TABLE OF CONTENTS
LOOKING AHEAD:
LONG-TERM ECOLOGICAL RESEARCH AND MONITORING IN CANADA
SOURCES OF ENVIRONMENTAL CHANGE
INDICATORS OF ECOSYSTEM STRESS AND CHANGE
BUILDING BLOCKS FOR AN LTERM PROGRAM
A HEAD START: ENVIRONMENT CANADA’S ECOLOGICAL MONITORING AND ASSESSMENT NETWORK (EMAN)
A PROPOSED CANADIAN LTERM PROGRAM
ECONOMIC VALUE OF CANADA’S ECOLOGICAL RESOURCES
THE CANADIAN GLOBAL CHANGE PROGRAM
LOOKING AHEAD: LONG-TERM ECOLOGICAL RESEARCH AND MONITORING IN CANADA
Change is an essential feature of ecosystem function: ecosystems do not and cannot stand still. They are constantly renewing themselves and adapting, and periodically they undergo deep transformations.
However, change may pose a real threat to ecosystems and to the human economy, which relies heavily on ecological systems. The collapse of the salmon fishery on the West Coast of Canada and the cod fishery on the East Coast are two examples of catastrophic ecological changes that have undermined the economies of whole regions of the country. And the predictions of unprecedented long-term change due to global warming indicate that severe economic shocks may be in store for Canadians in the 21st century.
The Canadian Global Change Program has proposed a Long-Term Ecological Research and Monitoring (LTERM) program as an essential element in any policy response to these changing realities. An LTERM network would allow Canadians to track change and to develop understanding of the difference between natural change and change that threatens our ecosystems and economies. An ideal LTERM program would include a network of monitoring and research facilities across the country, collecting data using consistent techniques and experimenting with management responses to ecological changes. Such a program would allow scientists to better understand and monitor ecosystem change country-wide and would help Canada play its part in contributing to an understanding of ecological change on a global basis.