PARENT SESSION
Oral Session # 55: Resource Management II: Terrestrial Systems.
Presiding: E Latty
Wednesday, August 6. 1:30 PM to 5:00 PM, SITCC Meeting Room 106.

Applying the Canadian National Vegetation Classification to ecosystem classification and inventory updating in Canadian national parks.

Ponomarenko, Serguei^*,1, McLennan, Donald ², ¹ NatureServe-Canada, c/o Parks Canada Agency, Ecological Integrity Branch 25 Eddy Street, K1A 0M5, Hull, Quebec, Canada² Parks Canada Agency, Ecological Integrity Branch, 25 Eddy Street, K1A 0M5, Hull, Quebec, Canada

ABSTRACT- Parks Canada is presently updating ecosystem inventories and will be linking them to Canadian National Vegetation Classification (CNVC) approaches to provide a common national and international basis for ecosystem and vegetation community classification. The CNVC is associated with the International Vegetation Classification (IVC) (Grossman et al. 1998) initiative, developed by NatureServe and the Ecological Society of America. National parks represent the largest land base under federal jurisdiction, and are relatively evenly distributed across Canada. Applying CNVC approaches for updating national park ecosystem inventories provides a standard basis for vegetation/ecosystem classification across the system of national parks, and provides an opportunity to introduce the CNVC to our conservation partners across the country. A major update of ecosystem inventories is required in many of Canada's national parks to develop a long-term database for important conservation management functions. An important requirement of updated ecological maps for national parks is that mapped entities be correlated with similar inventories conducted by park neighbours, regionally and internationally. The major challenges are to apply the CNVC vegetation units in the development of a site-based ecosystem classification, and to link to classifications presently used by provincial and territorial neighbours. We have initiated a pilot project in Bruce Peninsula and Auyuittuq National Parks, where we have conducted vegetation classification and ecosystem mapping that correlates with CFEC and CNVC programs, and with ecological units common to neighbouring jurisdictions. First year classification and mapping results will be presented and discussed.

Key words: ecosystem, mapping, vegetation, classification