Landscape inventory

The Department of Natural Resources completes a highly detailed inventory to determine what ecosystems look like across the province’s landscape including:  

• forest inventory information such as tree species, size, tree quality, tree quantity (volume) and broad forest types  
• wetland inventory information such as vegetation types, moisture regime and wetland type/class 
• non-forest inventory information such as land use
• water body inventory information such as ponds, rivers, lakes and ocean

The provincial forest inventory is carried out on an acquisition schedule every 5 to 10 years.  Harvest, silvicultural and natural disturbance updates are added to the inventory annually to ensure the most current information is available. 

The landscape inventory is the foundation for sustainable forest management, land use planning and policy decision making. It adheres to the following principles:

• renewed at an appropriate frequency
• collected across all land ownerships
• supports management and regulatory frameworks
• provides baseline data for evaluation and reporting on landscape conditions and trends
• embraces innovation and automation
• open data

To build a detailed inventory, the department acquires and leverages remote sensing data collected at a provincial scale including LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging), satellite imagery and aerial imagery.   The department also administers two Continuous Landscape Inventory (CLI) ground plot programs (Forested and Wetland CLI programs) to support a detailed statistical sample of forest and wetland conditions across the province. 

LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging)

A first full cycle of LiDAR data was collected for all of New Brunswick between 2015 and 2018. LiDAR is collected with special sensors mounted in an airplane. While the airplane flies, the sensor sends out light particles that bounce off the surface below including the bare ground, roads, trees or whatever they hit, and return to the sensor. This has allowed the department to describe the landscape in a detail never done before. It also allows foresters to quantify the forests with accurate data of height and density that can be used to derive other important measures for sustainable forest management such as tree diameter and volume.

Satellite and aerial imagery

Satellite imagery data is used to find very recent changes in the forest and non-forest. The department uses satellite imagery to find harvests and natural and natural disturbances from one year to the next.

Very high-resolution aerial imagery is used for estimating/predicting tree species and delineating boundaries between forest stands, wetlands, non-forest features, and waterbodies.  

Continuous Landscape Inventory Ground Sample Program

The department monitors the quantity, condition and development of the province’s forest and wetland resources across all land ownerships (Crown, industrial and private woodlots) via the Continuous Landscape Inventory Program.  The program is a continuous statistical sample of the province’s landscape with a focus on forest and wetland conditions. The sample is an unprotected systematic grid of about 16,000 ground plots (wetland and forest only) on a 2x2 km grid across all ownerships. Plots are measured on a 5 to 10-year cycle. 

Temporary plots are established with the intention of minimal impact to the forest where staff ensure nothing is left behind except an orange-painted wooden cedar stake in the ground at plot center and lumber crayon markings on each stem (this washes off overtime).

Permanent plots are the same as temporary plots except that trees are nailed at the base with numbered aluminum tags and nails. Smaller trees have tags attached with aluminum wires on a branch. If a landowner is uninterested in permanent sample tags on their property, the plot can be converted into a temporary plot-type.

The Wetland CLI program consists of about 1,000 wetland ground plots provincewide. Plots are re-visited on a 10-year rotation, capturing the change and development of wetlands. Data collected includes tree species, tree heights, soil characteristics and moisture regimes and dominant vegetation types. 

The Forested CLI program consists of about 15,000 forest ground plots provincewide. Plots are re-visited on a five or 10-year rotation depending on the plot type and land ownership, capturing the change and development of the forest. Data collected includes tree diameter, height, species, health, canopy position, coarse woody debris and several other metrics.

The program provides reliable basic information on the current state of forests to forest managers, scientific researchers, woodlot management organizations and the forest industry. By measuring characteristics such as tree sizes, density and the presence of new saplings, it can be determined how forests are likely to contribute to a wide range of subjects including habitat for wildlife, climate change mitigation, sustainable harvest rates and wildland fire spread potential.