The ecological integrity monitoring program includes several projects developed to acquire knowledge, build capacity and design fact-based decision-making tools regarding the Uapishka Biodiversity Reserve.
Objectives:
- Establish indicators to track changes in biodiversity over the long term
- Acquire scientific data to gain a better understanding of the local environment and guide informed decision-making
- Monitor the number of visitors to the Uapishka (Groulx) Mountains and assess their impact
- Help to preserve the protected area
HERE ARE SOME OF THE MONITORING AND KNOWLEDGE ACQUISITION ACTIVITIES CARRIED OUT AS PART OF THE PROGRAM:
Monitoring land plant life:
The GLORIA (Global Observation Research Initiative in Alpine environments) international standardized protocol [only in French] was introduced in 2022 to enable long-term monitoring of Arctic-alpine vegetation in response to climate change.
Mount Provencher is the site chosen for long-term monitoring of the diversity, rooting and growth of vegetation in climate change conditions based on altitude (a joint project with Natural Resources Canada – Canadian Forest Service – Laurentian Forestry Centre).
Other land plant life monitoring activities include detecting and monitoring the situation of invasive exotic species and special-status plant species.
Monitoring land wildlife:
Some land wildlife monitoring is conducted in the Uapishka Biodiversity Reserve regarding herpetofauna, forest birds, large fauna, special-status species, and so on.
Monitoring activities include sampling spruce budworm populations and tracking changes in the biodiversity of the infected area. Inventories are carried out by Concordia University, the University of British Columbia and the University of New Brunswick jointly with Simon Fraser University, Natural Resources Canada – Canadian Forest Service – Laurentian Forestry Centre, Natural Resources Canada – Canadian Forest Service – Pacific Forestry Centre, the Government of British Columbia – Ministry of Forests, Québec’s Ministère des Forêts, de la Faune et des Parcs, the Manicouagan-Uapishka Biosphere Region, the Pessamit Innu Council, the NunatuKavut Community Council and the Tsay Keh Dene Nation.
Climate monitoring:
The Uapishka (Groulx) Mountains climate monitoring network includes various pieces of weather measuring and monitoring equipment installed to help collect long-term climate data.
Trail right-of-way on the Uapishka (Groulx) Mountains:
In 2023, a drone was flown over the tops of Mounts Harfang, Provencher and Jauffret to obtain high-quality images of the alpine area. The images will be processed in mapping software to track alpine vegetation changes in trampled and untrampled areas. Find out more about tracking the impact of trampling on alpine vegetation. [only in French]
In addition, eco-counters were set up to collect data on visitor numbers in the Uapishka (Groulx) massif. The eco-counters are located at the entrance to the Mount Jauffret access trail, on the Mount Provencher access trail and on the two access trails to Mount Harfang. Find out more about the collection of data on the number of visitors to the Uapishka (Groulx) Mountain trails. [only in French]
Learn more about the Ecological Integrity Monitoring Program achievements and current projects.
