Parks Canada

The objective of this project is to monitor the effectiveness of wildlife crossing structures along the Trans-Canada Highway (TCH) in Banff National Park and Hwy 93 south (93S) in Kootenay National Park. Specifically this monitoring includes the detection of large mammals (including carnivores,...

This is a backpack electrofishing based survey that enumerates all species caught a random selection of sites within a given watershed. Cascade, Panther and Spray watersheds were sampled in the fall of 2015, 2016 and 2017 respectively. The purpose is to repeat these surveys every 10 years to...

This dataset shows the locations of westslope cutthroat trout of non-stocked pure strain populations with average DNA purity ≥ 0.99%. This species is listed as threatened under the Species at Risk Act.

Banff National Park staff measured the condition of lake fish communities by the level of deviation of current fish presence in a lake from historic, pre-stocking fish presence.

Mountain goat (Oreamnos americanus) annual aerial helicopter survey data for the area of Lake Louise, Banff between 2002 and 2017. The objective of these surveys, initiated in 2002, has been to monitor trends in relative abundance. The aerial survey transect runs from just northwest of Lake...

These data are water quality parameters sampled by Environment Canada via a Memorandom of Understanding. The individual parameters were used to calculate results for the Canadian Council of Environment Ministers (CCME) water quality index (WQI).

Rail- and vehicle-caused wildlife mortality and wildlife management destruction data for Banff National Park between the years 2005 and 2017. Each species mortality is recorded by date, location, count, age, gender, and cause. For more recent records please refer to “Human-wildlife coexistence...

Motion-detection cameras are a cost-effective and non-invasive tool used in Banff National Park for sampling mammal populations and estimating species occurrence. Occupancy modelling, which uses detection/non-detection data from cameras, provides a useful and flexible framework for population...

These data are counts of Banff Springs Snails from 7 thermal springs in Banff National Park. Counts are assumed to be a census as all snails at each springs were counted.

The beaver (Castor canadensis) is a large, primarily nocturnal semi-aquatic rodent used as an indicator of the conditions in freshwater ecosystems due to its role as a keystone species and an ecosystem engineer. The potential for beaver colonization within Kouchibouguac National Park is...

The Index of Biotic Integrity (IBI) is a valuable multi-metric approach to assess the integrity of fish assemblages in aquatic ecosystems. The purpose of the estuarine IBI monitoring program at Kouchibouguac National Park is to use this index in order to evaluate the condition of selected rivers...

The Canadian Aquatic Biomonitoring Network (CABIN) is a national aquatic biomonitoring program, established and maintained by Environment and Climate Change Canada, to provide a standardized protocol for the ecological assessment of freshwater ecosystems with the use of benthic macroinvertebrate...

Red-breasted mergansers (Mergus serrator) are colonial birds found on Tern Islands, a set of three small barrier islands separated by water at high tide located within Kouchibouguac National Park. These piscivorous sea ducks are indicators for the state of the breeding islands and associated...

At the establishment of Kouchibouguac National Park in 1969, remnants of past human history and intervention activities such as agriculture and wood harvesting since the mid-1880s have significantly influenced the Park’s current landscape. To this day, human-caused disturbance continues through...

The second largest concentration of common terns (Sterna hirundo) in North America is found on Tern Islands, a set of three small barrier islands separated by water at high tide located within Kouchibouguac National Park. These seabirds are indicators for the condition of coastal, marine, as well...

The influence of water temperature on the ecology of aquatic organisms with optimal thermal ranges is quite substantial, as these regimes regulate activity, growth, survival, and spawning behaviour. In consequence, a deviation from normal temperature ranges often cause displacement, disease, or...

The piping plover (Charadrius melodus) is a small endangered shorebird listed under the federal Species at Risk Act (SARA). This species uses ocean shorelines as breeding grounds and nests in soft sandy areas with sparse vegetation above the high tide water line. These birds are indicators for...

Songbirds are indicators of habitat conditions within forest or bog ecosystems, as these species have a high level of specialisation to various ecological niches and are extremely sensitive to natural processes. In consequence, these communities can demonstrate a rapid response to a broad range...

The Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment (CCME) has designed a Water Quality Index (WQI) to translate complex water quality data into an overall integrated score from 0-100. This score is based on the number of measured variables, which have observations exceeding water quality...

River otters (Lontra canadensis) are semi-aquatic mammalian predators closely associated to freshwater resources but also linked to terrestrial habitat features, at the aquatic-terrestrial interface of riparian zones. This species is an indicator of freshwater ecosystem conditions as healthy...