Following the appointment of the new Cabinet, the Forest Sector now reports to the ministère des Ressources naturelles et des Forêts, while the Wildlife and Parks Sectors report to the ministère de l'Environnement, de la Lutte aux changements climatiques, de la Faune et des Parcs. Adjustments will be made to the website over time.
|
The population of Québec has a strong sense of belonging to the wildlife sanctuaries, and considers them to be natural environments in which conservation of biodiversity, wildlife development and fair access to land and wildlife are of particular importance. This Management Framework, through the orientations it sets out, will help the wildlife sanctuary network to become a showcase for sustainable development and integrated resource management. |
Published in Can. J. For. Res. 51: 921-934. https://doi.org/10.1139/cjfr-2020-0410
Published in For. Ecol. Manage. 495: 119375. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foreco.2021.119375
Understory vegetation plays an important role in maintaining biodiversity, soil nutrient cycling and carbon stocks, yet the ability of understory functional traits to predict forest productivity after harvesting disturbance is unknown. Our objective was to investigate the utility of individual traits (the community-weighted trait mean) and combined information from multiple traits (functional diversity indices) of understory plants in predicting tree diameter growth of black spruce (Picea mariana (Mill.) B.S.P.) after two harvesting methods (clearcutting and careful logging). We used vegetation and tree growth data from a network of field plots (171 plots on 43 sites) established in black spruce dominated forests across Ontario and Quebec, in northeastern Canada. Functional traits (11 traits) of dominant understory species that reflect plant morphology, regeneration strategy, and resource utilization were collected. We then used generalized linear mixed models (GLMMs) to model the response of tree diameter increment to functional diversity indices, community-weighted trait means and their interactions with harvesting method. Our results showed that: 1) at the functional diversity level, functional richness had a positive relationship with tree growth in clear-cut forests, while functional evenness showed a negative and functional divergence a positive relationship with tree growth in careful logging forests; 2) at the individual trait level, understory species with relatively large morphological trait values often promoted tree growth in both forest types, with stronger relationships in careful logging than in clear-cut forests. For regeneration traits, heavier seed weight or permanent seed bank persistence of understory plants had negative relationships with tree growth, and those relationships were either only found in careful logging forests or did not depend on harvesting type. A positive relationship was found between vegetative propagation species and tree growth, which was stronger in careful logging than in clear-cut forests. Species preferring either humid or xeric habitat had positive relationships with tree growth; both shade-tolerant and shade-intolerant species also positively correlated to tree growth. In conclusion, our study shows the important roles of understory traits in predicting tree growth based on both niche complementarity and mass-ratio hypotheses. Moreover, disturbance severity influenced the balance or degree of the positive and negative interactions that occurred between understory plants and black spruce tree growth. We suggest that identifying the threshold of harvesting disturbance severity that can activate facilitation interactions between understory plants and crop trees would be an important topic for future study.
Published in For. Sci. https://doi.org/10.1093/forsci/fxab012
Acer saccharum and Acer rubrum, two main maple species in North America, will be affected by ongoing global warming. Several studies predict a southern limit contraction but limited northward expansion of maple distribution for the future. We aimed to understand the main drivers of current maple distribution to quantify potential changes to maple habitat in this context. We identified the local conditions of maple stands and assessed the potential changes under warming scenarios. We selected two regions in Quebec, Canada, at the northern distribution of the species and applied probability distribution function and principal component analysis to identify the factors explaining the occurrence of maple compared with other forest species, croplands, and grasslands. Maple habitat was estimated under warming scenarios up to 2°C. We observed a lower density of maple stands in the north (7.76 %), compared to the south (33.01 %). Warming increased maple stands by 3.54 and 1.45 % in the northernmost and southernmost regions, respectively, with the highest increases being estimated at the initial warming (+1.0°C). We conclude that maple of northern regions can benefit from local warming if precipitation does not become limiting. These changes could increase the potential for the regional maple industry and forest management.
Study Implications : Future warming may enhance the opportunities to exploit maple and its products at the northern boundary of this species, under a sufficient precipitation regime. Plantations could be considered in habitats favorable for maple, which would allow the value of the resource at the northern edge of the temperate mixedwood forest to be increased. Our spatially explicit outcomes will encourage forest managers and small landowners to plan new maple plantations. The local maple industry and forest management in northern regions could benefit from such an increase in maple habitat and enhanced production of hardwood species.
In 2017, the analysis of species monitored by Quebec Conservation data centre (CDC) by the Ministère des Forêts, de la Faune et des Parcs (MFFP) highlighted the need to harmonize the available information on threats to biodiversity. Although internationally recognized classifications were already available, their degree of precision did not facilitate the identification of precise conservation issues.
Therefore, a more precise classification was developed by the MFFP, in collaboration with several partners from Quebec, Canada and beyond, allowing to articulate the former 42 general threats to biodiversity into 162 detailed categories. The described threats are organized according to their hierarchical ranks, starting from generic wording (level 1), which is progressively defined into precise descriptions (level 3). When necessary, the classification entries are accompanied by a description, specifications allowing the description of inclusions and exclusions and may also be accompanied with examples.
This important collaboration in between the MFFP and its partners allowed for a joined effort to refine international classifications into a practical tool for conservationists.
