More about Project WILDSPACETM
 More
than 50 years of research provides the foundation for Project WILDSPACETM,
a knowledge management initiative launched in 1996 by Environment
Canada (Ontario Region). WILDSPACETM is a multi-faceted
program that includes an analytical and mapping tool for researchers,
the WILDSPACETM Decision Support System (DSS), and a
public Web site, which allows all Canadians to explore and learn
about Ontario’s wild species and spaces.
The goal of Project WILDSPACETM is to integrate the
diverse data holdings of the Canadian Wildlife Service into a widely
accessible system. The Canadian Wildlife Service is part of Environment
Canada, and manages wildlife matters that are the responsibility
of the federal government. These include protection and management
of migratory birds, nationally significant habitat and endangered
species, as well as work on other wildlife issues of national and
international importance. In addition, the Canadian Wildlife Service
does research in many fields of wildlife biology and provides incentive
programs for land stewardship and donation.
The Project WILDSPACETM Web site includes information
on wildlife and Canadian Wildlife Service research projects in Ontario
and beyond, particularly on migratory birds, their ranges and habitats.
You can search for information by selecting wildlife species by
name (Species Search) or you can select an area (Spaces Search)
and combine thematic layers of information on digital maps. A flagship
Web site for the Canadian Wildlife Service in terms of functionality
and content, it averages 46,000 hits per month and is growing steadily.
The Web site is a more visual, condensed version of selected data
from the DSS. Designed to assist in managing wildlife and environmental
information in Ontario and beyond, the DSS is an analytical, planning
and management tool used by scientists, resource managers and decision
makers to carry out complex queries on the temporal and spatial
distribution of wildlife and relevant habitat data.
Web site Species search
 Information
on more than 500 wildlife species is available, including all 435
species of birds that nest in Canada. You can learn about the life
history of Canada’s birds and retrieve images of the species
and nesting habitat, nest, eggs and young. Territorial calls/songs
are also available for many species. You can link to research project
information that is relevant for the species. Hemispheric maps are
provided for the breeding, year-round and wintering ranges of each
species, and you can find maps showing recent breeding status and
distribution in Ontario.
Using the Advanced Search, you can construct a custom query based
on several life history parameters to retrieve lists of bird species
meeting the criteria selected, with direct links to their respective
habitat and nest images.
Web site Spaces search
WILDSPACETM interactive mapping provides “bird
range” information for Canada’s breeding birds for all
six regions of the Western Hemisphere (Canada, United States, Mexico,
the Caribbean, Central and South America). The on-line mapping technology
enables you to select layers, including provinces/territories, ecozones,
ecoregions and forest regions, and query “bird range”
information within Canada and Ontario.
A typical Spaces Search for Ontario enables you to construct a
custom map of the province, or a zoomed-in portion of it, showing
locations of Canadian Wildlife Service monitoring or research study
locations, together with several spatial layers such as highways,
cities, counties, or parks. You could then query individual study
locations displayed on the map to retrieve pertinent data, from
such data sources as Breeding Bird Survey routes, Marsh Monitoring
Program routes, and contaminants monitoring sites.
Web site Library
The WILDSPACETM Library provides access to a variety
of data and information, including:
- descriptions of relevant Canadian Wildlife Service monitoring
or research;
- some 60 project databases;
- static maps for regions and selected surveys;
- biologist profiles, publications and reports;
- compilation of calls and images; and,
- list of related Web links and glossary of terms.
Who is working on WILDSPACETM?
Project Lead:
- Don McNicol, Canadian Wildlife Service
Telephone: (613) 952-2409
For information on the technology supporting the Web site, contact:
- Susan Holland-Hibbert, Geomatics Information Services
Telephone: (905) 336-4527
- Julie Suzanne Pollock, Canadian Wildlife Service
Telephone: (416) 739-5827
For information on the technology supporting the Decision Support
System, contact:
- Isaac Wong, National Water Research Institute
Telephone: (905) 336-4439
For information on the databases supporting this project, contact:
- Rich Russell, Canadian Wildlife Service
Telephone: (613) 941-8376
For information on other Canadian Wildlife Service activities in
Ontario, contact:
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The ongoing development of Project WILDSPACETM
involves expertise from many individuals within Environment
Canada and partnerships with government and non-governmental
organizations. To learn more about our partners and the knowledge
behind the Project, please visit the following:
Project WILDSPACETM
Credits
Project WILDSPACETM
References |
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