L'Initiative boréale canadienne a aujourd'hui annoncé les récipiendaires d'un Prix boréal par le Conseil principal de la forêt boréale. Il s'agit du gouvernement du Manitoba, des Premières nations Dehcho, des Quincailleries Rona et de chercheurs albertains, entre autres récipiendaires méritoires. Pour en savoir plus ...

L’évaluation a été demandée par le ministre du Patrimoine canadien, au nom du Musée canadien de la nature, et est soutenue par les autres membres du Partenariat fédéral en matière d’information sur la biodiversité (PFIB). Le travail du comité d’experts porte principalement sur l’évaluation de l’état de la recherche taxonomique et biosystématique au Canada – la recherche qui permet de découvrir, de différencier, d’identifier et de classifier les différentes espèces d’organismes. Ces secteurs de recherche adoptent des approches efficaces en matière de conservation de la biodiversité et d’entretien des écoservices, de même qu’en ce qui concerne notre capacité à atténuer les effets des changements climatiques et à nous y adapter.

Dans le cadre de cette évaluation, le comité d’experts mène une enquête sur le Web portant sur la recherche taxonomique et l’expertise en matière de taxonomie au Canada.

Si vous possédez vous-même ce type d’expertise (définie ici au sens large, indépendamment des taxons), nous vous invitons à remplir le questionnaire, en vous rendant au http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/NT2PLN2. Toutes les réponses reçues seront traitées de façon confidentielle. Pour en savoir plus...

Avec la création de quatorze nouvelles aires protégées projetées, majoritairement situées dans les régions nordiques et couvrant une superficie totale de 18 043 km2, et l’agrandissement du territoire visant la protection de la rivière George, le réseau compte désormais près de 2 500 aires protégées répondant aux plus hauts critères de protection de l’Union internationale pour la conservation de la nature (UICN). L’établissement de ce réseau vient concrétiser la volonté du Québec de protéger la biodiversité associée à ses milieux naturels.

Le 29 mars 2009, le Québec s’est engagé à protéger 12 % de son territoire d’ici 2015.

La liste des nouveaux territoires protégés peut être consultée dans le site Web du ministère du Développement durable, de l'Environnement et des Parcs : www.mddep.gouv.qc.ca.

Document synthèse : Le Québec atteint la cible de 8,12 % de son territoire en aires protégées.

Bill Fuller was a key Canadian participant in the scientist-led 1964-74 International Biological Program (IBP), an initiative of the International Council of Scientific Unions involving 58 countries. The IBP’s Conservation of Terrestrial Communities programme aimed to identify and preserve representative examples of the world’s ecosystems for present and future biological research and education, for preservation of species, their genes, and habitats, and as benchmarks for comparison with ecosystems managed by humans (see Everett B. Peterson, 1974).

After the international science programme came to a close in 1974, most of the data and any follow-up implementation fell to people in provincial and territorial jurisdictions who had protected area responsibilities, if it was to fall anywhere. But the need for action in the federal sphere, and for a national view, initiatives, and encouragement was clear. Bill Fuller found ways - through a period of official federal government indifference - to keep the “IBP sites” identification in Canada alive, updated, and valued at a national level.

First, a new interim Associate Committee on Ecological Reserves (ACER – a nice acronym for Canadian ecology) was formed by the National Research Council, with Bill as its Chair.

Since the NRC liked its Associate Committees to be task-based and temporary, it asked Environment Canada to consider housing the ongoing effort. There was no obvious home agency. The department, founded in 1971, was still working out whether and how it wanted its components to work together. Each agency knew the living environment functions as a whole, but each had its own traditions and fields of primary activity. The NRC’s request came to the Policy & Program Development Directorate, which had a bridging mandate. With Bill Fuller’s supportive prodding, the Canadian Council on Ecological Areas (CCEA) was formed in 1982, to take on the IBP-CT data base and mission at the national level.

The CCEA’s first Chairman was David Munro, former head of the Canadian Wildlife Service. Its members were drawn from NGOs and the science community, and from provincial and federal agencies who had enduring inspirations or responsibilities regarding protected natural areas. The Canadian Wildlife Service provided the first secretariat for the CCEA, in the person of Sylvia Normand.

Thanks to Bill Fuller, Canadians’ early scientific results for ecological areas were honoured at a national level, kept alive, and brought forward into today’s essential work of turning knowledge into ecological conservation, and conservation into ecological knowledge.

The work continues through the CCEA http://www.ccea.org/index.html. It’s one of Bill Fuller’s legacies to us.

Homeplace award winner...Tim Antill, MSc candidate, land reclamation and ecosystem restoration, University of Alberta. Dr. Anne Naeth (supervisor)
(texte disponible en anglais seulement)
Affiché le 6 juin, 2009
I am currently researching the effects Russian thistle (Salsola kali), an invasive weed plant species, on native montane grasslands communities in Jasper National Park

Invasion of non-native plant species can have a significant impact on the function and integrity of natural ecosystems. In Jasper National Park, large areas of Russian thistle have been observed in native montane grassland communities used for winter grazing by bighorn sheep and other ungulates. There is concern that these areas of invasion may be increasing in size. Areas invaded by Russian thistle appear to coincide with areas subject to sustained use by sheep, elk and possibly deer. Critical areas are believed to be overgrazed, reducing range condition and permitting Russian thistle to become established and compete with, or replace, already stressed native plant species and reducing wildlife forage.

To manage and protect the ecological integrity within Canada’s National Parks it is important to fully understand how native plant communities within the parks respond to the influence of alien species and the role of herbivores in this process. Increasing the knowledge of native plant community response to a particular invasive species may lead to improved ecological restoration, and management methods. Potential overgrazing of winter range habitats may be facilitating the establishment of Russian thistle in native montane grasslands. This study examines the role of wildlife grazing and range condition on Russian thistle establishment. Outcomes from this study will assist park managers in determining appropriate Russian thistle control, as well as identifying ungulate management strategies for winter range use.

Specifically, this research project attempts to address the extent and character of Russian thistle infestations in the park, mechanisms of Russian thistle invasion, the role of wildlife grazing on Russian thistle establishment, how Russian thistle impacts native plant communities, and strategies that may aid in managing this species. Research results will benefit land managers within the park, and other park managers and land managers who are involved with ungulate grazing and invasive species.

Homeplace award winner...Laura Gray, PhD program, Department of Renewable Resources, University of Alberta. Dr. Andreas Hamann (supervisor)
Affiché le 16 juin, 2009
Climate change has become a prevalent topic in ecological research since we are beginning to see the effects of warming temperatures on plant populations. In western Canada, research has already identified climate change as a cause for loss of local tree populations, for example through extreme drought events or indirectly through range expansion of pests and diseases. The International Panel on Climate Change suggests that the global temperature will continue to rise approximately 0.2oC per decade which raises the question if tree populations in a protected by a static network of reserves and parks are adequately protected.

The aim of my research is to determine how adequate the current network of protected areas w ill be in protecting native tree species in Alberta, British Columbia and Saskatchewan as Canada faces climate warming. By modeling tree species habitat under a variety of climate change projections, I will be able to identifying (1 ) how long the current network of protected areas will be able to protect native tree, and (2) whether any “future proof” reserves exist that maintain habitat under most or all scenarios. Conservation efforts should be targeted toward those areas.

Many thanks are due to Drs. Guy Swinnerton, professor emeritus, University of Alberta, Elizabeth Halpenny, University of Alberta, Bill Crins, Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and Rob Wright, Saskatchewan Tourism, Parks, Culture and Sport for evaluating submissions.

base de données SRSAC
Affiché le 20 avril, 2009
Le CCAE est heureux d'annoncer des améliorations majeures à la base de données sur les aires de conservation (CARTS):

• Des rapports sommaires et des chiffriers sont maintenant disponibles;
• Les cartes d'aires de conservation visibles sur Google Earth ont été optimisées pour une meilleure performance;
• Les mises à jour des juridictions sont maintenant faites immédiatement et sont incorporées dans les cartes et les rapports de sorte que l'information est à jour en tout temps.

Pour voir les rapports et les cartes des aires de conservation du Canada, cliquez sur le lien ''Cartes et Rapports'' dans le menu de gauche.

Mistaken Point Ecological Reserve Expanded to Protect World-Class Fossils (texte disponible en anglais seulement)
Affiché le 20 avril, 2009
In response to new fossil discoveries directly adjacent to the existing Mistaken Point Ecological Reserve, an expansion has been established under the Wilderness and Ecological Reserves Act. This additional area has been formally established as part of the reserve and contains complex fossils older than those previously identified within the original ecological reserve boundary. The expansion doubles the size of the reserve to 5.7 km2. More...