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New Brunswick is
better known for its beaches than for its forests. However, forest lands
cover about 85% of our province. In Canada, New Brunswick is one of the
provinces with the longest history of forestry and silviculture.
The Chair is
particularly interested in studying the response of different organisms
to silvicultural practices used in New Brunswick and elsewhere. Our
results are relevant beyond our province’s borders since many of our
species are also found elsewhere in northeastern North America and some
go as far as the boreal mixedwood forest of western Canada.
Our work is based on the principle
that we need to assess species’ tolerance to different levels of
intensity of forest exploitation and management. Forest managers can
then use this information to adjust this intensity according to the
conservation objectives they set themselves. |
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New-Brunswick is the first producer of peat in Canada. Peatlands thus
play an important role in our economy. However, they are much more than
peat deposits. They are home to a very specialised set of plant and
animal species that have adapted to the unique conditions found in bogs.
Constant humidity, high levels of acidity and the presence of floating mats
of sphagnum moss are extreme conditions for most other species.
Peat extraction
is regulated to reduce impacts on rare plants and on fish habitat.
However, many other species living in bogs are not considered when
assigning new peat extraction licenses because we lack basic knowledge
on their ecological requirements. The Chair aims to study such species, mostly certain
butterflies and birds associated with bogs. Our approach is similar to
the one we use in forest landscapes: we determine the relative tolerance
of species to peat extraction, from the local scale
to that of the landscape.
Our objectives are to collect useful
information to provide insight for peatland management so that it takes
into account the requirements of the most sensitive species. The best indicator species
identified through this work could also be included among the taxa
surveyed prior to attributing new
peat extraction licenses. |
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