Science and conservation
Banff National Park
Spanning 6,641 square kilometres (2,564 square miles) of valleys, mountains, glaciers, forests, meadows and rivers, Banff National Park is one of the world's premier national parks. To ensure this beautiful place remains healthy and intact for future generations, Parks Canada works to protect and restore the park’s ecological health.
Monitoring and research
Our monitoring work is the voice of our flora, fauna and the ecological processes necessary for a healthy functioning ecosystem. The information that we collect from insects, trees, fish and wildlife tells us their story. We work hard to get their stories right! In Banff we use three key indicators to measure and report on how healthy our park ecosystems are: freshwater, forests and alpine. For each indicator we have selected five specific ecological measures through which we can better assess the health of the indicator ecosystem. We regularly monitor and assess each of these measures so that we have a clear picture of whether or not we are successfully maintaining and restoring the park. This helps us to plan for and make decisions that will keep Banff National Park intact for the present and the future.
When the environmental assessment process raises questions, research can answer them. When our monitoring program tells us that there are potential problems in park ecosystems, research helps us to better understand what is causing the change and assists planning ways to solve them. We begin by collecting data that gives us a detailed picture of the issue. We use this picture to come up with and test out solutions. We use the results to make improvements and solve problems.
Water
Fresh water health is one of three indicators and has five measures. We monitor each of these measures every year so that we have a clear picture of whether or not we are successfully maintaining and restoring the park. This helps us to plan for and make decisions that will keep the park intact for the present and for the future.
1) Amphibians
Amphibians tell us a lot about the health of wetland habitats. Their permeable skin and complex life cycle make them vulnerable to environmental changes. This makes them good indicators of ecological health.
Every year we go to the same sites and look for:
- Long-toed salamanders
- Boreal Toads
- Columbia Spotted Frogs
- Wood Frogs.
We compare our findings from year to year to find out if amphibian populations are increasing or decreasing.
Our researchers look and listen for these amphibians in breeding sites including ponds, pools and wet meadows that can support amphibian larvae. We do this every year from April to May so that we can observe breeding adults, egg masses, and tadpole stages of the amphibians life cycle.
2) Water quality
C.A.B.I.N. stands for the Canadian Aquatic Biomonitoring Network. It is a national program developed by Environment Canada to keep an eye on the health of Canadian lakes and streams.
Our researchers collect bugs and send them for sampling to find out exactly which ones and how many of each we have in our lakes and streams. We also collect information about each site and its water chemistry, climate and the way that water moves over and covers the site. All of these pieces of information are put together to create a clear picture of the health of our aquatic ecosystems.
3) Lake fish index
We compare historic fish populations to present day fish populations. How similar or different are current lake fish communities compared to historic lake fish communities prior to fish stocking.
4) Water connectivity
We take inventory of all of the places where fish have to use crossing structures to pass under highways and roadways. Each structure is assessed as either a full barrier, partial barrier or no barrier to fish. This helps us plan for future crossing structures and to make decisions about which existing structures need improvement.
Parks Canada is working to stop non-native fish from pushing Westslope Cutthroat Trout toward extinction in Banff National Park. The hanging culvert on Outlet Creek along the Bow Valley Parkway has kept a pure population of this species at risk isolated from species, such as rainbow and bull trout, for decades. When we began rebuilding the road here, aquatic ecologists teamed up with engineers to ensure that Outlet Creek continues to be a refuge for westslope cutthroat trout.
Through this project, we are keeping our roads safe and our fish and streams wild.
5) River and stream integrity
We find out how much native fish habitat in Banff National Park is occupied by non-native fish.
Forest
Forest health is one of three indicators and has five measures. We monitor each of these measures every year so that we have a clear picture of whether or not we are successfully maintaining and restoring the park. This helps us to plan for and make decisions that will keep the park intact for the present and for the future.
1) Fire
We measure fire and its impact on the landscape. This helps us to understand and explain changes that we record in the rest of our monitoring program.
Fire and vegetation management in the Mountain National Parks
2) Song birds
We can learn a lot about the overall health of our forests from songbirds.
Bird song
We capture bird song to find out what species and how many of each we have.
Increases or decreases in population helps us to measure response to stressors such as habitat loss, fragmentation, challenging weather events and climate change.
3) Wildlife tracking
We track animals in the same sample areas every year. This tells us how many animals are around and what species they are.
4) Wildlife occupancy
Once or twice a year we do large surveys to find out which species are present on the landscape and which are absent. This tells us a lot about the relationship between different species.
Wildlife Cameras
We use remote cameras to see what animals are out there!
Wildlife cameras help us to get to know our bears better. Distinctive markings and ear tags help us to identify individual bears. When we are able to identify and recognize different bears, we are able to identify patterns in their behavior. This helps us to make better management decisions for each bear.
5) Non-native vegetation
Introduced species are a huge threat to biodiversity. They crowd out the plants that are already in the park and change the ecosystem. We monitor and manage these species in order to minimize their negative affect on our parks.
Alpine
Alpine health is one of three indicators and has five measures. We monitor each of these measures every year so that we have a clear picture of whether or not we are successfully maintaining and restoring the park. This helps us to plan for and make decisions that will keep the park intact for the present and for the future.
1) Non-native vegetation
Introduced species are a huge threat to biodiversity. They crowd out the plants that are already in the park and change the ecosystem. We monitor and manage these species in order to minimize their negative affect on our parks.
2) Pikas
Pikas make their homes in rocky piles or moraines high up in the alpine.
Hay piles
Pikas spend their summers collecting grass and other greens that they build into “hay piles.” The hay piles provide them with food and warmth over the winter.
By keeping track of how many hay piles they build and maintain each year, we can tell if their populations are increasing or decreasing.
3) Songbirds
We capture bird song to find out what species and how many of each we have. Increases or decreases in population helps us to measure the impact that stressors such as habitat loss, fragmentation, challenging weather events, and climate change are having. We can learn a lot about the overall health of our forests from these birds.
4) Mountain goats
Mountain goats are good indicators of healthy alpine ecosystems because they are very sensitive to human disturbance.
Learn more about mountain goats
Aerial surveys
To find out how our goats are doing, we do aerial surveys that count the number of goats we can spot within a certain area.
Radio collars
Radio collared goats provide us with more detailed information.
5) Mapping
We use specialized mapping technology to study how climate is changing the landscape and vegetation zones.
Ecosystem Based Management
In Banff National Park, Parks Canada has adopted an ecosystem based management approach that fulfills its mandate to preserve ecological integrity in the park ecosystems and provide for visitor enjoyment and benefit. Ecosystem based management is a holistic approach in which decisions are made based on an understanding of the whole ecosystem rather than individual species or communities. Management decisions are based on current ecological information gained from science and traditional knowledge.
Central to the concept of ecosystem based management is that humans form an integral part of these systems. The ecosystems of Banff National Park were modified and influenced by native peoples 10,000 years before the arrival of Europeans. Current human use within and outside park boundaries continues to have an effect on park ecosystems. Ecosystem based management involves working with other agencies and groups and taking into consideration the economic and social needs of the people living in and around the park.
Philosophically, ecosystem-based management lies between the utilitarian view of land use for economic benefit and the romantic view that parks should be left as pristine wilderness, with no human presence.
Human-Land management philosophies
| Utilitarian | Ecological | Romantic | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Philisophical Assumptions | Nature serves humanity | Humanity part of nature | Humanity absent, or less important than nature |
| Human Expectations | Traditional resource harvest/use | Land ethic, Ecological integrity, Sustainability, health | Wilderness, natural, noble savage, pristine nature |
| Management Paradigm | Sustained yield | Ecological restoration | Natural regulation |
| Ecosystem Indicators | Units/ha Dollars/year Tourists/park Ungulates/ha | Biodiversity Viable Populations Visitor Enjoyment |
No human presence Naturally evolving so no goals or indicators can be set |
What is an ecosystem model?
A model is a representation of reality. Models take many forms including diagrams, pictures, small replicas of objects and computer simulations. Managers and scientists in national parks have created models that represent the structure, function and interaction of many living and non-living components of park ecosystems.
They use the models to predict how man-made or natural changes in one part of the system will affect the rest of the ecosystem.
Although models cannot perfectly duplicate the complex biological reality of an ecosystem, they serve as tools to aid park managers in making management decisions about vegetation and wildlife in parks. These models are also used to identify critical gaps in knowledge about ecosystem structure and function and to determine research needs.
Using a model to explain vegetation patterns
In Banff National Park, researchers have developed a conceptual model that illustrates the key factors influencing the patterns of vegetation that we see on the landscape. This model applies to the montane and subalpine ecoregions of the park. This is an important model for park managers because the structure and composition of vegetation determines the amount of available habitat and food sources for the park's wildlife species. The model also indicates how humans impact the major components of the ecosystem.
Climate and fire: major influences
Climate is the over-riding factor that determines the large-scale vegetation patterns in the park and the larger Rocky Mountain Ecosystem. Fire also has a major affect on vegetation in this region by breaking up the forest into a mosaic of different age stands and vegetation types.
© Ian Syme
Small-scale variations
Within each valley in the park the community of trees, shrubs and wildflowers varies with changes in topography, elevation and aspect. Small changes in local terrain can create microclimates that provide different growing conditions than the prevailing climate. Soil also influences which plants grow in an area and how much vegetation the area can support. Small-scale disturbance agents such as wind, avalanches, insects and disease damage or destroy small patches of forest resulting in gaps in the forest that contribute to the vegetation mosaic created by fire. Humans influence vegetation patterns by suppression of unwanted fire and the use of planned prescribed fires
Using a model to make management decisions
Researchers in Banff National Park have chosen five of the elements from the larger ecosystem model to study long-term changes in the montane ecosystem. By looking closely at the relationships between aspen, elk, wolves, fire and humans both historically and today it has been shown that the montane ecosystems in Banff National Park have changed significantly over the last 100 years. In fact, researchers now believe that the current conditions in the valley bottoms of the park have not existed at any other time in the last 10,000 years.
Park managers are using a condensed model to help make management decisions regarding both vegetation and the large mammals in the park in order to restore or maintain ecological integrity. The five elements were chosen for this model because they are well understood from previous research, they are good indicators of ecological integrity, they have changed significantly over the last two centuries, and they have a measurable effect on the montane ecosystem.
Changes in the Banff National Park ecosystem
Humans
Then
- Native Americans set frequent, low intensity fires in the valley bottoms
- Aboriginal burning increased the production of plants used for food and created open grazing areas favoured by game species
- Native hunting helped to keep ungulate numbers low in pre-historic times
Now
- Native burning eliminated from park
- Fire suppression and prescribed burning occurring
- High human use areas are systematically avoided by wolves and preferred by elk
- Elk habituation to high human use areas around townsites has resulted in high elk populations and vegetation over-browsing
Fire
Then
- Repeat photographs reveal that the montane valleys in Banff National Park were much more open in the past
- Frequent low-intensity fires were the norm prior to park establishment with fires occurring less than 40 years apart on average
Now
- Fire frequency has decreased dramatically leading to an accumulation of fuels on the forest floor
- With fire suppression, the forests in the park have become taller and more dense
- Grasslands, shrublands, open forest types and aspen communities have all declined markedly
Elk
Then
- Explorers in the Canadian Rockies from 1792-1873 recorded very few elk sightings
- Very few elk bones found in archaeological sites in the park compared to other ungulates
- Very little evidence of elk browsing on vegetation in historical photos
Now
- Elk are currently the most abundant ungulate species in the Canadian Rockies
- Today elk make up approximately 50% of the total ungulate population in Banff National Park
- Elk contributing to the decline of aspen stands in the park by over-browsing
Wolves
Then
- Wolf populations were systematically reduced by wolf control efforts from 1850 to the 1930s in large areas of the Canadian Rockies
- In the late 1940s, wolves were extirpated from Banff National Park as part of predator control efforts
Now
- Wolf populations have slowly increased to 60-70 animals today in Banff National Park and surrounding areas
- Viable wolf populations are critical for keeping elk numbers under control
- Wolf populations are threatened by human caused mortality, habitat displacement, and loss of prey base
Aspen
Then
- Aspen clones established in Banff National Park 10,000 years ago following retreat of glaciers
- Since that time clones have regenerated by suckering from the root system following periodic fire
Now
- Aspen stands in the park declining in abundance and vigour primarily due to heavy browsing by elk
- Under park management, aspen is moving toward ecological extinction
The future
To preserve representative vegetation communities as mandated by Parks Canada, active ecosystem based management is required in order to duplicate the influence of native burning and hunting, fire history and predator-prey relationships that historically structured and maintained these ecosystems.
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