Parks Canada

Terra Nova National Park censuses tern nests on 23 small islands in Newman Sound, to monitor species productivity and population dynamics.

On insular Newfoundland, the Arctic Hare reaches the southernmost limit of their distribution and are typically found in mountainous areas where elevation and climate have created an arctic-like landscape therefore making it an important herbivore species within the Tundra/Barrens ecosystem. A...

In eastern Canada, Harlequin ducks are uncommon and are listed by COSEWIC as a species of special concern. Resident of fast flowing-rivers and streams during the breeding season, their presence and abundance reflects the health of these ecosystems. The park censuses harlequin ducks on four rivers...

Overbrowsing of balsam fir saplings by introduced moose can lead to stand conversion to non-forest. The park measures the browse rates of fir saplings in mature forest stands, which will indicate whether non-browsed advanced regeneration is sufficent to allow stand replacement following...

Birds are an important component of the biodiversity of boreal forests and bird populations can serve as a useful measure of forest health. The monitoring of winter forest bird assemblage combines a passive point count with broadcasts of chickadee and Red Crossbill calls. The survey is done for...

Beavers are important ecosystem architects, creating wetland habitats, thickets and meadows by damming streams and cutting down woody vegetation along stream banks. This measure consist of an aerial survey of the number of active beaver colonies in lowland forests of Gros Morne National Park. It...

Intensive moose browsing appears to have led to a large reduction in woody plant abundance and diversity in Gros Morne National Park mature forests.This measure assess the biodiversity of native shrubs and tree saplings in the understory of mature balsam fir forest stands. Stems are being...

The Island of Newfoundland is home to the most southerly population of Rock Ptarmigan in North America and is the only place where the subspecies Lagopus mutus welchi can be found. Rock Ptarmigan are the only species of bird that live year round in the Alpine tundra of Gros Morne. This measure...

Atlantic salmon are an ecologically and culturally important species in healthy aquatic systems of western Newfoundland. This measure determines the status and trend, over a 10 year period, of Atlantic salmon returning to spawn in three rivers in Gros Morne - Western Brook, Trout River and Deer...

Introduced Moose, lacking natural predators in Gros Morne, are causing widespread damage in park forests. Park-wide Moose density will be monitored using aerial surveys and estimated using the Gasaway (1986) stratified random block method. Bull, cow, calf and unknown Moose are counted in...

Terra Nova National Park monitors non-native mammal browse pressure on forest plant communities on transects and plots.

The park is developing a protocol to monitor the extent of eelgrass beds through remote sensing.

The park employs aerial surveys to map active beaver lodges/dams in Terra Nova. A selection of sites are ground-thruthed on foot or by canoe.

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.

The park monitors angling stress in several ponds (lakes) in Terra Nova with Fyke nets. Angling stress is assesed against calculated values of fish biomass and fish condition (Fulton’s condition factor, K).

Terra Nova National Park monitors crab populations for the presence of the invasive European Green Crab; the abundance of native Rock Crab is also monitored. Park personnel uses baited traps for these surveys.

This measure aims at monitoring forest plant community structure in Terra Nova National Park, including taxa richness, and presence of exotic species.

The park assesses expected ranges for each land cover type: successional stages by stand type, area regenerating after natural disturbance (e.g., fire), mature forest, non-forest, wetlands, and waterbodies.