The coming of Europeans and their activities over a period of some five centuries have vastly transformed the plant and animal life of North America. Paradoxically, it is the creatures of the ocean—the earliest biological resources to be heavily exploited—that have undergone the least change qualitatively. Because of a favourable conjunction of ocean currents, the waters off Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, and New England have maintained rich marine populations; and, despite heavy, often excessive fishing since the late 15th century, such sought-after species as cod and haddock are still available in some abundance. More recently, the waters and estuaries farther south in the Atlantic, Gulf of Mexico, and Caribbean Sea and off the Pacific coast have become economically important for their fish and crustaceans. Overfishing and pollution have reduced considerably the significance of major inland rivers and the Great Lakes, although sport fishing is popular in many of the more sparsely settled areas of the United States and Canada. On the other hand, pond-raised catfish and other species have become increasingly important, and promising experiments have begun in cultivating oysters, crabs, shrimps, and other varieties of seafood.

The most striking changes to North America’s flora have been in the magnificent forests that once covered much of the eastern half of the United States and those sections of eastern Canada south of the shield and in the formerly luxuriant grasslands that fanned out westward in a large triangular shape from central Ohio. A combination of extensive clearing for fields and pastures; exploitation for fuel, construction, and industrial uses; and the impact of various introduced pests on species of elm, oak, and chestnut have reduced the original vegetation to only scattered patches of virgin woodland and a few tiny remnants of the original prairies. A similar retreat of forests has occurred in Mexico and Central America because of strong pressure for space and resources by a rapidly expanding population. Change has been less noticeable in the subarctic taiga (boreal forest) of Canada and Alaska because of its remoteness and the thinness and poor quality of the trees, but the southern third of this forest is a major base for pulp and paper industries. The much reduced northern mixed and eastern hardwood forests have lost most of their former value, as the original stands have been replaced by commercially marginal second- and third-growth trees; these woodlands have become attractive, however, for recreational purposes. Some forests of the Pacific Coast and Cordilleras still contain some excellent stands, and, with controlled use, growth usually is rapid enough to produce a steady yield. The Southern Pineries, long neglected by farmers because of sandy soils, have become a major source of timber and pulpwood for the United States. The tropical hardwood forests are also important for timber, but much has been cut down and replaced by banana plantations or poor second growth. Oak and pine forests above 3,300 feet (1,000 metres) in the tierra templada (“temperate land”) remain a useful resource.

Early European explorers and settlers in North America were delighted by the abundance and variety of its endemic wildlife; and the various mammals, birds, and fish were important as sources of raw materials as well as food for aborigines and European pioneers. For many years, hunting and fur trapping were dominant activities throughout much of Canada and the wooded tracts of the United States. Excessive exploitation and changes in land-use patterns brought about the near extinction of some species (such as the beaver and bison) and the disappearance of others (such as the once superabundant passenger pigeon, so that the harvesting of wild creatures has become minor in significance. On the other hand, recreational hunting—for deer, bears, turkeys, geese, ducks, and other such controlled populations—is a large industry in many areas of Canada and the United States. It is important to note that the introduction of Old World domesticated animals has changed considerably North America’s plant cover, especially where overgrazing has occurred in much of Mexico and the western United States.