The Practical Ecosystem Approach: A Data Visualization Tool for Ecological Planning in Oil Sands Development

The Practical Ecosystem Approach Tool is an ArcGIS-based system developed for the oil sands industry to support environmental planning using the mitigation hierarchy—avoidance, mitigation, compensation, and reclamation. First, field-collected ecosystem function data are joined with baseline maps to evaluate function values per location. These values are then aggregated and ranked to produce a cumulative score, which helps gauge the ecological importance of specific areas. Stability and sensitivity modules use those scores to evaluate how resilient or vulnerable each area is to change. In addition to spatial analysis, the tool offers a database for broader ecological insights, such as species distribution and hydrology.

The successful development of this tool gives users the ability to draw conclusions about the ecological importance of specific areas, based on their data inputs. Required data inputs include a baseline map of the study area and indicators related to ecosystem functions and stability. Outputs support environmental mitigation, spatial visualization of impacts, data-driven decisions and analysis of hydrological features and species distribution.