Climate warming and permafrost thaw induced land cover change are well documented in much of the circumpolar north. The frequent exposure of Precambrian continental crust in Canada’s Taiga Shield ecoregion could mean impacts of land cover change documented in other regions without this feature are not transferable. These meteorological, eddy covariance, stable isotope, soil temperature and soil moisture data were used to examine energy partitioning, vegetation water use and soil water state in conifer stands of different canopy density in a Taiga Shield research watershed 5 km north of Yellowknife, NWT. The goal was to determine how changes to canopy density with climate warming could influence water budget response and soil water state. Paired measurements of sensible and latent heat imply evaporative processes in denser canopies are controlled more by radiative than the aerodynamic factors predominant in sparser canopies. As denser canopies become more prevalent on the landscape, the switch in relative importance of radiative or aerodynamic factors will lead to a reduction in inter-annual variability of evapotranspiration. The three dominant tree species (black spruce, tamarack and jack pine) are all quick to draw water after spring thaw and rainfall events and they tend to draw water from shallow soils. More of these trees leads to differences in stable isotope signatures of water that remains in the soil, with older, more evaporatively enriched water prevalent in soils below dense canopies. The land cover distribution in this landscape, dominated by lakes and exposed bedrock that restricts widespread expansion of forested land covers, and the insufficient difference between sparse and dense canopy ET suggest a fundamental change in how water cycles in Taiga Shield catchments is unlikely, which is notably different than previously investigated landscapes in Alaska and the Canadian Taiga Plains.

The Canadian Environmental Sustainability Indicators (CESI) program provides data and information to track Canada's performance on key environmental sustainability issues. The Water quality in Canadian rivers indicator provide a measure of the ability of river water across Canada to support plants and animals. These indicators provide information about the state of surface water quality and its change through time, to support water resource management. Information is provided to Canadians in a number of formats including: static and interactive maps, charts and graphs, HTML and CSV data tables and downloadable reports. See the supplementary documentation for the data sources and details on how the data were collected and how the indicator was calculated. Canadian Environmental Sustainability Indicators: https://www.canada.ca/environmental-indicators

We conducted a species-specific survey for Common Nighthawk (Chordeiles minor) near the northwestern limit of the species’ breeding distribution, in order to investigate relative abundance and also to determine whether a species-specific survey protocol being established for Canada would be appropriate in the north. Activity of Common Nighthawk was documented using 10-stop to 20-stop roadside surveys conducted during the night in northern British Columbia and southern and central Yukon in 2014-15, mostly along established North American Breeding Bird Survey (BBS) routes. We used a total of 19 roadside survey routes, including 14 standardized routes which used the first 20 odd-numbered stops of established BBS routes and were conducted in both 2014 and 2015. The other five routes included one BBS-based route which was completed only partially in 2014 but completely in 2015; one BBS-based route where non-standard stops were surveyed, run only in 2014; and three routes with 10-20 stops which were selected non-randomly and run in both years. Two of the standard routes were also run a second time in the 2014 season. Overall, 738 point counts were conducted on 19 routes over two years. Each survey started one hour before sunset; survey stops were 1.6 km apart, and the count at each stop was 6 minutes long.

The Rusty Blackbird (Euphagus carolinus) breeds in boreal forest wetlands across North America, and winters in the southeastern USA. This species is listed under Canada’s Species at Risk Act as Special Concern due to population declines. For the study, 1220 Rusty Blackbirds were captured in spring and fall from 2005-2010 at three sites in southern Yukon Territory (Whitehorse, Teslin, Watson Lake) in order to investigate timing of migration, stopover and molt, and to develop methods for age determination. We recorded sex, weight, wing length, fat, body molt, molt of primary and secondary wing feathers, eye colour, and extent of skull ossification. We photographed each bird (head, underwing, upperparts), and collected a primary feather (P1) for stable isotope analysis in order to determine breeding origin. Each bird was fitted with an aluminium band and a single colour band to indicate banding site. This dataset includes 717 individual Rusty Blackbirds captured at the Whitehorse Landfill site (60.751° -135.157°) by Canadian Wildlife Service personnel, plus 63 recaptures involving 57 of those 717 individuals. The other birds in the study (not included here) were captured in Teslin and Watson Lake, YT, by the Society of Yukon Bird Observatories http://www.yukonbirdobservatories.org/ . Basic banding data for all banded birds are also held by the Bird Banding Lab of Canadian Wildlife Service in Ottawa https://www.canada.ca/en/environment-climate-change/services/bird-banding.html

Aerial surveys were performed in the Rasmussen Lowlands, Nunavut, to determine the numbers and distribution of Greater White-fronted Geese and other waterfowl species. Surveys were carried out in the Lowlands from 20-24 June 1994 and 20-25 June 1995. The survey procedure included flying straight transects in a float-equipped Bell 206L helicopter at 45 m altitude above ground and at a ground speed of 80-100 km/hr. Transects were oriented east-west and spaced at 5 km intervals in areas expected to have greater densities of geese and 10 km intervals in areas with lower expected densities. All transects were divided into 2 km segments that were used as a basis for recording data. Transects were of differing lengths. Surveys were performed with two observers, one seated in the left front seat and the other in the right rear seat that was equipped with a bubble window for better viewing. All observations of geese and other highly visible birds within an estimated 200 m of the flight path were recorded. Lesser Snow Geese typically nest in large colonies and are not easily surveyed using widely spaced aerial transects. Therefore, on top of counting the numbers of Snow Geese on the regular transects (all non-breeders in flocks of three or more birds), total counts of nesting Snow Geese were carried out by flying over colonies at a height of 230 m and counting all geese within 1 km of each side of the helicopter. Transects were spaced at 2 km distances, and during the transect and colony surveys, the plumage colour of the birds (blue or white) was recorded whenever all individuals in a flock or pair could be readily identified to colour phase. Complete metadata is available in downloadable files.

We documented seasonal and daily activity patterns of Common Nighthawk (Chordeiles minor) near Whitehorse, Yukon, to evaluate the appropriateness at higher latitudes of national survey protocols for this species. Nighthawk vocalizations and audible aerial displays were detected at four locations using automated sound recording units (SM2+ Song Meters, Wildlife Acoustics) from June to August 2013-2014. We used two 5-minute recording segments for each hour, spaced 30 minutes apart, from at least one hour before sunset to at least one hour after sunrise. In 2013, we made a 5-minute recording every 30 minutes, while in 2014 we made a one-hour recording every hour and extracted two 5-minute segments from each recording for analysis. We developed a “recognizer” using Songscope software to automatically scan the 5-minute recording segments and detect “peent” calls. If at least one peent call was detected on a segment, then the spectrogram of that segment was visually scanned by a technician who counted occurrences of the “boom” sound, an audible flight display that is thought to be indicative of nesting territory. For every recording segment with peent calls detected, the previous and subsequent segments were also visually scanned by the technician and booms counted, even if no peent calls were detected by the Songscope recognizer on those recording segments. If the recognizer did not detect peent calls at a site for several nights, we did not scan subsequent recordings from that site. In total, 7296 5-minute recording segments were analysed.

This study examined the toxicity of aged oil sands tailings waste, and it's affect on eight species of freshwater aquatic organisms: Pimephales promelas (fathead minnow), Oryzias latipes (Japanese medaka), Hyalella azteca, Daphnia magna, Vibrio fischeri, Lampsilis cardium, Ceriodaphnia dubia, and Hexagenia spp. Water samples were collected in 2011 from a testing pond within the Alberta Oil Sands, and bioassays were completed in a laboratory at the Canada Centre for Inland Waters located in Burlington, Ontario. All data are a part subject of a publication containing method details, full QA/QC, interpretation and conclusions: Bauer, A. E., Hewitt, L. M., Parrott, J. L., Bartlett, A. J., Gillis, P. L., Deeth, L. E., Rudy, M. D., Vanderveen, R., Brown, L., Campbell, S. D., Rodrigues, M. R., Farwell, A. J., Dixon, D. G., & Frank, R. A. (2019). The toxicity of organic fractions from aged oil sands process-affected water to aquatic species. The Science of the total environment, 669, 702–710. doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.03.107

The Air Pollutant Emission Inventory (APEI) is an annual report of air pollutant emissions across Canada published by Environment and Climate Change Canada. The report details the release of air pollutants from all known of sources since 1990. The APEI serves many purposes, including: - supporting the development of and tracking progress on air quality management strategies, policies and regulations - fulfilling Canada’s domestic and international reporting obligations - informing Canadians about air pollutants emissions - providing data to support Canada’s air quality health indices Emissions data is available for the following: Criteria air contaminants (CACs): - Total particulate matter (TPM) - Particulate matter less than or equal to 10 microns (PM10) - Particulate matter less than or equal to 2.5 microns (PM2.5) - Sulphur oxides (SOx) - Nitrogen oxides (NOx) - Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) - Carbon monoxide (CO) - Ammonia (NH3) Heavy metals: - Mercury (Hg) - Lead (Pb) - Cadmium (Cd) Persistent organic pollutants (POPs): - Dioxins and furans (D/F) - Four polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) compounds (Benzo[a]pyrene, Benzo[b]fluoranthene, Benzo[k]fluoranthene and Indeno[1,2,3-cd]pyrene) - Hexachlorobenzene (HCB) This data record breaks down the historical trends of reported pollutants by individual substances. To perform more customized selections of APEI data, please visit our website to use our interactive query tool. The Air Pollutant Emission Inventory is compiled from many different data sources. Emissions data reported by individual facilities to Environment and Climate Change Canada’s National Pollutant Release Inventory are supplemented with well documented, science-based estimation tools to quantify total emissions. Together these data sources provide a comprehensive overview of pollutant emissions across Canada.

Black carbon is a short-lived, small aerosol (or airborne) particle linked to both climate warming and adverse health effects. It is emitted from incomplete combustion of carbon-based fuels (i.e., fossil fuels, biofuels, wood) in the form of very fine particulate matter. Black carbon is not emitted on its own, but as a component of particulate matter less than or equal to 2.5 micrometres in diameter (PM2.5). As a member of the Arctic Council, Canada has committed to producing an annual inventory of black carbon emissions. This data will serve to inform Canadians about black carbon emissions and provide valuable information for the development of air quality management strategies. The data used to compile the report originate from sections of the Air Pollutant Emission Inventory (APEI) specifically fine particulate matter (PM2.5) emissions from combustion-related sources.