Parks Canada

This report on the forest ecosystems of 31 predominantly forested national parks is the first in the Carbon Atlas series. Parks Canada has undertaken the development of a series of Carbon Atlases as part of an effort to create a more comprehensive picture of the amount and density of carbon...

Wapusk National Park (WNP), protects a vast landscape of coastal salt marshes, countless ponds, and a diversity of boreal-tundra interface habitats, and serves as staging areas for migrating birds, including the Lesser Snow Goose (LSGO). Over the last few decades LSGO populations have increased...

Wapusk National Park protects a vast landscape of coastal salt marshes, countless lakes and ponds, and a diversity of boreal-tundra interface habitats, and serves as staging areas for migrating birds, and habitat for a diversity of wildlife. Shallow lakes and ponds are created in part by...

Wapusk National Park is a sub-Arctic protected area covered with snow for over half of the year. Snowpack characteristics can provide important clues to impacts of climate change and park ecological integrity. Snow cover duration and characteristics affect soil and plant and animal components of...

Mountain goats are a key species in the alpine tundra in Kluane National Park and Reserve. The potential impacts of climate change on snow depth, the frequency of rain-on-snow-events and the position of altitudinal treeline may influence goat foraging, predator dynamics and thus the survival...

Shrubs are projected to move upslope and expand into the alpine tundra with a warming climate in the Kluane region of Yukon. Shrub expansion will create habitat for some species, such as moose, but cause habitat loss for species such as hoary marmot, collared pika and ptarmigan. Parks Canada...

Amphibians worldwide are facing declines and possible extinction. Wood frogs (Lithobates sylvaticus) are the only amphibian in Kluane National Park and Reserve. They are considered an important component of wetlands and are highly valued by Southern Tutchone peoples. Threats to wood frogs in...

Shrubs are projected to move upslope and expand into the alpine tundra with a warming climate in the Kluane region of Yukon. Shrub expansion will create habitat for some species, such as moose, but cause habitat loss for species such as hoary marmot, collared pika and ptarmigan. Parks Canada...

Terra Nova National Park monitors intertidal invertebrate communities using a line transect and quadrat sampling method. The survey focusses on invertebrate community composition and diversity, and should detect presence of invasive marine species.

Dune systems are key features in protecting assets, land, and ecosystems behind them from the effects of storm surges, wave action, salt spray, as well as preventing salt water intrusion into coastal waterways and aquifers. The dune integrity measure is comprised of two sub-measures: (1) dune...

Coastal erosion is the process that removes shoreline material, causing the coastline to retreat inland. The coastal landscape of Prince Edward Island is identified as a region sensitive to sea-level rise. Systematic measurements for coastal erosion were carried out between 2007-2010 using...

Changes to tundra vegetation communities may affect local ecological processes such as nutrient cycling and quality and quantity of animal forage. In Quttinirpaaq National Park, the composition and relative abundance of plant functional groups are monitored using a point frame and the pin-drop...

In 2022, scientists from Parks Canada, Audubon, the Canadian Wildlife Service and Birds Canada published an analysis of projected changes in bird assemblages due to climate change within the Canadian National Park System (Gahbauer et al. 2022, Projected changes in birds assemblages due to climate...