intégrité écologique

OBS: Terme en usage à Parcs Canada.

OBS: Ecological integrity is defined as a state of ecosystem development that is optimized for its geographic location. For parks and protected areas, this optimal state has been referred to by such terms as natural, naturally evolving, pristine and untouched. It implies that ecosystem structures and functions are unimpaired by human-caused stresses, that native species are present at viable population levels and, within successional limits, that the system is likely to persist. Ecosystems with integrity do not exhibit the trends associated with stressed ecosystems. Parks and protected areas are part of larger ecosystems and determinations of integrity in national parks must consider these larger ecosystems.
OBS: Term used by Parks Canada.