Rangeland Health - Prince Albert

Rangeland Health - Prince Albert Rangeland health takes multiple ecosystem components into account and reflects overall ecosystem function. Forest and grassland sites are scored on criteria such as plant community composition, plant community structure, moisture retention, soil erosion and bare ground, weed cover and distribution, and browse species and utilization. Site visits are conducted annually during peak growing season. Protocols are based on those developed by Alberta Environment and Parks, but have been modified for park management applications. Assessment criteria, particularly the classification of “weeds”, differ between the two years of data collection because this program is under development. Fescue prairie grasslands have been reduced because historic fire suppression and lack of grazing pressure facilitate forest encroachment. Forests and grasslands are both important components of this dynamic ecosystem and provide valuable ungulate habitat. 2024-04-19 Parks Canada dustin.guedo@pc.gc.ca Nature and EnvironmentPrince Albert National ParkSaskatchewangrasslandforestPlains rough fescuegrazingfirerange managementinvasive speciesSaskatchewan Rangeland Health - Prince Albert - DataCSV https://open.canada.ca/data/dataset/84ee93a7-ca28-4033-b140-ba507aef61cf/resource/e5075549-5e5d-4466-8e17-cc9130929d4f/download/prince_albert_np_grasslands_rangeland_health_2016-2017_data.csv Rangeland Health - Prince Albert - Data DictionaryCSV https://open.canada.ca/data/dataset/84ee93a7-ca28-4033-b140-ba507aef61cf/resource/3d9cc8b8-8479-4aef-817d-b05a43445b3a/download/prince_albert_np_grasslands_rangeland_health_2016-2017_data_dictionary.csv

Rangeland health takes multiple ecosystem components into account and reflects overall ecosystem function. Forest and grassland sites are scored on criteria such as plant community composition, plant community structure, moisture retention, soil erosion and bare ground, weed cover and distribution, and browse species and utilization. Site visits are conducted annually during peak growing season. Protocols are based on those developed by Alberta Environment and Parks, but have been modified for park management applications. Assessment criteria, particularly the classification of “weeds”, differ between the two years of data collection because this program is under development. Fescue prairie grasslands have been reduced because historic fire suppression and lack of grazing pressure facilitate forest encroachment. Forests and grasslands are both important components of this dynamic ecosystem and provide valuable ungulate habitat.

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