Parks Canada

Amphibians are vulnerable to an array of environmental changes because of their permeable skin, a complex life history, and a dependence on moist terrestrial or wetland habitats. These attributes make them excellent indicators of the health of aquatic ecosystems. Amphibians can indicate problems...

Birds are the most diverse of land vertebrates and are an important indicator of ecosystem health. Large protected areas, such as Waterton Lakes National Park, provide important habitat for a wide range of bird species. Data collected can provide a number of ecological indices; for example, used...

This program, led by Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC), is part of a larger national program serving to describe spatial and temporal patterns in water quality on many major rivers in Canada. In Waterton, physical and chemical variables are measured at water quality sites located on...

Elk are by far the dominant ungulate in Waterton Lakes Naitonal Park, with a population large enough to influence park ecosystems, particularly in the montane and aspen parkland ecoregions. As important grazers, they help to maintain grassland health by preventing woody plant encroachment, but...

This project aims to capture population trends by estimating absolute abundance of American Black Bears (Ursus americanus) every 2-3 years and relative abundance of three forest mammals (American Black Bear, Grey Wolf (Canis lupus) and Black-tailed Deer (Odocoileus hemionus ssp.)) annually. Forty...

From the point of view of ecological integrity and the responsibility of the park to protect and maintain a biotic community naturally associated with the ecoregion, we are primarily interested in the extent of two land cover classes, the old-growth forest, which should not decrease in the park,...

This program aims to monitor migratory shorebird abundance, distribution and use on sandy beaches of the Long Beach Unit as an Ecological Integrity condition measure and to monitor the effectiveness of management activities directed at increasing the rate of compliance with domestic animal...

This program monitors the extent of three shoreline (dune) plants that are either endangered (Pink Sand-verbena (Abronia umbellata)), threatened (Silky Beach Pea (Lathyrus littoralis), also known as dune sweet-pea, and grey beach peavine), or the obligate habitat of an endangered species (Yellow...

This program focuses on capturing the abundance and structure of groundfish communities typical of nearshore kelp forests including Black Rockfish (Sebastes melanops), Copper Rockfish (Sebastes caurinus), Kelp Greenling (Hexagrammos decagrammus) and Sea Perch: Kelp Perch (Brachyistius frenatus),...

This project monitors water quality at 14 sites (streams and lakes) within the Long Beach Unit of the Park. A total of 46 water quality parameters are recorded at each site twice per year (spring and fall), including concentrations of nutrients, metals, and physical properties. The thresholds...

This program is used to determine juvenile salmonid population status and trends for Pacific Rim National Park Reserve. Surveys occur annually during the first two weeks of August and are focused on Coho salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch) and Cutthroat trout (Oncorhynchus clarkii). Data are derived...

This program is used to track Black Oystercatcher (Haematopus bachmani) population trend, local abundance, and annual survivorship. Bird banding, re-sighting visits and nesting population counts occur annually in the spring, with banding occurring in May to July since 2007, and nesting population...

This program aims to capture the extent of eradicated English Ivy (Hedera helix) and two species of invasive beachgrasses (European beachgrass/European marram grass (Ammophila arenaria) and American beachgrass (Ammophila breviligulata) relative to the total extent mapped in the Pacific Rim...

This program assesses demographic parameters and breeding abundance of 5 species of ground (burrow) nesting seabirds: Pigeon Guillemot (Cepphus columba), Rhinoceros Auklet (Cerorhinca monocerata), Glaucous-winged Gull (Larus glaucescens), Leach's Storm-Petrel (Oceanodroma leucorhoa) and...

This program captures counts of amphibian egg masses used to measure abundance and distribution trends in the breeding populations of Red-legged Frogs (Rana aurora) and Northwestern Salamanders (Ambystoma gracile) in the Long Beach Unit of the park. It is assumed that one egg-mass represents one...

This program aims to capture population trends in several guilds of forest songbirds as well as trends in community species diversity. Sampling occurs early to late morning (sunrise-10am) between the first week of May and the first week of July. At each sampling station an 11 minute...

This program measures kelp density from annual dive transects during August and September at a number of sites in the Broken Group Islands of Pacific Rim National Park Reserve. Kelp species assessed include Agarum spp., Macrocystis pyrifera, Eisenia arborea, Pterygophora californica, Saccharina...

Shellfish monitoring has been accepted by the Pacific Bioregion of Parks Canada as a measure of ecosystem health in soft substrates in the intertidal zone. Surveys are used to capture the status of selected bivalves within the national park reserve to determine long-term population numbers and...

This program captures the relative abundance and distribution of five common seabirds occurring in the waters of Pacific Rim National Park Reserve including the Marbled Murrelet (Brachyramphus marmoratus), Common Murre (Uria aalge), Rhinoceros Auklet (Cerorhinca monocerata), Pigeon Guillemot...

Calling frogs and toads are surveyed annually at permanent stations, three times during the spring and early summer, at least 15 days apart. Each survey is 3 minutes long. These surveys are conducted by park staff and volunteers.