Parks Canada

Vegetation determines primary productivity as well as the diversity and types of habitat available to wildlife species. Alpine vegetation is sensitive to environmental and ecological changes. Park staff measure vascular plant diversity and the relative abundance of major plant life-forms in...

Forest ecosystems are a vital component of Nahanni National Park Reserve, covering approximately 80% of the park. Forest vegetation condition is currently a composite of three sub-measures: changes in (1) mature spruce stand growth rates, (2) mature spruce stand mortality rates, and (3)...

Monitoring pika occupancy and persistence over time will help to assess the impacts of climate change and the ecological integrity of Alpine Tundra ecosystems within Nahanni National Park Reserve. Annual visual counts of active hay piles by foot as well as auditory surveys are used to assess pika...

Caribou are a culturally important species to the Dene people, and traditional harvest is permitted in the national park reserve. The park monitors sustainability of the caribou populations by carrying out aerial surveys.

This measure will track impacts associated with recreational use and natural changes that occur on the Fundy National Park trail system. Each trail is evaluated according to a qualitative trail condition rating system. A park-wide footprint assessment for the entire trail network will also be...

Invasive alien plants (such as Japanese knotweed, woodland angelica) are considered a serious problem for many protected areas. Fundy National Park reports on the presence of priority invasive species in grid cells; the grid overlays the entire national park.

At high densities, moose can do extensive damage to forests by over browsing - altering forest composition and forest succession. One moose may consume 30 kg of vegetation per day. Fundy National Park conducts aerial censuses of the moose population every 5 years.

Monitoring of the tree landscape permits detecting changes in habitat availability, forest productivity, forest health, and other ecosystem functions. The park uses permanent sample plots to monitor tree health, growth rate, and forest succession; remote sensing is used for landscape-scale...

This dataset includes annual average Julian dates of spring green-up, fall brown-down, and plant productivity from 2000-2010. The data are from remote sensing. The MODIS (Moderate-resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer) satellite provides an image of the park every 10 days, which is used to...

The Harlequin duck is a species at risk that occurs in the Torngat Mountains National Park. Fast-flowing rivers and streams constitute its breeding habitat but it is known to forgo breeding when abundance of aquatic insects is low. A helicopter survey is conducted every five years in late- July...

This dataset contains the percent land cover of woody shrubs in shrub-dominated ecotypes within Torngat Mountains National Park from 1985 to 2014. This is a remote sensing measure that uses Landsat imagery collected on an annual basis during peak phenology in the summer. The increase in percent...

Bat monitoring in Jasper National Park supports Jasper National Park’s Multi-species Action Plan. Survey efforts are increasingly important on account of the recent detection of white-nosed syndrome in western North America and evidence that the disease is spreading more readily. Data collected...

Glaciers are an important water source in mountainous areas and significantly influence the hydrology of the watershed. Glaciers worldwide serve as indicators of climate change and have been decreasing in size at an accelerating rate since the mid-1980s. Data are collected from the Athabasca...

Information regarding human-wildlife interactions in Jasper National Park is important to manage both human (eg. town residents, visitors) and wildlife needs (eg. area closures). Achieving this balance depends on data related, in part, on where animals have died or have been injured (eg highway,...

Jasper National Park uses a reference condition approach to monitor benthic macroinvertebrates in the stream and river ecosystems within the park. The taxonomic counts of the benthic macroinvertebrates from test sites are compared to that of the reference sites.

Elk (Cervus canadensis) are generally considered a keystone species across a variety of landscapes. Elk (C. canandenis nelsoni) in Jasper National Park is one of four extant subspecies of elk occurring in North America. They are an important wildlife component in the Park regarding the management...

Elk (Cervus canadensis) are generally considered a keystone species across a variety of landscapes. Elk (C. canandenis nelsoni) in Jasper National Park is one of four extant subspecies of elk occurring in North America. They are an important wildlife component in the Park regarding the management...

Woodland caribou (Rangifer tarandus caribou) is a threatened species protected under the Federal Species at Risk Act (SARA). Jasper National Park provides important habitat for the Southern Mountain Woodland Caribou ecotype of the subspecies. Data are collected by aerial surveys to determine...

The unimpeded movement of fish and other aquatic related organisms allows organisms to respond to changing habitat conditions, facilitates genetic dispersal, provides access to seasonal or reproductive habitats, and allows for the maintenance of populations over the long term. Jasper National...

Woodland caribou (Rangifer tarandus caribou) is a threatened species protected under the Federal Species at Risk Act (SARA). Jasper National Park provides important habitat for the Southern Mountain Woodland Caribou ecotype of the subspecies. Data are collected by aerial surveys to determine...