NWT RESEARCH DATABASE

Regions: Inuvialuit Settlement Region

Tags: environmental impact, petroleum industry, biology, landscape disturbance, vegetation, botany, traditional knowledge, industrial development, land use, archaeology, rare plants, ground truth survey, fish distribution, aerial photography, wildlife habitat

Objective(s): The vegetation project is part of a group of studies being proposed prior to any construction for the Ikhil Gas Project. Other research areas are wildlife, archaeology and fish. The goal of these studies is to ensure that sufficient information is available in a study area which includes a 1 km buffer around the Ikhil Project, to allow appropriate mitigation measures to be implemented, to ensure potential environmental impacts are mitigated. Vegetation communities along the pipeline route and over other parts of the Project area would be provisionally mapped from aerial photographs. A field survey would be undertaken with an emphasis on identifying rare plants. The study area is in the Caribou Hills IBP site 4-9, which was in part proposed because of its rare flora. July is an optimum time for a single survey. Also transect sampling would allow general characterization of communities, including presence of plants of importance to the community of Inuvik. The only sampling would be of representative specimens whose identification was uncertain. Data analyses would quantify association of rare & other plants of importance with vegetation community types. An impact analysis would be conducted and if necessary, recommendations made for mitigation.

Project Description: Vegetation communities along the pipeline route and over other parts of the Project area would be provisionally mapped from aerial photographs. A field survey would be undertaken with an emphasis on identifying rare plants. The study area is in the Caribou Hills IBP site 4-9, which was in part proposed because of its rare flora. July is an optimum time for a single survey. Also transect sampling would allow general characterization of communities, including presence of plants of importance to the community of Inuvik. The only sampling would be of representative specimens whose identification was uncertain. Data analyses would quantify association of rare & other plants of importance with vegetation community types. An impact analysis would be conducted and if necessary, recommendations made for mitigation. Transport to and from the study area will be by helicopter. The survey will be done on foot.