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Horizon scanning is a systematic approach increasingly used to explore emerging trends, issues, opportunities, and threats in conservation. We present the results from one such exercise aimed at identifying emerging issues that could have important scientific, social, technological, and managerial implications for the conservation of inland waters in Canada in the proximate future. We recognized six opportunities and nine challenges, for which we provide research implications and policy options, such that scientists, policy makers, and the Canadian society as a whole can prepare for a potential growth in each of the topic areas we identified. The issues spanned a broad range of topics, from recognizing the opportunities and challenges of community-enabled science and the need to consider the legal rights of nature, to the likely increase of pharmaceuticals in wastewater due to an aging population. These issues represent a first baseline that could help decision makers identify and prioritize efforts while simultaneously stimulate new research avenues. We hope our horizon scan will pave the way for similar exercises related to the conservation of biodiversity in Canada. L'analyse prospective est une approche systematique de plus en plus utilisee pour explorer les nouvelles tendances, questions, occasions et menaces dans le domaine de la conservation. Nous presentons les resultats d'un de ces exercices visant a cerner les questions emergentes qui pourraient etre importantes des points de vue scientifique, social, technologique et de la gestion relativement a la conservation des eaux interieures au Canada, pour l'avenir rapproche. Nous relevons six occasions a saisir et neuf defis, dont nous abordons les repercussions sur la recherche et les possibilites d'action qu'ils presentent, afin que les scientifiques, les decideurs et l'ensemble de la societe canadienne puissent se preparer en vue d'une croissance potentielle dans chacun des domaines cernes. Ces questions couvrent un vaste eventail de sujets allant de la reconnaissance des occasions et defis de la science facilitee par la collectivite et la necessite de prendre en compte les droits de la nature en vertu de la loi, a l'augmentation probable des produits pharmaceutiques dans les eaux usees en raison du vieillissement de la population. Ces questions representent un premier etat de reference qui pourrait aider les decideurs a cerner et prioriser les efforts tout en stimulant de nouvelles avenues de recherche. Nous esperons que cette analyse prospective ouvrira la voie a des exercices semblables concernant la conservation de la biodiversite au Canada. [Traduit par la Redaction], Introduction Rivers, lakes, springs, and other inland waters (i.e., all surface waters contained within lands; FAO 2008) are often classified among the most threatened ecosystems on the planet (Dudgeon et [...]

Fire seasons have become increasingly variable and extreme due to changing climatological, ecological, and social conditions. Earth observation data are critical for monitoring fires and their impacts. Herein, we present a whole‐system framework for identifying and synthesizing fire monitoring objectives and data needs throughout the life cycle of a fire event. The four stages of fire monitoring using Earth observation data include the following: (1) pre‐fire vegetation inventories, (2) active‐fire monitoring, (3) post‐fire assessment, and (4) multi‐scale synthesis. We identify the challenges and opportunities associated with current approaches to fire monitoring, highlighting four case studies from North American boreal, montane, and grassland ecosystems. While the case studies are localized to these ecosystems and regional contexts, they provide insights for others experiencing similar monitoring challenges worldwide. The field of remote sensing is experiencing a rapid proliferation of new data sources, providing observations that can inform all aspects of our fire monitoring framework; however, significant challenges for meeting fire monitoring objectives remain. We identify future opportunities for data sharing and rapid co‐development of information products using cloud computing that benefits from open‐access Earth observation and other geospatial data layers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Boreal forests maintain regionally important biodiversity and globally important ecosystem services, such as carbon storage and freshwater resources. Many boreal systems have limited anthropogenic disturbances and are preserved, in effect, to date largely by their harsh climates and remoteness. As of 2011, almost 10% of Canada is subject to some manner of formal protection, with 4.5% of this protected area found within the boreal zone. The management of existing parks and protected areas (PPAs) is shared amongst many federal, provincial, and territorial jurisdictions. Although there are currently low levels of anthropogenic development in some portions of the boreal zone (especially the north), if expansion of protected areas is of interest, there are challenges to traditional PPA networks that may be more prominent in the boreal zone than elsewhere: (1) the boreal zone is home to charismatic mammal species with area requirements much larger than typical PPAs; (2) the boreal zone is characterized by natural disturbance regimes that impact large areas; and (3) projected changes to climate for the boreal zone are among the greatest in the world, creating temporal considerations for conservation planning exercises. There is currently no PPA assessment specific to boreal Canada. To address this lack of an assessment, we developed a conservation gap analysis of the current PPA system with respect to a variety of environmental surrogates (ecozones, land cover, vegetation productivity, and landscape structure). The amount of formally protected land varied within each surrogate, with few commonly reported features meeting national or international conservation targets. Furthermore, few reserves met the areal requirements that have been previously recommended to protect large mammals or accommodate the disturbance regimes present. We also discuss considerations and implications of area-based versus value-based protection objectives. While recognizing that there are still scientific challenges around understanding and evaluating the effectiveness of PPAs, based upon our review and assessment, the following considerations should inform conservation options for the boreal zone: (1) representation of the distribution of natural features within the PPA network; (2) effective maintenance of habitat requirements and spatial resilience to both cyclical and directional changes in spatial patterns through large, connected reserves; and (3) implementation of sustainable forest management practices (where applicable) throughout the broader landscape, as traditional on-reserve protection is unlikely to be sufficient to meet conservation goals. The Canadian boreal is unique in possessing large tracts of inaccessible forested lands that are not subject to management interventions, thereby offering functions similar to protected lands. The question of how to more formally integrate these lands into the existing PPA network requires further consideration. Further, the important temporal role of landscape dynamics in designing an effective PPA needs to be further studied as well as development of a better understanding of design needs in the context of a changing climate. Key words: climate change, gap analysis, remote sensing, landscape dynamics, prioritization, representation, wilderness. La foret boreale maintient une importante biodiversite a l'echelle regionale et d'importants services ecosystemiques a l'echelle globale, tels que le stockage du carbone et les ressources en eau douce. Plusieurs systemes boreaux subissent des perturbations anthropiques limitees et sont dans les faits conserves jusqu'a maintenant par leurs climats rigoureux et leur eloignement. Depuis 2011, presque 10 % du Canada se voit, de diverses facons, soumis a une protection formelle; on retrouve 4.5 % de ces surfaces protegees dans la zone boreale. L'amenagement des parcs existants et des aires protegees (PAPs) se partage entre plusieurs juridictions federales, provinciales et territoriales. Il se peut que l'expansion des aires protegees soit un objectif souhaitable malgre de faibles niveaux actuels de developpement anthropique dans certaines portions de la zone boreale (specialement au nord). Cependant, il existe des defis pour les reseaux traditionnels de PAP qui pourraient s'averes plus proeminents dans cette region qu'ailleurs, notamment : (1) dans la zone boreale vivent des especes de mammiferes charismatiques requerant des besoins beaucoup plus vastes en superficies que le sont les PAPs typiques; (2) la zone boreale se caracterise par des regimes de perturbation affectant de vastes superficies; et (3) les changements climatiques attendus pour la zone boreale se situent parmi les plus importants au monde, impliquant des consideration temporelles dans les exercices de planification de la conservation. Il n'y a presentement aucune evaluation des PAPs specifiques pour le Canada boreal. Pour faire face a ce manque devaluation, les auteurs ont developpe une analyse des lacunes dans la conservation du systeme des PAPs actuel en relation avec des substituts (ecozones, couverture des terres, productivite vegetale et structure du paysage). La quantite de terres formellement protegees varie selon chaque substitut, avec peu de caracteristiques communes rencontrant les cibles nationales ou internationales de conservation. De plus, peu de reserves rencontrent les besoins en surfaces generalement recommandees pour proteger les grands mammiferes ou accommoder les regimes de perturbations actuels. Les auteurs discutent egalement des considerations et des implications d'objectifs de protection bases sur les surfaces versus bases sur les valeurs. Tout en reconnaissant qu'il existe toujours des defis scientifiques au sujet de la comprehension et de l'evaluation de l'efficacite des PAPs, sur la base de cette revue et son evaluation, on soumet que les considerations suivantes devraient informer le developpement des options de conservation dans; la zone boreale : (1) representation de la distribution des caracteristiques naturelles dans le reseau des PAPs; (2) maintient effectif des besoins en habitats et resilience spatiale aux changements a la fois cycliques et directionnels dans les patrons spatiaux, par le maintient de vastes reserves interconnectees; et (3) mise en place de pratiques d'amenagement forestier durable (lorsqu'applicables) sur l'ensemble de paysages plus vastes, puisque la protection traditionnelle sur reserve ne suffira probablement pas pour rencontrer les objectifs de conservation. La foret boreale canadienne est unique en ce qu'elle possede de grandes etendues de terrains forestiers inaccessibles n'etant pas soumises aux interventions d'amenagement, offrant consequemment des fonctions similaires a celles de terres protegees. La connaissance plus formelle sur la facon d'integrer ces terres dans le reseau PAP existant necessite d'autres considerations. De plus, le role temporel important des dynamiques du paysage dans la conception de PAPs efficaces doit etre davantage etudie, et une meilleure comprehension des besoins conceptuels doit etre developpee dans un contexte de changement climatique. [Traduit par la Redaction] Mots-cles : changement climatique, analyse des lacunes, teledetection, dynamique des paysages, priorisation, representation, nature sauvage., 1. Introduction Anthropogenic activities have caused unprecedented global changes (Cardille and Lambois 2010; Nelson et al. 2006), compromising the ability of many ecological systems to maintain biodiversity and provide ecosystem [...]