Description

The highly diversified agriculture practised in Quebec in the past has been gradually replaced by more specialized agricultural practices and large-scale production. These changes have resulted in the disappearance of a significant portion of the woodlands that formerly were part of the agricultural landscape of southern Quebec. It is becoming increasingly clear that these woodlands performed a number of highly important ecological and agronomic functions within the larger ecosystem, while ensuring the survival of indigenous plant and animal species in the agricultural landscape. It follows that conserving the woodland islands that remain is of the utmost importance, particularly in the sectors of Quebec where agriculture has been practiced intensively in recent decades. In recent years, the Canadian Wildlife Service of Environment Canada has responded to the challenge of maintaining biodiversity in agricultural ecosystems by developing a Conservation Atlas of Woodlands in the Agricultural Landscape, the primary purpose of which is to determine the status of woodlands and forest fragmentation in southern Quebec. The Atlas also reflects the knowledge acquired to date on the use of these habitats by birds (many species of which are highly vulnerable to landscape fragmentation) and, as such, will complement the information already available on the presence of animal and plant species and will serve as a decision-making tool for managers and conservation groups in the region. Woodland polygons are derived from Landsat-TM5 satellite image classifications from 1993 and 1994, upon which the boundaries of regional county municipalities and the outlines of Quebec’s potential agriculture zone have been superimposed. RCM boundaries are derived from the administrative boundary file (FILA, updated 1996) of the Ministère des ressources naturelles du Québec, with a scale of 1: 250,000). Attributes description is available here: \\int.ec.gc.ca\sys\InGEO\GW\EC1142ProtAreas_AiresProt\Q C_SCF\Habitats\Boisé\Atlas_des_boisés Polygons with a surface area of less than one hectare have been eliminated and contours have been smoothed out.

Resources

Name	Format	Description	Link
View ECCC Data Mart (English)	HTML		http://data.ec.gc.ca/data/sites/plansreports/conservation-atlas-of-woodlands-in-agricultural-landscape
Boises_dans_paysage_agric1994.zip	ZIP		http://data.ec.gc.ca/data/sites/plansreports/conservation-atlas-of-woodlands-in-agricultural-landscape/Boises_dans_paysage_agric1994.zip
View ECCC Data Mart (French)	HTML		http://data.ec.gc.ca/data/sites/plansreports/conservation-atlas-of-woodlands-in-agricultural-landscape?lang=fr

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