Parks Canada

In partnership with ECCC, Gwaii Haanas monitors five Marbled Murrelet colonies by using a radar station located offshore. As birds fly out to the ocean at dawn, and return at dusk, the radar data is used to estimate the number of birds per hectare of suitable nesting habitat. Sampling areas focus...

Black Oystercatcher breeding success is estimated by visually surveying known breeding habitat in key areas of Gwaii Haanas. Surveys are conducted twice a year during breeding season. Black Oysercatchers are very vulnerable to disturbances, predation of eggs and young, predators, oil spills and...

The subalpine zone of Haida Gwaii occurs between an elevation of 600 to 800m. Permanent plots are monitored every 5 years to detect any changes to the structure and composition of the vegetation community on Yatza Mountain. Metrics include: canopy closure, debris classes, tree species, organic...

Gwaii Haanas evaluates changes to forest breeding songbird occupancy and diversity annually. Point counts are conducted using Acoustic Recording Units (ARUs) at permanent sampling sites.

The EPT index measures the proportion of freshwater organisms belonging to the taxa Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera, Trichoptera (or EPT for short). These species are considered to be highly sensitive to pollution and are a measure of good environmental conditions. Any significant declines to these...

Non-native mammal species are monitored annually in areas critical for the protection important seabird islands. Remote cameras are deployed for 15-days to annually detect any changes to the mammal community at key sites. Non-native species pose the greatest ecological threat in Gwaii Haanas....

The forest understory vegetation community is a key ecosystem component of Haida Gwaii forests. Understory plants provide food for native fauna (bears, birds etc.), structure for nesting habitat (eg. songbirds, auklets), and medicines for Haida use (among others). In Gwaii Haanas, 3 sites are...

Annual visual surveys are used to assess annual occupancy of breeding western toads at 10 known breeding ponds. Because of their reliance on wetland habitat for breeding, western toads are used as a measure of aquatic ecosystem health. The western toad is the only amphibian native to Haida...

Gwaii Haanas has partnered with ECCC to monitor a set of permanent plots mapping colony structure and burrow occupancy rate by excavating samples of burrows of Ancient Murrelet and Cassin’s Auklet. The data are used to determine if the breeding population areas are changing at specific key...

Water Quality is measured annually in both streams and lakes in Gwaii Haanas. Many water quality parameters are collected and they can be grouped into three categories: (1) Physical (e.g. temperature, depth); (2) Chemical (e.g. pH, nutrients) and (3) Biological (chlorophyll a). Water quality is...

Forest loss is monitored annually in Gwaii Haanas with remote sensing, where forest loss is defined as a change from forest to non-forest state over a period of time. Forest loss in Gwaii Haanas is caused by 4 main mechanisms: mass wasting on steep slopes, extreme wind events, extreme rain events...

Yoho National Park samples 28 randomly selected potential amphibian breeding sites (out of possible 66) to determine presence or absence of amphibian species. Each of the 28 sites is visited 3 times every 2 years and all detected species are recorded.

Whitebark pine is considered a “keystone species” in the mountain national parks, as it plays several important ecological roles where it exists in subalpine environments. Its survival has been threatened by the combined effects of fire suppression, climate change, mountain pine beetle outbreaks...

Whitebark pine is considered a “keystone species” mountain national parks, as it plays several important ecological roles where it exists in subalpine environments. Its survival has been threatened by the combined effects of fire suppression, climate change, mountain pine beetle outbreaks and a...

The following standard is used to evaluate Parks Canada Agency’s goal to manage wildland fire and conduct prescribed fire activities to restore and maintain the ecological integrity of park lands. A 20% natural fire cycle is the set percentage that allows fire to play a role as a natural...

The following standard is used to evaluate Parks Canada Agency’s goal to manage wildland fire and conduct prescribed fire activities to restore and maintain the ecological integrity of park lands. A 20% natural fire cycle is the set percentage that allows fire to play a role as a natural...

This measure tracks changes in presence and absence of three amphibian species at 43 potential breeding sites. Each site is visited twice (where possible), to estimate and account for detection probability the Western Toad (Bufo boreas), Columbia Spotted Frog (Rana luteiventris), and Long-toed...

This measure tracks changes in presence and absence of three amphibian species at 12 potential breeding sites. Each site is visited twice (where possible), to estimate and account for detection probability the Western Toad (Bufo boreas), Columbia Spotted Frog (Rana luteiventris), and Long-toed...

Kootenay National Park assesses the populations of American Pika using surveys of active pika hay piles at various sites throughout the park.

Yoho National Park assesses the populations of American Pika using surveys of active pika hay piles at various sites throughout the park.