Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
maintenance.or.restoration.of.overall.ecological.integrity.of.all.national.parks.from.
2008-2013.”
In.Section.2.(1).of.the.Canada.National.Parks.Act.(2000).
ecological integrity
.is.
deined.as
….a.condition.that.is.determined.to.be.characteristic.of.its.natural.region.and.likely.
to.persist,.including.abiotic.components.and.the.composition.and.abundance.of.native.
species.and.biological.communities,.rates.of.change,.and.supporting.processes.
As.summarized.in.Tables 10.1.and.10.2,.it.is.clear.that.over.the.next.35-40.years.
park.biota.will.change.signiicantly.in.response.to.warming.climatic.regimes,.and.
that.all.of.the.elements.listed.as.characteristic.of.park.EI.are.not.“likely.to.persist.”.
This. presents. a. legislative. challenge. that. park. policy. staff. will. need. to. address. in.
the.not-too-distant.future..In.the.shorter.term,.northern.national.parks.are.already.
changing,.and.a.number.of.important.questions.require.answers.so.that.managers.of.
northern.parks.can.anticipate.the.nature,.rate,.and.scale.of.this.ecological.change.
To.meet.its.obligation.to.report.to.Canadians.on.the.condition.of.national.parks,.
Parks.Canada.Agency.has.invested.signiicant.time.and.human.resources.in.the.devel-
opment.of.the.PCA.EI.Monitoring.and.Reporting.Program.(PCA.2005)..Monitoring.
of. ecological. integrity. and. other. aspects. of. the. PCA. mandate. is. the. “knowledge.
engine”. that. drives. the. management. cycle. within. the. Agency. (Figure 10.2).. Most.
national-park. ield. units. have. a. designated. monitoring. ecologist. who. is. supported.
by.monitoring.ecologists.in.park.service.centers,.and.in.the.national.ofice..The.pro-
gram.is.also.supported.by.database.and.geomatics.specialists,.and.program.data.are.
coordinated.within.the.Information.Center.for.Ecosystems.(ICE).data-management.
program.. Park. monitoring. programs. are. expected. to. meet. a. national. standard,. as.
outlined.in.PCA.(2005).
The.following.are.the.main.components.of.park.EI.condition.monitoring.outlined.
in.PCA.(2005):
.
1.. All. EI. condition. monitoring. should. be. implemented. to. answer. the. gen-
eral.question,.“What.is.the.state.of.park.ecological.integrity,.and.how.is.it.
changing?”
.
2.. EI.condition.is.reported.through.four.to.eight.EI.Indicators,.which.represent.
major. park. ecosystems;. for. northern. national. parks. the. EI. Indicators. are.
Tundra,. (Subarctic). Forest,. Wetlands,. Freshwater,. Glaciers,. and. Coastal/
Marine.Ecosystems.
.
3.. EI.Indicators.are.composite.indices.that.are.developed.based.on.an.assess-
ment.of.the.condition.of.a.carefully.selected.suite.of.EI.Measures.(referred.
to.as.“biological.indicators”.in.most.monitoring.literature).
.
4.. To.meet.criteria.for.program.ecological.comprehensiveness,.the.suite.of.EI.
Measures.for.an.EI.Indicator.need.to
.
a..
Measure.and.assess.biodiversity,.ecological.processes,.and.the.stress-
ors/drivers. in. all. EI. Indicators. in. a. park;. the. level. of. effort. for. an. EI.
Indicator.will.relect.its.conservation.importance.to.the.park.
