Open Government Portal

Habitat and ecosystem data used to conduct a baseline survey of coastal habitat in Lake Erie, St. Clair River, Lake St. Clair and Detroit River are included in this dataset. The Lake Erie Survey methodology consists of four general steps; 1) delineating the coastal ecosystem into coastal units based on water flow, ecology, and geology; 2) selecting key habitat types including wetlands, uplands (natural and anthropogenic), tributaries, and inland lakes and ponds, and the measures to assess each habitat type and the entire coastal ecosystem; 3) conducting a spatial analysis and summarizing results; and 4) sharing results.

Habitat and ecosystem data used to conduct a baseline survey of coastal habitat in the Canadian Great Lakes in support of the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement (Annex 7, Habitat and Species). The baseline habitat survey integrates various internal and external data sources that are collected or produced by various government and non-government organizations and integrated into this dataset. The geographic scope of the survey focuses on the coastal margin (from the shoreline to approximately 2 kilometers inland) of the Canadian Great Lakes and connecting channels. The scope of the survey includes metrics for coastal wetland habitat, coastal terrestrial habitat, tributary habitat and habitat protection and restoration.

Coastal wetlands are valued for their diversity of wildlife, habitats, and functions. The Canadian Wildlife Service (CWS) conducted vegetation and elevation surveys between 2009 and 2019, and bathymetric and light attenuation surveys between 2018 and 2019 in coastal wetlands across the Canadian shore of Lake Ontario, Lake Erie, Lake Huron, Lake Superior, and the head of the St. Lawrence River. These datasets were used, in part, to predict the spatial and temporal response of coastal wetland vegetation to climate change as part of the Great Lakes Protection Initiative (GLPI). The goals of this project were to provide insight into climate change impacts by assessing the vulnerability of Great Lakes coastal wetlands, identify adaptive measures to increase the resilience of coastal wetlands, assess wetland vegetation response to physical variables (e.g., Great Lakes water levels), and inform the adaptive management of water-level regulation on Lake Ontario.

Grizzly bear habitat to be incorporated into the Central Coast Land and Coastal Resource Management Plan

This measure tracks changes of the lake water level in the coastal ecosystem of GBINP. This is significant in driving ecological processes as well as acting as a stressor in the the park’s costal wetland ecosystem - as it is hydrologically connected to the lake water body, both at the surface and below.

A coastal surficial substrate layer for the coastal Scotian Shelf and Bay of Fundy. To create the layer, previous geological characterizations from NRCan were translated into consistent substrate and habitat characterizations; including surficial grain size and primary habitat type. In areas where no geological description was available, data including digital elevation models and substrate samples from NRCan, CHS and DFO Science were interpreted to produce a regional scale substrate and habitat characterization. Each characterization in the layer was given a ranking of confidence and original data resolution to ensure that decision makers are informed of the quality and scale of data that went into each interpretation.

Water quality and ecosystem health data used to conduct a cumulative effects assessment of Lake Erie, St. Clair River, Lake St. Clair and Detroit River nearshore waters in support of the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement are included in this dataset. Data related to nearshore stressors is integrated into an overall assessment in a three-phased approach: 1) classification of the nearshore into Regional Units using physical processes and lake characteristics; 2) overall assessment of the state (cumulative stress) of each Regional Unit; and 3) integrate additional information related to nearshore areas of high ecological value. Assessment data is presented within a 15 metre depth zone along the coast. For purposes of determining stress on nearshore waters it is necessary to consider the zones of influence and zones of impact.

Water quality and ecosystem health data used to conduct a cumulative effects assessment of Lake Superior nearshore waters in support of the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement are included in this dataset. Data related to nearshore stressors is integrated into an overall assessment in a three-phased approach: 1) classification of the nearshore into Regional Units using physical processes and lake characteristics; 2) overall assessment of the state (cumulative stress) of each Regional Unit; and 3) integrate additional information related to nearshore areas of high ecological value. Assessment data is presented within a 100 metre depth zone along the coast. For purposes of determining stress on nearshore waters it is necessary to consider the zones of influence and zones of impact.

The Coastal Biodiversity Trawl Survey for the Passamaquoddy Bay was conducted annually between July to October from 2009 to 2019. This survey was intended to monitor long-term change in local species presence, habitat utilization, and health. The sampling activities support coastal research in fisheries, aquaculture, marine protected areas, and ecosystem change. Data collected prior to 2013 are generally not recommended for comparative analysis due to changes in vessel, sampling effort, and protocols.

Wapusk National Park protects a vast landscape of coastal salt marshes, countless lakes and ponds, and a diversity of boreal-tundra interface habitats, and serves as staging areas for migrating birds, and habitat for a diversity of wildlife. Shallow lakes and ponds are created in part by thermokarst processes resulting from the melting of ground ice in areas underlain by permafrost. In northern areas, climate change brings fluctuations in temperature, permafrost and snow fall and cover which affect lake dynamics, water composition and water levels, and the plants and animals dependent on them. Lake hydrology is assessed based on hydroelocological methods developed during the International Polar Year in Vuntut National Park, and initiated in Wapusk in 2010 by the Hydroecological Team, a multidisciplinary research group from Wilfrid Laurier University and University of Waterloo led by Dr. Brent Wolfe.