“Kootenay National Park - Total Ecosystem Forest Carbon Density” is the annual carbon density (tonnes carbon per hectare) within Kootenay’s forested ecosystems over a 31-year period from 1990 to 2020. Total Ecosystem Forest Carbon Density includes aboveground and belowground biomass, soil carbon, and dead organic matter.

Total Ecosystem Forest Carbon Density was estimated for 31 national parks using the Generic Carbon Budget Model (GCBM), a spatially explicit carbon budget model developed by Canadian Forest Service which uses forest inventory, disturbance, and mean annual temperature data along with yield data to estimate growth and merchantable volume for dominant tree species. Species- and Ecozone-specific equations are then used to convert merchantable volume to aboveground and belowground biomass carbon. Ecozones were classified according to Canada Ecological Land Classification Level 1. The GCBM simulates carbon dynamics to produce spatially explicit estimations of carbon stocks and fluxes. The model simulates and tracks carbon stocks, transfers between Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change-defined pools, and other metrics including net ecosystem production, net biome production, and emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), and nitrous oxide (N2O) in annual time steps. The stocks and fluxes are also tracked by disturbance event (e.g., forest fires, insect outbreaks). Total Ecosystem Forest Carbon Density accounts for the effects of natural and anthropogenic disturbances, including wildfires, prescribed burns, and insect outbreaks.

These products have a spatial resolution of 30m.

This information is part of the Parks Canada Carbon Atlas Series. To obtain a copy of this report, please contact changementclimatique-climatechange@pc.gc.ca.

When using this data, please cite as follows:

Sharma, T., Kurz, W.A., Fellows, M., MacDonald, A.L., Richards, J., Chisholm, C., Seutin, G., Richardson, K., Keenleyside, K. (2023). Parks Canada Carbon Atlas Series: Carbon Dynamics in the Forests of Canada’s National Parks. Scientific Report. Parks Canada Agency, Gatineau, QC, Canada, 104 p.