Ministry of Agriculture's Lands Branch Admin boundaries.
Ministry of Agriculture Land Districts were created from ISC's SaskCartographicRuralMunicipality layer.
A Service showing boundaries for the Provincial Forest, Forest Protection Areas and the Timber Supply Areas
Showing the closed time for angling pursuant to section 14(1) of the Fisheries Regulations.
The Saskatchewan Wildlife Management Units (WMU's) are described in Part II of the Wildlife Management Zones and Special Areas Boundaries Regulations (WMZSABR). They are constituted as areas for protecting, propagating, managing, harvesting, controlling or regulating wildlife or its habitat.
This layer represents the perimeter of the Saskatchewan WMU's with inner boundaries dissolved.
Ministry of Agriculture crown land dispositions, mapped by quarter sections and riverlots. Quarter sections and other surveyed areas that contain at least one parcel of agricultural Crown land are shown on the map, but the entire quarter may not be owned by the Crown.
Agricultural crown land is provided as a public service by the Government of Saskatchewan. The information cannot be guaranteed to be current and/or accurate. Users should verify information before acting on it. By using this resource, you understand the intent of the data and do not consider this a replacement for consultations with the Government of Saskatchewan.
Ministry of Agriculture crown land dispositions, mapped by quarter sections and riverlots. Quarter sections and other surveyed areas that contain at least one parcel of agricultural Crown land are shown on the map, but the entire quarter may not be owned by the Crown.
Agricultural crown land is provided as a public service by the Government of Saskatchewan. The information cannot be guaranteed to be current and/or accurate. Users should verify information before acting on it. By using this resource, you understand the intent of the data and do not consider this a replacement for consultations with the Government of Saskatchewan.
For more details on the Saskatchewan Conservation Data Centre (SKCDC), the rare and endangered species layer, and definitions of conservation ranks, see the SKCDC Training Manual and Data Sharing Agreement: http://www.biodiversity.sk.ca/Docs/SKCDCWildlife-manual.pdf.
The Saskatchewan Conservation Data Centre collects and distributes data on wild species of concern in Saskatchewan. The database contains records of mapped Element Occurrences for tracked elements in Saskatchewan. “Elements of Biodiversity” is the term coined by The Nature Conservancy used to refer to a species, subspecies, vegetative community, or a special feature.
An Element Occurrence (EO) is an area of land and/or water in which a species or natural community is, or was, present. An EO should have practical conservation value for the Element as evidenced by potential continued (or historical) presence and/or regular recurrence at a given location. An Element Occurrence record has both spatial and tabular components including a mappable feature (i.e., an Element Occurrence Representation) and its supporting database attributes.
The definition of what constitutes an EO is specific to the particular element. For species Elements, the EO often corresponds with the local population, but when appropriate may be a portion of a population (e.g., long distance dispersers) or a group of nearby populations (e.g., metapopulation). As an example, an EO of a Loggerhead Shrike (Lanius ludovicianus) is defined as one nesting pair, whereas an EO of most plant species is any natural population separated from other such populations by at least 1.6 kilometers. For community Elements, the EO may represent a stand or patch of a natural community, or a cluster of stands or patches of a natural community.
NatureServe(www.natureserve.org) provides the SKCDC with the EO definitions and quality ranks for each species. This information is stored electronically in the SKCDC Biotics database along with other details about the conservation ranks and ecology of the species. Examples of information stored in the EO database include: detailed location information (latitude and longitude coordinates, quarter-section, etc.), a list of all observations that make up the Element Occurrence (over time and over space), description of the habitat, population size, quality of occurrence, the name of the observer and references to available literature documenting the occurrence.
Element occurrences consist of two components. This first is the observed (source) feature. Depending on the type of occurrence, an observed feature can be a point, a line or a polygon. Examples might include a ferruginous hawk nest (point), a stream segment containing bigmouth buffalo spawning beds (line), or a lake or bay used by staging shorebirds (polygon). The location of an observed feature is determined on the basis of information that is often incomplete or imperfect. The quality of the information may vary due to a number of factors. Consequently, the recorded location may vary from the true location reflecting a measure of spatial uncertainty.
The second component is the representational polygon, the polygon you see. This polygon incorporates the spatial uncertainty and the observed feature to build a polygon representing the area within which the element occurrence is known to occur. The occurrence is somewhere within the representational polygon rather than everywhere within the polygon, and not necessarily in the centre of the polygon.
This is the general Rare and Endangered Species map layer and therefore detailed species information in the attributes is not provided.The Saskatchewan Conservation Data Centre also provides access to detailed information for the Rare and Endangered Species map layer for those with a demonstrated need to know. Such needs may include project planning with respect to developments on the landscape, conservation planning, independent confirmation of presence or other uses that do not compromise the likelihood of long-term persistence at a given site. Users may request detailed access by emailing a short explanation of their needs and attaching a sign Data Sharing Agreement (http://www.biodiversity.sk.ca/Docs/SKCDCWildlife-manual.pdf). The SKCDC reserves the right to decline such requests if it believes the need does not warrant such access. The SKCDC will work with the user to provide the best information possible in a timely and suitable manner.
Ministry of Agriculture Pasture Boundaries, includes former PFRA and SPP pastures.
Saskatchewan Ministry of Agriculture cumulative clubroot survey results by RM from 2008 to 2023.
Saskatchewan Ministry of Agriculture cumulative clubroot survey results by RM from 2008 to 2023
Beverly and Qamanirjuaq Barren-ground Caribou (Rangifer tarandus groenlandicus) winter range based on government surveys 1940s-2011, telemetry data 1993-2012, and traditional knowledge. This winter range polygon has been clipped to the Saskatchewan border; the full range includes portions of Alberta, Manitoba, North West Territories and Nunavut.
Beverly and Qamanirjuaq Caribou Management Board (BQCMB)
The Beverly and Qamanirjuaq Caribou Management Board (BQCMB) is a co-management board established to safeguard two herds of barren‐ground caribou – the Beverly and Qamanirjuaq herds - for present and future generations. Created in 1982, the BQCMB was the first caribou co-management board in North America. The Board provides a way to deal with the multi‐jurisdictional nature of the caribou herds and the multiple cultures of the people who depend on them while including Indigenous peoples in decision‐making processes. Find out more about the BQCMB at: https://arctic-caribou.com/.
Beverly and Qamanirjuaq Winter Ranges
The historic Beverly and Qamanirjuaq winter ranges overlap, mainly in southeastern NWT and northeastern Saskatchewan. During the rest of the year the herds are usually apart, with the Qamanirjuaq herd mainly in the southern Kivalliq region of Nunavut along and inland from Hudson Bay, and the Beverly herd using range in NWT and Nunavut to the west and northwest of Qamanirjuaq range.
The Prairie Landscape Inventory (PLI) working team of Habitat Unit in the Fish, Wildlife and Lands Branch, Ministry of Environment aims to develop improved methods of assessing land cover and land use for conservation. Native grassland, in particular, has been one of the most hard to map at risk ecosystems because of difficulty for imagery classification methods to distinguish native from tame grasslands. Improved classification methods will provide valuable information for habitat suitability, identifying high biodiversity potential and invasion risk potential.
Badreldin, N.; Prieto, B.; Fisher, R. Mapping Grasslands in Mixed Grassland Ecoregion of Saskatchewan Using Big Remote Sensing Data and Machine Learning. Remote Sens. 2021, 13, 4972.
https://doi.org/10.3390/rs13244972
The classification map has nine (9) classes:
1. Cropland
This class represents all cultivated areas with crop commodities such as corn, Pulses, Soybeans, canola, grains, and summer-fallow.
2. Native
This class represents the native grassland areas of the Mixed Grasslands, which are composed primarily of native grass species such as the needle grasses (needle and thread, porcupine grass and green needle grass), wheat grasses (slender wheatgrass, western wheatgrass and awned wheatgrass) along with June grass and blue grama grass. Also includes a variety of additional grass and sedge species, forbs such as pasture sage and some non-vascular species such as selaginella or lichens.
3. Mixed
This class represents one or more of the followings cases;
o A higher heterogenic grassland terrain with a mix of less than 75% native or/and less than 75% tame;
o Native or/and tame grassland affected by high abiotic stresses such as soil salinity and drought;
o Native or/and tame grassland affected by soil erosion such as water and wind erosions;
o A high disturbed area by livestock and human activities; and
o A bare terrain with low vegetation cover < 50% coverage in 100 m2 area.
4. Tame
This class represents the tame grassland areas that have in most cases been intentionally modified and seeded or planted with an introduced grass species such as crested wheatgrass and smooth brome. Russian wild rye is encountered typically planted in more saline areas. However, in more recent years’ horticultural varieties of various wheatgrass species have also been introduced. Alfalfa and sweet clover are the most commonly encountered introduced forb species.
5. Water This class represents one of the following hydrological forms:
o Lakes;
o Rivers;
o Water ponds;
o Streamflow;
o Dugouts; and
o Lower elevations in irrigated areas.
6. Shrubs (Modified from ISO 19131 Annual Crop Inventory – Data Product Specifications, Agriculture and Agri-food Canada, 2013.)
This class represents the predominantly woody vegetation of relatively low height (generally ±2 m). This class may include grass or wetlands with woody vegetation, and regenerating forest.
7. Trees (Modified from ISO 19131 Annual Crop Inventory – Data Product Specifications, Agriculture and Agri-food Canada, 2013.)
This class represents predominantly forest areas such as:
o Coniferous trees;
o Deciduous trees;
o Mixedwood area; and
o Other trees > 2 m height.
8. Woody plants
This class represents the sites dominated by woody vegetation including shrubs and trees with typically more than 20% canopy cover.
9. Urban area
This class was masked using urban/developed area class of the Annual Crop Inventory 2020 (Agriculture Agri-Food Canada), and limited within the urban municipality polygons.
Colour Classes:
Value Label Red, Green, Blue
1 Cropland 255, 255, 190
2 Native 168, 168, 0
3 Mixed 199, 215, 158
4 Tame 245, 202, 122
5 Water 190, 232, 255
6 Shrubs 205, 102, 153
7 Trees 38, 115, 0
8 Woody 137, 205, 102
9 Urban 128, 128, 128
Year:
The Year field represents the year the analysis was undertaken.
Accuracy:
Please also refer to the R_PLI_MixedGrasslandAccuracy raster , which depicts the estimated level of accuracy for the Mixed Grassland map layer.
Accuracy metrics:
The Moist Mixed Grassland model has an overall accuracy of 70.3 per cent. The table below summarizes the user’s accuracy, producer’s accuracy, and F1-score of the model on the validation dataset.
Class | User’s accuracy (%) | Producer’s accuracy (%) | F1-score |
Cropland | 74.7 | 87.1 | 0.81 |
Native grassland | 61.7 | 78.3 | 0.69 |
Mixed grassland | 57.7 | 26.1 | 0.36 |
Tame grassland | 66.9 | 69.8 | 0.68 |
Water | 96.3 | 84.4 | 0.90 |
Woody plants | 81.1 | 73.2 | 0.77 |
The Prairie Landscape Inventory (PLI) working team of Habitat Unit in the Fish, Wildlife and Lands Branch, Ministry of Environment aims to develop improved methods of assessing land cover and land use for conservation. Native grassland, in particular, has been one of the most hard to map at risk ecosystems because of difficulty for imagery classification methods to distinguish native from tame grasslands. Improved classification methods will provide valuable information for habitat suitability, identifying high biodiversity potential and invasion risk potential.
Badreldin, N.; Prieto, B.; Fisher, R. Mapping Grasslands in Mixed Grassland Ecoregion of Saskatchewan Using Big Remote Sensing Data and Machine Learning. Remote Sens. 2021, 13, 4972.
https://doi.org/10.3390/rs13244972
The classification map has nine (9) classes:
1. Cropland
This class represents all cultivated areas with crop commodities such as corn, Pulses, Soybeans, canola, grains, and summer-fallow.
2. Native
This class represents the native grassland areas of the Mixed Grasslands, which are composed primarily of native grass species such as the needle grasses (needle and thread, porcupine grass and green needle grass), wheat grasses (slender wheatgrass, western wheatgrass and awned wheatgrass) along with June grass and blue grama grass. Also includes a variety of additional grass and sedge species, forbs such as pasture sage and some non-vascular species such as selaginella or lichens.
3. Mixed
This class represents one or more of the followings cases;
o A higher heterogenic grassland terrain with a mix of less than 75% native or/and less than 75% tame;
o Native or/and tame grassland affected by high abiotic stresses such as soil salinity and drought;
o Native or/and tame grassland affected by soil erosion such as water and wind erosions;
o A high disturbed area by livestock and human activities; and
o A bare terrain with low vegetation cover < 50% coverage in 100 m2 area.
4. Tame
This class represents the tame grassland areas that have in most cases been intentionally modified and seeded or planted with an introduced grass species such as crested wheatgrass and smooth brome. Russian wild rye is encountered typically planted in more saline areas. However, in more recent years’ horticultural varieties of various wheatgrass species have also been introduced. Alfalfa and sweet clover are the most commonly encountered introduced forb species.
5. Water This class represents one of the following hydrological forms:
o Lakes;
o Rivers;
o Water ponds;
o Streamflow;
o Dugouts; and
o Lower elevations in irrigated areas.
6. Shrubs (Modified from ISO 19131 Annual Crop Inventory – Data Product Specifications, Agriculture and Agri-food Canada, 2013.)
This class represents the predominantly woody vegetation of relatively low height (generally ±2 m). This class may include grass or wetlands with woody vegetation, and regenerating forest.
7. Trees (Modified from ISO 19131 Annual Crop Inventory – Data Product Specifications, Agriculture and Agri-food Canada, 2013.)
This class represents predominantly forest areas such as:
o Coniferous trees;
o Deciduous trees;
o Mixedwood area; and
o Other trees > 2 m height.
8. Woody plants
This class represents the sites dominated by woody vegetation including shrubs and trees with typically more than 20% canopy cover.
9. Urban area
This class was masked using urban/developed area class of the Annual Crop Inventory 2020 (Agriculture Agri-Food Canada), and limited within the urban municipality polygons.
Colour Classes:
Value Label Red, Green, Blue
1 Cropland 255, 255, 190
2 Native 168, 168, 0
3 Mixed 199, 215, 158
4 Tame 245, 202, 122
5 Water 190, 232, 255
6 Shrubs 205, 102, 153
7 Trees 38, 115, 0
8 Woody 137, 205, 102
9 Urban 128, 128, 128
Year:
The Year field represents the year the analysis was undertaken.
Accuracy:
Please also refer to the R_PLI_MixedGrasslandAccuracy raster , which depicts the estimated level of accuracy for the Mixed Grassland map layer.
Accuracy metrics:
The Moist Mixed Grassland model has an overall accuracy of 70.3 per cent. The table below summarizes the user’s accuracy, producer’s accuracy, and F1-score of the model on the validation dataset.
Class | User’s accuracy (%) | Producer’s accuracy (%) | F1-score |
Cropland | 74.7 | 87.1 | 0.81 |
Native grassland | 61.7 | 78.3 | 0.69 |
Mixed grassland | 57.7 | 26.1 | 0.36 |
Tame grassland | 66.9 | 69.8 | 0.68 |
Water | 96.3 | 84.4 | 0.90 |
Woody plants | 81.1 | 73.2 | 0.77 |
The Prairie Landscape Inventory (PLI) working team of Habitat Unit in the Fish, Wildlife and Lands Branch, Ministry of Environment aims to develop improved methods of assessing land cover and land use for conservation. Native grassland, in particular, has been one of the most hard to map at risk ecosystems because of difficulty for imagery classification methods to distinguish native from tame grasslands. Improved classification methods will provide valuable information for habitat suitability, identifying high biodiversity potential and invasion risk potential.
This reliability raster brings the understanding of classification accuracy (certainty) into a spatial scale prospective, illustrating the level of accuracy of the PLI Classification in the Mixed Grassland Ecoregion. This raster is scaled between 1 to 0, 1 is representing the highest accuracy, and 0 is absolutely the highest uncertainty.
The PLI Classification for the Mixed Grassland Ecoregion (2019) has a resolution of 10m and was based on machine learning analysis and remote sensing data of Sentinel-1 and Sentinel-2 imagery on July to August of 2017-2019 dates.
Woodland caribou habitat potential within the provincial forest of central and northern Saskatchewan has been identified by Saskatchewan, using a forest ecosite geographic information system layer which has been mapped for the area. Forest ecosites represent information about a site’s tree species, plant-abundance and soil and site characteristics (McLaughlan et al., 2010). Forest ecosite habitat potential ranks were assigned by individually evaluating the ecosite’s potential to provide forage, refuge and calving habitat.
Forage value was rated based on the availability of lichen and other plant species, which are palatable to caribou (Thomas and Armbruster, 1996).
Refuge value was rated based on the availability of plant species which provide food value for other ungulates (e.g. moose, deer, elk). This was used as a surrogate for the probability of predation. If these food sources are not present, the ecosite has potential to provide refuge for caribou from predators.
Calving and post-calving ratings were made in consideration of both the time of calving and the following two to four-week period. The primary consideration was safety from predation. The related factors considered were the ability to hide a calf and the lack of spring black bear forage. A secondary consideration was whether there was caribou forage available on the site.
Ecosite rankings were completed by a panel of biologists with expertise on woodland caribou habitat use in Saskatchewan. Forest ecosites were mapped with the assigned habitat potential value.
Woodland caribou habitat potential within the provincial forest of central and northern Saskatchewan has been identified by Saskatchewan, using a forest ecosite geographic information system layer which has been mapped for the area. Forest ecosites represent information about a site’s tree species, plant-abundance and soil and site characteristics (McLaughlan et al., 2010). Forest ecosite habitat potential ranks were assigned by individually evaluating the ecosite’s potential to provide forage, refuge and calving habitat.
Forage value was rated based on the availability of lichen and other plant species, which are palatable to caribou (Thomas and Armbruster, 1996).
Refuge value was rated based on the availability of plant species which provide food value for other ungulates (e.g. moose, deer, elk). This was used as a surrogate for the probability of predation. If these food sources are not present, the ecosite has potential to provide refuge for caribou from predators.
Calving and post-calving ratings were made in consideration of both the time of calving and the following two to four-week period. The primary consideration was safety from predation. The related factors considered were the ability to hide a calf and the lack of spring black bear forage. A secondary consideration was whether there was caribou forage available on the site.
Ecosite rankings were completed by a panel of biologists with expertise on woodland caribou habitat use in Saskatchewan. Forest ecosites were mapped with the assigned habitat potential value.