Boreal Forest Biome
The western boreal forest study area of CCRN traverses the latitudinal and altitudinal extents of boreal forests in Canada and the range of permafrost conditions across which these forests exist (nonpermafrost through to deep, continuous permafrost). Western permafrost-free boreal sites include the Boreal Ecosystem Research and Monitoring Sites (BERMS) in Saskatchewan that derive from the mid-1990s NASA-Canada Boreal Ecosystem-Atmosphere Study (BOREAS) and were subsequently expanded to the Environment Canada (EC) BERMS Programme. These sites in the Boreal Plains ecozone are characterized by heterogeneous forest types interspersed with wetlands and frequent wildfire disturbance, and include Black Spruce, Aspen, Jack Pine and Fen. Additional data sources in this region include Northern Alberta flux tower sites, developed in collaboration with the Oil Sands industry, as well as provincial and federal observation stations for climate and fire prediction.
WECC Observatories
Boreal Ecosystem Research and Monitoring Sites (BERMS)