 million. By this definition, there are approximately 5,500,000 hectares (14,000,000 acres) of this ecoregion in the province of Alberta. 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: the Peace Lowland , Western Boreal , Boreal Transition , Interlake Plain , Aspen Parkland , and Southwest Manitoba Uplands (TEC 138, 143, 149, 155, 156, 161, 163, and 164). These ecoregions lie in both

2178-533: A useful general predictor of understorey light levels, but, on the basis of light measurements in one 80-year-old stand, cautioned that relationships between understorey light and basal area may not hold in older stands. 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 m/ha. Models developed by Wright and others in 1998 show radial growth of understorey white spruce increasing almost linearly with increasing light and

2299-651: Is a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council ; a member state of the G20 , SCO , BRICS , APEC , OSCE , and WTO ; and the leading member state of post-Soviet organisations such as CIS , CSTO , and EAEU/EEU . It possesses the largest stockpile of nuclear weapons and has the third-highest military expenditure . Russia is generally considered a great power and is a regional power . Internationally, Russia ranks very low in measurements of democracy , human rights and freedom of

2420-728: Is a good location for parry oat grass. Dry areas favour June, porcupine and spear grass. Wet areas are often covered with slender wheat grass and timber oat grass. Prairie rose and snowberry are common shrubs found in these grasslands. Woody plant encroachment is widespread in the parklands. The forested, or woodlands area is dominated by trembling aspen ( Populus tremuloides ) , balsam poplar ( Populus balsamifera ) , other poplars and spruces , although other species of trees including paper birch ( Betula papyrifera ) do occur. Pines, mostly jack pine and lodgepole pine will often grow in areas that have sandy soil conditions. Other native species may include box elder , tamarack and willow , while

2541-524: Is a hilly landscape with many small lakes and ponds. The cities of Edmonton and Saskatoon are the largest cities completely in this biome while Winnipeg is bordered by tallgrass prairie to the west and south and the aspen parkland to the northeast, and Calgary is bordered by prairie to the east and the Foothills Parkland to the west. There are three main sections of aspen parkland: Peace River, Central, and Foothills. The Central Parkland

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2662-464: Is covered by a decaying cover of organic matter. Numerous consumers and decomposers create humus materials. Burrowing animals mix the new fertile materials with the soil to form a rich rooting compound. Factors which influence the understory vegetation of spruce stands in the boreal forest association include: 1. Year round reduced sun exposure below the canopy restricts the forest undergrowth to shade tolerant species. 2. A large percentage of

2783-474: Is the largest section and is part of main band of aspen parkland extending across Alberta , Saskatchewan and Manitoba , bordered by prairie to the south and the boreal forest to the north. The Peace River Country is located along the Peace River region of the province, extending across the border into northeastern British Columbia , and is completely surrounded by boreal forest, cutting it off from

2904-510: Is the world's ninth-most populous country and Europe's most populous country . Russia is a highly urbanised country including 16 population centres with over a million inhabitants. Its capital and largest city is Moscow . Saint Petersburg is Russia's second-largest city and its cultural capital . The East Slavs emerged as a recognised group in Europe between the 3rd and 8th centuries CE. The first East Slavic state, Kievan Rus' , arose in

3025-628: The Oxford English Dictionary , the English name Russia first appeared in the 14th century, borrowed from Medieval Latin : Russia , used in the 11th century and frequently in 12th-century British sources, in turn derived from Russi , 'the Russians'; and the suffix -ia . In modern historiography, this state is usually denoted as Kievan Rus' after its capital city. Another Medieval Latin name for Rus'

3146-554: The Battle of Kursk in the summer of 1943. Another German failure was the Siege of Leningrad , in which the city was fully blockaded on land between 1941 and 1944 by German and Finnish forces, and suffered starvation and more than a million deaths, but never surrendered. Soviet forces steamrolled through Eastern and Central Europe in 1944–1945 and captured Berlin in May 1945. In August 1945,

3267-665: The Boreal Plains Ecozone and the Prairies Ecozone (Ecological Stratification Working Group 1995). The Boreal sections are Manitoba Lowlands , Aspen-Oak , Aspen Grove , Mixedwood , and Lower Foothills (15-17, 18a and 19a). 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 . This

3388-765: The Brusilov Offensive of the Imperial Russian Army almost completely destroyed the Austro-Hungarian Army . However, the already-existing public distrust of the regime was deepened by the rising costs of war, high casualties , and rumors of corruption and treason. All this formed the climate for the Russian Revolution of 1917, carried out in two major acts. In early 1917, Nicholas II was forced to abdicate ; he and his family were imprisoned and later executed during

3509-475: The Congress of Vienna , which defined the map of post-Napoleonic Europe. The officers who pursued Napoleon into Western Europe brought ideas of liberalism back to Russia, and attempted to curtail the tsar's powers during the abortive Decembrist revolt of 1825. At the end of the conservative reign of Nicholas I (1825–1855), a zenith period of Russia's power and influence in Europe, was disrupted by defeat in

3630-693: The Crimean War . Nicholas's successor Alexander II (1855–1881) enacted significant changes throughout the country, including the emancipation reform of 1861 . These reforms spurred industrialisation, and modernised the Imperial Russian Army, which liberated much of the Balkans from Ottoman rule in the aftermath of the 1877–1878 Russo-Turkish War . During most of the 19th and early 20th century, Russia and Britain colluded over Afghanistan and its neighbouring territories in Central and South Asia;

3751-614: The Great Northern War (1700–1721), securing Russia's access to the sea and sea trade. In 1703, on the Baltic Sea, Peter founded Saint Petersburg as Russia's new capital. Throughout his rule, sweeping reforms were made , which brought significant Western European cultural influences to Russia. He was succeeded by Catherine I (1725–1727), followed by Peter II (1727–1730), and Anna . The reign of Peter I's daughter Elizabeth in 1741–1762 saw Russia's participation in

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3872-701: The Khrushchev Thaw . At the same time, Cold War tensions reached its peak when the two rivals clashed over the deployment of the United States Jupiter missiles in Turkey and Soviet missiles in Cuba . In 1957, the Soviet Union launched the world's first artificial satellite , Sputnik 1 , thus starting the Space Age . Russian cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the first human to orbit

3993-542: The North Interior in British Columbia has the coolest climate, but still supports extensive farmland. Southwest Manitoba sees the warmest. Annual precipitation is usually between 375 to 700 millimetres (14.8 to 27.6 in). Chinook winds off the foothills also occur in winter, mainly affecting Alberta . Four significantly different habitats are common in the aspen parklands: The fescue prairie,

4114-707: The Oldowan period in the early Lower Paleolithic . About 2 million years ago, representatives of Homo erectus migrated to the Taman Peninsula in southern Russia. Flint tools, some 1.5 million years old, have been discovered in the North Caucasus . Radiocarbon dated specimens from Denisova Cave in the Altai Mountains estimate the oldest Denisovan specimen lived 195–122,700 years ago. Fossils of Denny , an archaic human hybrid that

4235-476: The Pacific Ocean . Subsequently, the region saw a surge in the fur trade , with forts built along the river from Fort Vermilion to Hudson's Hope. At the beginning of the 20th century, the farming potential of the area was advertised by the federal government, but a settlement was scarce because of difficult travel conditions through the muskeg . With the arrival of the railway in 1916, and following

4356-811: The Rocky Mountains in northeastern British Columbia , where a certain portion of the region is also referred to as the Peace River Block . The Peace River Country includes the incorporated communities of Fort St. John , Dawson Creek , Tumbler Ridge and Chetwynd in British Columbia. Major communities in the Alberta portion of the Peace Country include Grande Prairie , Peace River , High Level and Fairview . It has no fixed boundaries but covers some 260,000 to 390,000 km (100,000 to 150,000 square miles). In British Columbia,

4477-568: The Rurik dynasty that ruled Kievan Rus' collectively. Kiev's dominance waned, to the benefit of Vladimir-Suzdal in the north-east, the Novgorod Republic in the north, and Galicia-Volhynia in the south-west. By the 12th century, Kiev lost its pre-eminence and Kievan Rus' had fragmented into different principalities. Prince Andrey Bogolyubsky sacked Kiev in 1169 and made Vladimir his base, leading to political power being shifted to

4598-843: The Russian Civil War . The monarchy was replaced by a shaky coalition of political parties that declared itself the Provisional Government , and proclaimed the Russian Republic . On 19 January [ O.S. 6 January], 1918, the Russian Constituent Assembly declared Russia a democratic federal republic (thus ratifying the Provisional Government's decision). The next day the Constituent Assembly

4719-646: The Russian Empire , which remains the third-largest empire in history . However, with the Russian Revolution in 1917, Russia's monarchic rule was abolished and eventually replaced by the Russian SFSR —the world's first constitutionally socialist state . Following the Russian Civil War , the Russian SFSR established the Soviet Union with three other Soviet republics , within which it was

4840-632: The Seven Years' War (1756–1763). During the conflict, Russian troops overran East Prussia , reaching Berlin. However, upon Elizabeth's death, all these conquests were returned to the Kingdom of Prussia by pro-Prussian Peter III of Russia . Catherine II ("the Great"), who ruled in 1762–1796, presided over the Russian Age of Enlightenment . She extended Russian political control over

4961-852: The Siberian River Routes , and by the mid-17th century, there were Russian settlements in eastern Siberia, on the Chukchi Peninsula , along the Amur River , and on the coast of the Pacific Ocean. In 1648, Semyon Dezhnyov became the first European to navigate through the Bering Strait . Under Peter the Great , Russia was proclaimed an empire in 1721, and established itself as one of the European great powers. Ruling from 1682 to 1725, Peter defeated Sweden in

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5082-412: The Soviet Union , by joining the Russian SFSR into a single state with the Byelorussian , Transcaucasian , and Ukrainian republics. Eventually internal border changes and annexations during World War II created a union of 15 republics ; the largest in size and population being the Russian SFSR, which dominated the union politically, culturally, and economically. Following Lenin's death in 1924,

5203-494: The 10th to 11th centuries, Kievan Rus' became one of the largest and most prosperous states in Europe. The reigns of Vladimir the Great (980–1015) and his son Yaroslav the Wise (1019–1054) constitute the Golden Age of Kiev, which saw the acceptance of Orthodox Christianity from Byzantium , and the creation of the first East Slavic written legal code , the Russkaya Pravda . The age of feudalism and decentralisation had come, marked by constant in-fighting between members of

5324-448: The 16th century, Russia expanded east of the Ural Mountains . However, the Tsardom was weakened by the long and unsuccessful Livonian War against the coalition of the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania (later the united Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth ), the Kingdom of Sweden , and Denmark–Norway for access to the Baltic coast and sea trade. In 1572, an invading army of Crimean Tatars were thoroughly defeated in

5445-488: The 20th century saw some of the most significant Russian technological achievements , including the first human-made satellite and the first human expedition into outer space . In 1991, the Russian SFSR emerged from the dissolution of the Soviet Union as the Russian Federation. A new constitution was adopted, which established a federal semi-presidential system . Since the turn of the century, Russia's political system has been dominated by Vladimir Putin , under whom

5566-400: The 9th century, and in 988, it adopted Orthodox Christianity from the Byzantine Empire . Kievan Rus' ultimately disintegrated; the Grand Duchy of Moscow led the unification of Russian lands, leading to the proclamation of the Tsardom of Russia in 1547. By the early 18th century, Russia had vastly expanded through conquest, annexation, and the efforts of Russian explorers , developing into

5687-428: The Byzantine double-headed eagle his own, and eventually Russia's, coat-of-arms. Vasili III united all of Russia by annexing the last few independent Russian states in the early 16th century. In development of the Third Rome ideas, the grand duke Ivan IV ("the Terrible") was officially crowned the first tsar of Russia in 1547. The tsar promulgated a new code of laws ( Sudebnik of 1550 ), established

5808-659: The Central Parkland, it extends as far north as Fort Vermilion at 58°N 116°W. The Foothills parkland covers the Foothills of the Rocky Mountains as far south as Waterton Lakes National Park. The region has a humid continental climate accompanied by a subhumid low boreal transitional grassland ecoclimate. Summers are warm and short and winters can be long and cold. The mean annual temperatures range from 0.5 to 2.5 °C (32.9 to 36.5 °F), with summers ranging 13 to 16 °C (55 to 61 °F), and winters ranging −14.5 to −12.5 °C (5.9 to 9.5 °F). The Peace River Country in northwestern Alberta and northeastern areas of

5929-406: The Earth, aboard the Vostok 1 crewed spacecraft on 12 April 1961 . Following the ousting of Khrushchev in 1964, another period of collective rule ensued, until Leonid Brezhnev became the leader. The era of the 1970s and the early 1980s was later designated as the Era of Stagnation . The 1965 Kosygin reform aimed for partial decentralisation of the Soviet economy . In 1979, after

6050-519: The Parkland, especially the Peace region, but were hunted out of the area. Wildlife in the woodlands is varied and abundant. The varying hare, weasel, fox, coyote, and white-tailed deer make their homes in this region, while water dependent mammals who make the ravines and wetland areas of the ecoregion their home are beaver, muskrats , otters and mink. Birds of the aspen parkland include kingfishers , ruffed grouse , magpies and northern orioles . and in particular several species of warblers find this

6171-437: The Peace River region). Partly defined by climate, it had a mean annual temperature of approximately 1.5 °C circa 1999, and rainfall varied from 400 to 500 mm/annum. It includes the communities of Red Deer and Edmonton in Alberta; Lloydminster on the Alberta–Saskatchewan border; North Battleford , Saskatoon , Humboldt , and Yorkton in Saskatchewan; and Brandon, Manitoba as its major population centres and have

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6292-415: The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth and annexed most of its territories into Russia , making it the most populous country in Europe. In the south, after the successful Russo-Turkish Wars against the Ottoman Empire , Catherine advanced Russia's boundary to the Black Sea, by dissolving the Crimean Khanate , and annexing Crimea . As a result of victories over Qajar Iran through the Russo-Persian Wars , by

6413-692: The Provisional Government and gave full governing power to the soviets, leading to the creation of the world's first socialist state . The Russian Civil War broke out between the anti-communist White movement and the Bolsheviks with its Red Army . In the aftermath of signing the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk that concluded hostilities with the Central Powers of World War I ; Bolshevist Russia surrendered most of its western territories, which hosted 34% of its population, 54% of its industries, 32% of its agricultural land, and roughly 90% of its coal mines. The Allied powers launched an unsuccessful military intervention in support of anti-communist forces. In

6534-406: The Red Army invaded Manchuria and ousted the Japanese from Northeast Asia, contributing to the Allied victory over Japan. The 1941–1945 period of World War II is known in Russia as the Great Patriotic War . The Soviet Union, along with the United States, the United Kingdom and China were considered the Big Four of Allied powers in World War II, and later became the Four Policemen , which

6655-403: The Russian autocratic state. The destruction of Kievan Rus' saw the eventual rise of the Grand Duchy of Moscow , initially a part of Vladimir-Suzdal . While still under the domain of the Mongol - Tatars and with their connivance, Moscow began to assert its influence in the region in the early 14th century, gradually becoming the leading force in the "gathering of the Russian lands". When

6776-476: The Russian parliament culminated in a constitutional crisis which ended violently through military force. During the crisis, Yeltsin was backed by Western governments, and over 100 people were killed. In December, a referendum was held and approved, which introduced a new constitution, giving the president enormous powers. The 1990s were plagued by armed conflicts in the North Caucasus , both local ethnic skirmishes and separatist Islamist insurrections. From

6897-408: The Soviet Union led Russia into a deep and prolonged depression. During and after the disintegration of the Soviet Union, wide-ranging reforms including privatisation and market and trade liberalisation were undertaken, including radical changes along the lines of " shock therapy ". The privatisation largely shifted control of enterprises from state agencies to individuals with inside connections in

7018-523: The Soviet Union. The transitional disorganisation of the country's agriculture, combined with the harsh state policies and a drought, led to the Soviet famine of 1932–1933 ; which killed 5.7 to 8.7 million, 3.3 million of them in the Russian SFSR. The Soviet Union, ultimately, made the costly transformation from a largely agrarian economy to a major industrial powerhouse within a short span of time. The Soviet Union entered World War II on 17 September 1939 with its invasion of Poland , in accordance with

7139-406: The Soviet system, introduced the policies of glasnost (openness) and perestroika (restructuring) in an attempt to end the period of economic stagnation and to democratise the government . This, however, led to the rise of strong nationalist and separatist movements across the country. Prior to 1991, the Soviet economy was the world's second-largest, but during its final years, it went into

7260-493: The Ukrainian leader, Bohdan Khmelnytsky , offered to place Ukraine under the protection of the Russian tsar, Alexis ; whose acceptance of this offer led to another Russo-Polish War . Ultimately, Ukraine was split along the Dnieper , leaving the eastern part, ( Left-bank Ukraine and Kiev ) under Russian rule. In the east, the rapid Russian exploration and colonisation of vast Siberia continued, hunting for valuable furs and ivory. Russian explorers pushed eastward primarily along

7381-516: The Volga-Dnieper region of southern Russia and Ukraine as the urheimat of the Proto-Indo-Europeans . Early Indo-European migrations from the Pontic–Caspian steppe of Ukraine and Russia spread Yamnaya ancestry and Indo-European languages across large parts of Eurasia. Nomadic pastoralism developed in the Pontic–Caspian steppe beginning in the Chalcolithic . Remnants of these steppe civilizations were discovered in places such as Ipatovo , Sintashta , Arkaim , and Pazyryk , which bear

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7502-493: The area extends from Monkman Provincial Park and Tumbler Ridge in the south, to Hudson's Hope and the Williston Lake in the west, to Fort St. John and Charlie Lake in the north. The term is used also in a broader sense to mean the whole of the Northeastern Interior past the Rockies, including Fort Nelson and other parts of the Liard drainage , and before W.A.C. Bennett Dam included the upper Peace River through its canyon between Finlay Forks and Hudson's Hope. In Alberta,

7623-503: The base of trees and on the ground. Wetlands are very common in this biome, including lakes, shallow open water, marshes, and grassy wetlands. Glacial erosion has contributed to such features by creating depressions in which standing water can collect. In the larger depressions, permanent lakes or ponds of water remain. Many of the lakes have a saline character, thus most shore vegetation has a high tolerance of salty soils . These lakes are known as alkali lakes . Wet meadows are flooded in

7744-595: The canopy. This provides a protective snow cover in winter and in warm seasons precipitation percolates through the leaf cover to nourish plants which require surface soil moisture. The result of the above factors is an extensive understory of vegetation in the aspen forest. Common shrubs and herbs are: saskatoon , red-osier dogwood , raspberry , wild rose , currants and bracted honeysuckle , wild sarsaparilla , hairy lungwort , asters , and peavine . Twinflower , strawberries , bunchberries, horsetails and wintergreen form an attractive grown cover. The mineral soil

7865-423: The capital Moscow. In 1612, the Poles were forced to retreat by the Russian volunteer corps, led by merchant Kuzma Minin and prince Dmitry Pozharsky . The Romanov dynasty acceded to the throne in 1613 by the decision of the Zemsky Sobor, and the country started its gradual recovery from the crisis. Russia continued its territorial growth through the 17th century, which was the age of the Cossacks . In 1654,

7986-414: The control of the Golden Horde and consolidated the whole of northern Rus' under Moscow's dominion, and was the first Russian ruler to take the title "Grand Duke of all Rus'". After the fall of Constantinople in 1453, Moscow claimed succession to the legacy of the Eastern Roman Empire . Ivan III married Sophia Palaiologina , the niece of the last Byzantine emperor Constantine XI , and made

8107-476: The country has experienced democratic backsliding and become an authoritarian dictatorship . Russia has been militarily involved in a number of conflicts in former Soviet states and other countries , including its war with Georgia in 2008 and its war with Ukraine since 2014, which has involved the internationally unrecognised annexations of Ukrainian territory including Crimea in 2014 and four other regions in 2022 during an ongoing invasion . Russia

8228-782: The country was more often referred to by its inhabitants as Rus ' , the Russian land ( Russkaia zemlia ), or the Muscovite state ( Moskovskoe gosudarstvo ), among other variations. In 1721, Peter the Great changed the name of the state from Tsardom of Russia ( Russian : Русское царство , romanized :  Russkoye tsarstvo ) or Tsardom of Muscovy ( Russian : Московское царство , romanized :  Moskovskoye tsarstvo ) to Russian Empire ( Rossiiskaia imperiia ). There are several words in Russian which translate to "Russians" in English. The noun and adjective русский , russkiy refers to ethnic Russians . The adjective российский , rossiiskiy denotes Russian citizens regardless of ethnicity. The same applies to

8349-400: The crucial Battle of Molodi . The death of Ivan's sons marked the end of the ancient Rurik dynasty in 1598, and in combination with the disastrous famine of 1601–1603 , led to a civil war, the rule of pretenders, and foreign intervention during the Time of Troubles in the early 17th century. The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth , taking advantage, occupied parts of Russia, extending into

8470-405: The earliest known traces of horses in warfare . The genetic makeup of speakers of the Uralic language family in northern Europe was shaped by migration from Siberia that began at least 3,500 years ago. In the 3rd to 4th centuries CE, the Gothic kingdom of Oium existed in southern Russia, which was later overrun by Huns . Between the 3rd and 6th centuries CE, the Bosporan Kingdom , which

8591-417: The first Europeans to reach and colonise Alaska . In 1803–1806, the first Russian circumnavigation was made. In 1820, a Russian expedition discovered the continent of Antarctica . During the Napoleonic Wars , Russia joined alliances with various European powers, and fought against France. The French invasion of Russia at the height of Napoleon's power in 1812 reached Moscow, but eventually failed as

8712-564: The first Russian feudal representative body (the Zemsky Sobor ), revamped the military, curbed the influence of the clergy, and reorganised local government. During his long reign, Ivan nearly doubled the already large Russian territory by annexing the three Tatar khanates: Kazan and Astrakhan along the Volga , and the Khanate of Sibir in southwestern Siberia. Ultimately, by the end of

8833-586: The first half of the 19th century, Russia also conquered the Caucasus . Catherine's successor, her son Paul , was unstable and focused predominantly on domestic issues . Following his short reign, Catherine's strategy was continued with Alexander I's (1801–1825) wresting of Finland from the weakened Sweden in 1809, and of Bessarabia from the Ottomans in 1812. In North America, the Russians became

8954-408: 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. The proportion of forests to grasslands has increased somewhat over the prairie in areas not affected by agriculture in the last 100 years. This increase is partly due to

9075-485: The government, which led to the rise of Russian oligarchs . Many of the newly rich moved billions in cash and assets outside of the country in an enormous capital flight . The depression of the economy led to the collapse of social services—the birth rate plummeted while the death rate skyrocketed, and millions plunged into poverty; while extreme corruption, as well as criminal gangs and organised crime rose significantly. In late 1993, tensions between Yeltsin and

9196-587: The largest and principal constituent. At the expense of millions of lives , the Soviet Union underwent rapid industrialisation in the 1930s and later played a decisive role for the Allies in World War II by leading large-scale efforts on the Eastern Front . With the onset of the Cold War , it competed with the United States for ideological dominance and international influence . The Soviet era of

9317-509: The last 100 years since settlement first began in the late 19th century. While the climate is generally cooler than in the prairies , the climate is still mild and dry enough to support large-scale farming of crops such as canola (Brassica napsus), alfalfa (Medicago sativa) and wheat (Triticum aestivum), and livestock grazing. The soils in the aspen parkland biome are also quite fertile, especially around Edmonton and Saskatoon . Oil and natural gas exploration and drilling have also disturbed

9438-535: The latter deliberately starved to death or otherwise killed 3.3 million Soviet POWs , and a vast number of civilians, as the " Hunger Plan " sought to fulfil Generalplan Ost . Although the Wehrmacht had considerable early success, their attack was halted in the Battle of Moscow . Subsequently, the Germans were dealt major defeats first at the Battle of Stalingrad in the winter of 1942–1943, and then in

9559-686: The meantime, both the Bolsheviks and White movement carried out campaigns of deportations and executions against each other, known respectively as the Red Terror and White Terror . By the end of the violent civil war, Russia's economy and infrastructure were heavily damaged, and as many as 10 million perished during the war, mostly civilians. Millions became White émigrés , and the Russian famine of 1921–1922 claimed up to five million victims. On 30 December 1922, Lenin and his aides formed

9680-616: The mid-70s along with other major gas fields in British Columbia and Alberta. Both Fort St. John and Grande Prairie experienced rapid economic and population growth as a result. Peace Country contains Canada's northernmost lands suitable for agriculture . Crops raised include canola , oats, peas, and barley. Some cattle ranching and beekeeping is also done in the area. In 2006, the region accounted for 14.4% of Canada's total bison-producing herd. Other industries include oil and gas extraction and forestry . Lumber, oriented strand board , and pulp are produced in many forestry mills throughout

9801-429: The mixedwood stands compared to the aspen forests and spruce forests. Burrowing rodents such as Richardson's ground squirrels, thirteen-lined ground squirrels, and pocket gophers play a major role in the balance between the aspen groves and the grassland. These excavators make mounds of fresh soil which are ideal locations for the germination of poplar seeds. Once established, these trees spread by suckering, thus creating

9922-609: The more recently coined noun россиянин , rossiianyn , "Russian" in the sense of citizen of the Russian state. According to the Primary Chronicle , the word Rus' is derived from the Rus' people , who were a Swedish tribe, and where the three original members of the Rurikid dynasty came from. The Finnish word for Swedes, ruotsi , has the same origin. Later archeological studies mostly confirmed this theory. The first human settlement on Russia dates back to

10043-427: The moss carries the acid from the spruce needles into the mineral soil and leaches out soil nutrients – leaving a highly acidic, low nutrient soil base which is unsuitable for most boreal vegetation. As a result of the above factors the forest floor ranges from nearly devoid of vegetation to a dense carpet of feather moss. A sparse community of shade tolerant shrubs exists in this environment. Some species of plants in

10164-980: The natural habitat, especially in Alberta and northeastern British Columbia. As a result, less than 10% of the original habitat remains. The largest blocks of intact parkland can be found in Moose Mountain Provincial Park north of Carlyle, Saskatchewan and Bronson Forest in Saskatchewan, and Elk Island National Park and Canadian Forces Base Wainwright in Alberta. The rest of the parkland area does contain fragments of original habitat, some in protected areas such as Spruce Woods Provincial Park and Turtle Mountain Provincial Park in Manitoba, and Porcupine Provincial Forest in Saskatchewan. The First Nations of this region were not solely buffalo-hunting nomads , as were tribes to

10285-641: The north-east. Led by Prince Alexander Nevsky , Novgorodians repelled the invading Swedes in the Battle of the Neva in 1240, as well as the Germanic crusaders in the Battle on the Ice in 1242. Kievan Rus' finally fell to the Mongol invasion of 1237–1240, which resulted in the sacking of Kiev and other cities, as well as the death of a major part of the population. The invaders, later known as Tatars , formed

10406-620: The obstinate resistance in combination with the bitterly cold Russian winter led to a disastrous defeat of invaders, in which the pan-European Grande Armée faced utter destruction. Led by Mikhail Kutuzov and Michael Andreas Barclay de Tolly , the Imperial Russian Army ousted Napoleon and drove throughout Europe in the War of the Sixth Coalition , ultimately entering Paris. Alexander I controlled Russia's delegation at

10527-654: The official line. The continued internal struggle in the Bolshevik party culminated in the Great Purge . Under Stalin's leadership, the government launched a command economy , industrialisation of the largely rural country , and collectivisation of its agriculture . During this period of rapid economic and social change, millions of people were sent to penal labour camps , including many political convicts for their suspected or real opposition to Stalin's rule; and millions were deported and exiled to remote areas of

10648-493: The opening of land for homesteaders in 1910, farming and ranching took off in the fertile Peace Country. The settlement of the British Columbia portion of the agricultural area, known as the Peace River Block, originated as a railway grant which wound up for a time under Dominion jurisdiction and managed by offices in Alberta until returned to British Columbia following ongoing jurisdictional conflicts. Forestry plays

10769-579: The parkland belt, and in parkland cities such as Edmonton , Saskatoon , and Winnipeg as opposed to prairie cities like Calgary and Regina , which were settled more so by people of Blackfoot, Sioux, American, English, and German backgrounds. Russia Russia , or the Russian Federation , is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia . It is the largest country in the world by area , extending across eleven time zones and sharing land borders with fourteen countries . It

10890-470: The prairie south. The Métis people were formed around these posts from the intermarriage of white fur traders and native trappers. 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. This is as opposed to the primarily British and American settlers, who desired grasslands that were easier to break and plough. At

11011-408: The precipitation is trapped in the upper tree boughs of the spruce forest and is released through evaporation. The ground cover of feather moss quickly absorbs most of the moisture which does penetrate the canopy. These factors combine to cause drier conditions in the underlying mineral soils. 3. The fallen acidic spruce needles are not fully decomposed and combine with the moss base. Water held in

11132-407: The press ; the country also has high levels of perceived corruption . As of 2024, Russia has a high-income economy which ranks eleventh in the world by nominal GDP and fourth at purchasing power parity , relying on its vast mineral and energy resources ; the world's second-largest for oil production and natural gas production . Russia is home to 32 UNESCO World Heritage Sites . According to

11253-427: The reduction of prairie fires which used to destroy the new saplings on the fringes of the aspen groves. Also, it was a common practice for farmers to plant stands of trees as windbreaks. 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

11374-586: The region stretches from Grande Prairie and Valleyview in the south, to High Prairie and Lesser Slave Lake in the east, to Fort Vermilion , High Level and Rainbow Lake in the north. The first European to explore the area was Sir Alexander MacKenzie , who travelled down the Peace in 1789 and eventually reached the Mackenzie River and the Arctic Ocean . In 1793 he used the same route to reach

11495-671: The region. Peace Country is crossed by the southern leg of the Alaska Highway , the western extremity of Alberta Highway 43 and the southern portion of the Mackenzie Highway . Other important transportation routes include the northern part of Alberta Highway 2 , Alberta Highway 35 , British Columbia Highway 29 , British Columbia Highway 97 , and Alberta Highway 49 . Regional air transport hubs are Grande Prairie Airport and Peace River Airport in Alberta and Fort St. John Airport in British Columbia. Health care

11616-589: The rivalry between the two major European empires came to be known as the Great Game . The late 19th century saw the rise of various socialist movements in Russia. Alexander II was assassinated in 1881 by revolutionary terrorists. The reign of his son Alexander III (1881–1894) was less liberal but more peaceful. Under last Russian emperor, Nicholas II (1894–1917), the Revolution of 1905

11737-483: The rouble. High budget deficits coupled with increasing capital flight and inability to pay back debts, caused the 1998 Russian financial crisis , which resulted in a further GDP decline. Peace River Country The Peace River Country (or Peace Country ; French : Région de la Rivière-de-la-paix ) is an aspen parkland region centring on the Peace River in Canada . It extends from northwestern Alberta to

11858-876: The seat of the Metropolitan of the Russian Orthodox Church moved to Moscow in 1325, its influence increased. Moscow's last rival, the Novgorod Republic , prospered as the chief fur trade centre and the easternmost port of the Hanseatic League . Led by Prince Dmitry Donskoy of Moscow, the united army of Russian principalities inflicted a milestone defeat on the Mongol-Tatars in the Battle of Kulikovo in 1380. Moscow gradually absorbed its parent duchy and surrounding principalities, including formerly strong rivals such as Tver and Novgorod . Ivan III ("the Great") threw off

11979-546: The shaded north and east exposures retain more moisture and tend to have greater forest cover. Some forms of vegetation unique to the ravines include: poplar , spruce , birch , willow , and river alder . Wildflowers are an important component of the grassland association of the parkland. Look for common yarrow , cut-leaf anemone , rock cress , creeping white prairie aster , milk vetch , late yellow loco weed , goldenrod , wild prairie rose , prairie crocus , and tiger lily . There are three main factors which influence

12100-431: The smaller shrubs including prickly rose , snowberry , beaked hazelnut and high bush cranberry , form a dense entangled understory. Dense shrubbery is a typical feature in aspen-dominated forests. Common herbs found in the woodlands include: Lindley's aster (Aster ciliolatus) , northern bedstraw (Galium boreale) , pea vine , Western Canada violet (Viola canadensis) , dewberry and bunchberry . Mosses appear at

12221-560: The south. They also relied to a great extent on trapping (rabbits, etc.) fishing , and deer and moose hunting, as well as gathering parkland berries, such as the Saskatoon berry or the high bush cranberry . This area was one of the most important regions of the fur trade in North America . Both the Assiniboine and North Saskatchewan rivers were major fur trade routes, with a number of fur trade posts, much more so than rivers to

12342-400: The spring and dry by fall. They contain rushes , sedges and grasses and provide excellent opportunities to study the similarities and differences of these forms of vegetation. Rivers and streams erode valleys throughout the parkland ecoregion. Steep hills and ravines result in a unique topography. Southwest slopes with increased exposure to the sun are dry and often more grass covered, while

12463-400: The spruce and aspen forest types are mixed, the result can be quite different from the aspen or spruce stands. Animal and vegetation associations from each type combine to create considerable diversity of habitat which is typical of either spruce or aspen stands. The mixture of the transition soils provides an attractive environment with either pure spruce or pure aspen woodlands. An example of

12584-656: The state of the Golden Horde , which ruled over Russia for the next two centuries. Only the Novgorod Republic escaped foreign occupation after it agreed to pay tribute to the Mongols. Galicia-Volhynia would later be absorbed by Lithuania and Poland , while the Novgorod Republic continued to prosper in the north. In the northeast, the Byzantine-Slavic traditions of Kievan Rus' were adapted to form

12705-523: The time Chechen separatists declared independence in the early 1990s, an intermittent guerrilla war was fought between the rebel groups and Russian forces. Terrorist attacks against civilians were carried out by Chechen separatists, claiming the lives of thousands of Russian civilians. After the dissolution of the Soviet Union, Russia assumed responsibility for settling the latter's external debts. In 1992, most consumer price controls were eliminated, causing extreme inflation and significantly devaluing

12826-521: The time, people of similar backgrounds were allowed to concentrate into block settlements by the federal government: for example the Edna-Star colony in Alberta, the largest concentration of Ukrainians on the prairies. 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. Cree , Métis , French , and Ukrainian Canadians are concentrated in

12947-442: The understory are Green Alder , low bush cranberry , prickly rose, bunchberry, twinflower , wild lily-of-the-valley , northern Comandra and wintergreens. There are several factors which influence the mixedwood stands in the boreal forest. Where there are stands of aspen and spruce forests in close association with each other, a mixed wood forest occurs. Each group forms its own microassociation as described previously. When

13068-419: The understory vegetation in the aspen stands of the mixed wood forest. 1. Good sun exposure encourages a dense vegetation growth below the canopy. This is of particular importance in the early spring before the trees are in leaf. 2. Warm soil and air temperature at the base level result in rapid melting process in spring which favours the growth of shrubs. 3. A large percentage of precipitation passes through

13189-524: The west of what would become Canada and the United States. This was maintained by light to moderate fires with a frequency of 3 to 15 years. Fire also swept the Rocky Mountains aspen as frequently as every ten years, creating large areas of parkland. Settlement increased fire frequency in the late 19th century until fire suppression became popular. Most of the aspen parkland, like the prairie biome, has been extensively altered by agriculture over

13310-577: The wetland habitat include kingfishers and bank swallows . Finally there is an abundance of bird life around the wetland marshes. Many species of ducks make their summer homes in these waters and Canada geese nest in the more remote marshes. Blackbirds, marsh wrens and black terns nest in the reeds. Franklin's gulls nest in the marsh vegetation, but range over agricultural fields for grasshoppers, crickets, and mice. Shore birds include: avocet , piping plover , spotted sandpiper , willet , Wilson's snipe and killdeer . The invertebrate population in

13431-424: The woodland is enormous. Some of the most common invertebrates are roundworms, snails, segmented worms, centipedes, mites, spiders and mosquitoes. Paranthrene dollii and forest tent caterpillars are destructive to the tree cover . Insects of the wetlands in this region include caddis flies , mayflies and black flies . Before European colonization, there were large areas of western aspen and aspen parkland in

13552-442: The woodlands, the ravines and the wetlands and lakes. A rarer habitat type, tallgrass aspen parkland , occurs only in the extreme southeastern corner of the aspen parklands biome (southeastern Manitoba/northwestern Minnesota). 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

13673-515: Was Ruthenia . In Russian, the current name of the country, Россия ( Rossiya ), comes from the Byzantine Greek name for Rus', Ρωσία ( Rosía ). A new form of the name Rus ' , Росия ( Rosiya ), was borrowed from the Greek term and first attested in 1387. The name Rossiia appeared in Russian sources in the late 15th century, but until the end of the 17th century

13794-449: Was elected President of the Russian SFSR. In August 1991, a coup d'état attempt by members of Gorbachev's government, directed against Gorbachev and aimed at preserving the Soviet Union, instead led to the end of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. On 25 December 1991, following the dissolution of the Soviet Union , along with contemporary Russia, fourteen other post-Soviet states emerged. The economic and political collapse of

13915-631: Was a Hellenistic polity that succeeded the Greek colonies, was also overwhelmed by nomadic invasions led by warlike tribes such as the Huns and Eurasian Avars . The Khazars , who were of Turkic origin , ruled the steppes between the Caucasus in the south, to the east past the Volga river basin, and west as far as Kyiv on the Dnieper river until the 10th century. After them came the Pechenegs who created

14036-670: Was dissolved by the All-Russian Central Executive Committee . An alternative socialist establishment co-existed, the Petrograd Soviet , wielding power through the democratically elected councils of workers and peasants, called soviets . The rule of the new authorities only aggravated the crisis in the country instead of resolving it, and eventually, the October Revolution , led by Bolshevik leader Vladimir Lenin , overthrew

14157-515: Was found at Kostyonki–Borshchyovo , and at Sungir , dating back to 34,600 years ago—both in western Russia . Humans reached Arctic Russia at least 40,000 years ago, in Mamontovaya Kurya . Ancient North Eurasian populations from Siberia genetically similar to Mal'ta–Buret' culture and Afontova Gora were an important genetic contributor to Ancient Native Americans and Eastern Hunter-Gatherers . The Kurgan hypothesis places

14278-581: Was half Neanderthal and half Denisovan, and lived some 90,000 years ago, was also found within the latter cave. Russia was home to some of the last surviving Neanderthals, from about 45,000 years ago, found in Mezmaiskaya cave . The first trace of an early modern human in Russia dates back to 45,000 years, in Western Siberia . The discovery of high concentration cultural remains of anatomically modern humans , from at least 40,000 years ago,

14399-584: Was populated by Finno-Ugrian peoples. From the 7th century onwards, the incoming East Slavs slowly assimilated the native Finno-Ugrians. The establishment of the first East Slavic states in the 9th century coincided with the arrival of Varangians , the Vikings who ventured along the waterways extending from the eastern Baltic to the Black and Caspian Seas. According to the Primary Chronicle ,

14520-539: Was the foundation of the United Nations Security Council . During the war, Soviet civilian and military death were about 26–27 million , accounting for about half of all World War II casualties . The Soviet economy and infrastructure suffered massive devastation, which caused the Soviet famine of 1946–1947 . However, at the expense of a large sacrifice, the Soviet Union emerged as

14641-695: Was triggered by the humiliating failure of the Russo-Japanese War . The uprising was put down, but the government was forced to concede major reforms ( Russian Constitution of 1906 ), including granting freedoms of speech and assembly , the legalisation of political parties, and the creation of an elected legislative body, the State Duma . In 1914, Russia entered World War I in response to Austria-Hungary 's declaration of war on Russia's ally Serbia , and fought across multiple fronts while isolated from its Triple Entente allies. In 1916,

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