MAP 2 Ecological Sensitivity
By their very nature, ecologically sensitive (ES) sites become part of a Protected Landscape Network.
• Ecologically Sensitive sites are inherently less resilient, especially vulnerable to disturbance, and slow to recover from change.
• Ecological Sensitivity maps sites with extreme natural limitations, including places that are very wet, or very dry, or very steep or steep-dry, and any place with very shallow soil. All riparian and wetlands (and surrounding buffers) are ecologically sensitive.
• Ecologically sensitive sites have limited resilience and are extra-vulnerable to any disturbance. They are often close to thresholds or tipping points where disturbances may result in changing the identity of the site, e.g. dry forests become shrub areas, or wet forests become shrub fields or part of a water body.
• The risk of exceeding a threshold or tipping point is increased significantly by disturbances like logging, and also exacerbated by climate change.
Data Used to Make this Map:
Discovery Islands Sensitive Ecosystems Inventory
Canadian Digital Elevation Data (CDED)
Fresh Water Atlas (FWA) Streams Lakes and Wetlands
*Biological Diversity, Ecological Community, Ecosystem (definitions)