Great Lakes Shoreline Ecosystem (GLSE) Inventory and Monitoring Project

Session: 57. - Advances in Understanding Nearshore Ecosystems in Great Lakes and Connecting Channels

Julie Simard, Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry, [email protected]
Harold Lee, Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry, [email protected]

Abstract

Great Lakes shoreline ecosystems need to be mapped, classified, described, and named to establish benchmarks that will be monitored over time, meeting the needs of projected management and conservation priorities. Using remote sensing tools and Ecological Land Classification (ELC), the Great Lakes Shoreline Ecosystem (GLSE) project is carrying out this work within a 2 km buffer along all Canadian Great Lakes to provide a comprehensive inventory of the unique coasts of the Great Lakes basin. The GLSE is describing and refining new ecological concepts and will be contributing to further refinements of the ELC. The GLSE will bring both a landscape-scale (1:10,000) inventory map, for broader analyses, along with finer, site-specific information, a catalogue to what information we may already know about an area. Integrating information with the map provides a one stop access for practitioners in the broader Great Lakes community.  We seek to provide the resources to enable focused conservation efforts in coastal areas and especially measure progress towards a target of net habitat gain, according to binational and domestic Great Lakes agreements.

1. Keyword
coastal ecosystems

2. Keyword
habitats

3. Keyword
monitoring

4. Additional Keyword
remote sensing

5. Additional Keyword
inventory

6. Additional Keyword
ecological classification