About BRIMS
The Bio-Resource Information Management System (BRIMS) is a publicly available data and information management system connecting the world to Alberta’s biomass, ecosystem services, and land-use data
BRIMS has been specifically designed by Alberta Innovates, and Silvacom, with data partnerships from the Alberta Biodiversity Monitoring Institute (ABMI) and the Agriculture Financial Services Corporation (AFSC), to respond to the need for a centralized location for provincial bio-resources data. BRIMS is a world-class, publicly available data and information management system that collates inventories from forestry, agriculture, and municipal sectors to create a centralized, comprehensive assessment of biomass, ecosystem services, and land-use data. Access to this information is provided through an online interactive web application, enabling informed bio-resource management and investment decisions in the province. BRIMS can help identify dependable, spatially explicit sources of biomass and other ecosystem services in Alberta. It aims to advance the bio-economy in Alberta by supporting investment, guiding policy development, and fostering further analysis.
Why Did We Create BRIMS?
To encourage green investment in the province, there needs to be public access to high-resolution, best available biomass and other ecosystem services data. Discover the following information using BRIMS:
- How much biomass exists?
- Where is biomass located?
- What are the components of the biomass?
- What is the quality of the biomass?
- What are the environmental implications of managing the biomass?
Why Use BRIMS?
The BRIMS datasets and web application can help identify dependable, spatially explicit sources of biomass and other ecosystem services in Alberta to support economic and policy initiatives such as:
Investment decisions related to biomass supplies
Prioritization of lands for conservation or development
Assessments of trade-offs between land-use mitigation and development
Key environmental policies and strategies
The development of new policy approaches to balance competing land-uses
Terrestrial monitoring of ecological functions and associated impacts from disturbance
The History of BRIMS
BRIMS is a multi-phase project that began life as a proof of concept framework and grew to become the comprehensive, multi-resource database that it is today. BRIMS involves partners from Alberta Innovates, Silvacom, ABMI, AFSC, industry, and the Government of Alberta.
Phase 1 - Conception
Jurisdictional scan
Preliminary data framework development
Conceptual wireframe design for web application
Phase 2 - Proof of Concept
Data framework improvement and expansion
Proof of concept spatial viewer to view and download biomass data
Phase 3 - Making it a Reality
Enhanced data framework (biomass constituents)
Integration of ecosystem services data
Development of interactive reporting tools
Fully functional deployment of BRIMS
The Ecosystem Services Element
Ecosystem Services are the benefits nature provides to human well-being. Expanding BRIMS to include ecosystem services strengthens the framework’s capacity to inform policy and industrial decision makers. Understanding the locations and trade-offs of different ecosystem services helps individuals or businesses make informed resource management and investment decisions. The Alberta Biodiversity Monitoring Institute (ABMI) models several ecosystem services as a part of a province-wide ecosystem services assessment initiative. The ecosystem services modeled by ABMI to-date are water purification, pollination, forest timber and carbon, rangeland forage and carbon, and biodiversity. Several key ecosystem services indicators which contribute to the models are incorporated into the BRIMS framework:
Climate Regulation
Ecosystem Carbon
Maintenance of Genetic Diversity
Biodiversity Intactness
Provision of Fresh Water
Supply of: Nitrogen, Phosphorus, Total Suspended Solids, Sediment
Pollination
Net Present Value of Pollinators