Since 1988, the governments of Canada and Quebec have been working together to conserve, restore, protect and develop the St. Lawrence River under the St. Lawrence Action Plan (SLAP). One of the projects identified under the theme of biodiversity conservation is the development of an integrated plan for the conservation of the natural environments and biodiversity of the St. Lawrence River.The identification of priority sites for conservation has been the first step of this planning exercise. Conservation planning of natural environments requires a reliable, accurate and up-to-date image of the spatial distribution of ecosystems in the study area. In order to produce an Atlas of Priority Sites for Conservation in the St. Lawrence Lowlands, an updated cartography of the land cover of this vast territory was undertaken.This project required obtaining reliable information on the natural environments of the St. Lawrence Lowlands. Although several land cover mapping projects have been conducted for specific types of habitats, it was particularly important to obtain a homogeneous product that would cover the entire territory and that would provide the most detailed information on its various thematic components: agricultural, aquatic, human-modified and forest environments, wetlands as well as old fields and bare ground. The methodology used to produce the land cover mapping of the St. Lawrence Lowlands thus relied mainly on combining and enhancing the best existing products for each theme. This project was made in collaboration with MDDELCC as part of the St. Lawrence Action Plan (SLAP).

Produced as part of the St. Lawrence Action Plan, the Atlas of Territories of Conservation Interest in the St. Lawrence Lowlands shows the sites where conservation needs are the most pressing. The conservation targets selected (coarse filter) are forest environments, wetlands, open environments (wastelands, perennial crops) and aquatic environments to which are added elements of the fine filter such as exceptional aquatic environments associated with the St. Lawrence corridor (e.g. spawning grounds), alvars, bird colonies, wildlife elements (e.g. nesting sites of Bank Swallows and Chimney Swift, etc.) and important floristic occurrences. Our objective is to determine the sites of interest until a representative threshold of 20% is reached.The geospatial data associated with sites of interest for conservation, the user guide, the methodological report, the metadata as well as the detailed mapping of land use in the St. Lawrence Lowlands, which was an essential basic data for producing this atlas, are available for download.Users can therefore more accurately consult the spatial distribution of sites of interest and the conservation value associated with each plot of habitat for conservation targets (forest environments, wetlands, wastelands, perennial crops, aquatic environments) using geographic information systems (e.g. ArcGIS). Users can also adapt the analysis of this data to their territorial reality and according to specific objectives specific to their interests. Since the conservation of natural environments and species in precarious situations is a shared responsibility, this Atlas will make it possible to meet the priorities of the many organizations involved in the conservation of natural environments in the St. Lawrence Lowlands.**This third party metadata element was translated using an automated translation tool (Amazon Translate).**

The purpose of the cartographic data resulting from analyses of the ecological connectivity of natural environments in the St. Lawrence lowlands is to equip users by making it possible to integrate the concepts of ecological connectivity and the quality of the habitat of natural terrestrial environments into conservation issues. It is a knowledge tool for recognizing natural environments of importance for ecological connectivity in the St. Lawrence Lowlands region. This data is the result of research conducted by McGill University and its partners (Apex Resource Management Solutions, Quebec Center for Biodiversity Science and Habitat) on behalf of the Ministry of the Environment, the Fight against Climate Change, and its partners (Apex Resource Management Solutions, Wildlife and Parks) (MELCCFP).**This third party metadata element was translated using an automated translation tool (Amazon Translate).**

***** This project was carried out by Environment and Climate Change Canada in collaboration with the MDDELCC as part of the St. Lawrence Action Plan (PASL).Since 1988, the governments of Canada and Quebec have worked together to conserve and enhance the St. Lawrence River as part of the St. Lawrence Action Plan (PASL). One of the projects identified under the theme of biodiversity conservation is the development of an integrated plan for the conservation of natural environments and biodiversity in the St. Lawrence. Identifying priority natural environments for the conservation of biodiversity was the first step in this planning exercise. However, planning for the conservation of natural environments requires having a fair, reliable, accurate and current image of the spatial distribution of ecosystems in the study area. In order to produce an Atlas of territories of interest for conservation in the St. Lawrence Lowlands, an updated mapping of land use in this vast territory was therefore undertaken.This project required the obtaining of reliable information on the natural environments of the St. Lawrence Lowlands. Although numerous and excellent cartographic products already exist to delimit different types of environments, they often cover well-circumscribed regions and it was therefore particularly important to obtain a homogeneous product throughout the territory. At the same time, this makes it possible to obtain the best information on its various components: Agricultural, aquatic, anthropogenic, wooded, humid environments as well as wastelands and bare soils. The mapping of land use in the St. Lawrence Lowlands is thus mainly based on grouping and improving the best existing products for each of the themes.**This third party metadata element was translated using an automated translation tool (Amazon Translate).**

Striped Bass critical habitat (St. Lawrence estuary population) defined by the analysis of available knowledge in 2011 and a scientific advice.PurposeThe status of the Striped Bass population of the St. Lawrence Estuary is in constant evolution. It went from indigenous population until the end of 1960 to designated extirpated in Canada under the Species at Risk Act (SARA) in 2011.Still in 2011, the status of the population of the St. Lawrence Estuary was reassessed by the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC) following the Ministère des Ressources naturelles et de la Faune du Québec re-introduction efforts and was designated endangered (COSEWIC 2012). Under SARA, critical habitat must be designated for all threatened, endangered or extirpated species.Additional InformationThe analysis of available knowledge on habitat quality assessment and its use by the Striped Bass was realized using two research documents: Pelletier et al. (2010) and Robitaille (2010). These documents were then reviewed during a scientific peer review meeting in April 2010. A Recovery Strategy was also established in 2011.Pelletier, A.-M., G. Verrault, G. Bourget and J. Dussureault. 2010. Utilisation de l’habitat par les différents stades de développement de la population réintroduite de bars rayés (Morone saxatilis) de l’estuaire du Saint-Laurent. Ministère des Ressources naturelles et de la Faune du Québec, Direction de l’Expertise Faune-Forêt-Territoire du Bas-Saint-Laurent. 50 p.Robitaille, J. 2010. Assessment of Habitat Quality and Habitat Use by the Extirped Striped Bass Population (Morone saxatilis) of St. Lawrence Estuary, Quebec DFO Canadian Science Advisory Secretariat. Research Document. 2010/052. 22 p.DFO. 2011. Assessment of Habitat Quality and Habitat Use by the Striped Bass (Morone saxatilis) Population of the St. Lawrence Estuary, Quebec. DFO Can. Sci. Advis. Sec. Sci. Advis. Rep. 2010/069.DFO. 2011. Robitaille, J., M. Bérubé, A. Gosselin, M. Baril, J. Beauchamp, J. Boucher, S. Dionne, M. Legault, Y. Mailhot, B. Ouellet, P. Sirois, S. Tremblay G. Trencia, G. Verreault and D. Villeneuve. 2011. Recovery Strategy for the Striped Bass (Morone saxatilis), St. Lawrence Estuary Population, Canada. Species at Risk Act Recovery Strategy Series. Ottawa : Fisheries and Oceans Canada. xi + 51 p.The available information on habitat used and frequented by the St. Lawrence Estuary striped bass population has been reviewed later than 2011 and can be consulted at:https://open.canada.ca/data/en/dataset/db177a8c-5d7d-49eb-8290-31e6a45d786c

This theme represents the limit of the Quebec territory of the Agreement on Sustainable Water Resources of the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River Basin. It was generated from the grouping of watersheds at a cartographic scale of 1:20,000. For more information: http://www.environnement.gouv.qc.ca/eau/grandslacs/2005/index.htm**This third party metadata element was translated using an automated translation tool (Amazon Translate).**

Data includes: * The Lake Superior watershed * The Lake Huron watershed * The Lake Erie watershed * The Lake Ontario watershed * The St. Lawrence River watershed

This layer represents important areas for the Harp seal (Pagophilus groenlandicus). It includes the three main pupping areas for this species and migratory pathways used by Harp seals to migrate between its summering (Baffin Bay) and wintering (Gulf of St. Lawrence and Newfoundland and Labrador coasts) areas. Note that this dataset do not represent the Harp seal distribution.Reference:DFO. 2020. 2019 Status of Northwest Atlantic Harp Seals, Pagophilus groenlandicus. DFO Can. Sci. Advis. Sec. Sci. Advis. Rep. 2020/020.

This layer represents the Harp seal (Pagophilus groenlandicus) distribution. During the summer, the Harp seal is in Arctic and it migrates south of its distribution range during the fall. It migrates back to the Arctic after the moulting period which occurs in April and May.Reference:DFO. 2020. 2019 Status of Northwest Atlantic Harp Seals, Pagophilus groenlandicus. DFO Can. Sci. Advis. Sec. Sci. Advis. Rep. 2020/020.

1999 to 2023 surface temperature and salinity measured along the track of commercial ships, mostly between Montreal (Quebec) and St. John's (Newfoundland).Monitoring of surface water conditions in the Estuary and Gulf of St. Lawrence is carried out with different complementary methods such as thermosalinographs (TSG) installed on commercial ships. These ships are sailing all year long from Montreal to St. John’s, one round trip per week, and are sampling water near the surface (3 to 8 meters deep) to determine the temperature and salinity all along the route.PurposeThe recorded data are used as input to numerical forecasting models for sea ice conditions and as a monitoring tool for the Gulf of St. Lawrence.Annual reports are available at the Canadian Science Advisory Secretariat (CSAS), (http://www.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/csas-sccs/index-eng.htm). Galbraith, P.S., Chassé, J., Caverhill, C., Nicot, P., Gilbert, D., Lefaivre, D. and Lafleur, C. 2018. Physical Oceanographic Conditions in the Gulf of St. Lawrence during 2017. DFO Can. Sci. Advis. Sec. Res. Doc. 2018/050. v + 79 p.