Kelp forest presence from aerial and satellite imagery and historic surveys in the Haida Gwaii Archipelago, late 1800s to 2020

The kelp forests of Haida Gwaii are important areas of ecological value that support numerous cultural and commercial fisheries, and marine species. However, long-term monitoring of the kelp forests in the Haida Gwaii region is at its inception and drivers of change are poorly understood. This project aims to fill this gap and contribute to future stewardship of kelp habitats in the marine waters of Haida Gwaii, British Columbia. One of the goals of this research is to quantify the distribution and variability of the kelp forests of Haida Gwaii to examine relationships between kelp forests and environmental drivers of change. To accomplish this goal, the changes in kelp distribution were assessed using high-resolution satellite and aerial imagery (2003-present) and historic data, from British Admiralty Nautical Charts (1856-1958), Provincial aerial surveys (1973, 1976) and ShoreZone surveys (1991-2,1996) for a subset of regions.