Monitoring - Habitat

Pingo Monitoring

Rationale

Top of Ibyuk Pingo. © Parks Canada

Pingos are a permafrost feature represented in the Pingo Canadian Landmark near Tuktoyaktuk. The community of Tuktoyaktuk is interested in protecting the pingos in the Landmark and also developing the Landmark as an attraction for visitors. There is concern that recreational activities and natural processes are causing the pingos to deteriorate. Damage to the vegetation covering the pingos exposes their ice core and causes them to melt. Damage to the pingos may decrease the value of the Landmark as an area that represents permafrost landforms and as a visitor attraction. The Pingo Working Group, comprised of the Inuvialuit Land Administration, Hamlet of Tuktoyaktuk, Tuktoyaktuk Hunters and Trappers Committee, Tuktoyaktuk Community Corporation and Parks Canada, co-manage the Landmark.

Objectives

• To develop a program, through the Pingo Working Group, to monitor the condition of the Pingo Canadian Landmark.

Methods and Information Collected

• Parks Canada is developing a monitoring program for the Pingo Canadian Landmark in cooperation with the Pingo Working Group.
• Four PlantWatch plots and 5 photopoints were established close to Ibyuk and Split Pingos as a pilot project to monitor ecological change. Plot locations and vegetative composition were determined. Photos were taken from each photopoint.

Results

• A monitoring options paper was written for the Pingo Working Group. This paper provides a synthesis of the various applicable monitoring methods. It will be used to assist with deciding on appropriate monitoring programs to be carried out within the Landmark.
• Data for the Plant Watch plots and photopoints can be recorded in subsequent years, should a decision be made to continue with this program.

Years of Data

• 2002

Partners

• Hamlet of Tuktoyaktuk
• Inuvialuit Land Administration
• Tuktoyaktuk Hunters and Trappers Committee
• Tuktoyaktuk Community Corporation

Funding

• Parks Canada

Data Location

• Parks Canada, Inuvik

Panoramic view of the Pingo Canadian Landmark. © Parks Canada

Contacts

Jacquie Bastick
Ecological Technician
Western Arctic Field Unit
Parks Canada
P.O. Box 1840
Inuvik, NT X0E 0T0
Phone: (867) 777-8824
Fax: (867) 777-8820
Jacquie.Bastick@pc.gc.ca

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