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TABLE OF CONTENTSRECOMMENDATIONS CONERNING GREENHOUSE GAS REDUCTION STRATEGIES: STATEMENT TOT HE MINISTERS OF ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY CLIMATE CHANGE STUDY GROUP FORMED AT THE UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO GLOBAL CHANGE AND CANADA NEW CGCP ANNUAL REPORT TO PROVIDE FACTS, FIGURES AGRICULTURE FORUM ON CLIMATE CHANGE ROYAL SOCIETY'S CASE STUDY OF RESEARCH IN THE MACKENZIE BASIN EXAMINES AQUATIC SCIENCE IN CANADA INTERNATIONAL GEOCHEMICAL MAPPING UPDATE REGARDING PROPOSALS SUBMITTED TO THE IAI HUMAN DIMENSIONS OF GLOBAL CHANGE STUDENTSHIP INTERNATIONAL MODEL FOREST NETWORK SECRETARIAT TRANSFERRED TO IDRC. EARTH OBSERVATION DATA SETS PROGRAM CALL FOR PROPOSALS WETVNEW TELEVISION NETWORK FOR GLOBAL AUDIENCE |
INTERNATIONAL BIODIVERSITY MONITORING SYSTEM SET UP IN NOVA SCOTIA
Mary Williams Last summer a newly formed Cape Breton research team called the Biodiversity Research Associates (sponsored by the Cape Breton Naturalists Society) began work to install a component of an International Biodiversity Monitoring System in the Bornish Hill Nature Reserve near Whycocomagh, Cape Breton. Installation of the monitoring system began in Nova Scotia in 1994, in Kejimkujik National Park. Kejimkujik has been designated as Environment Canada's Ecological Monitoring and Assessment Network (EMAN) node for Nova Scotia. The International Biodiversity Monitoring System is part of the global Man and the Biosphere Programme (MAB). It was established to help inventory the South American rainforests and is being adapted by the Smithsonian Institute in Washington, D.C. for northern and temperate forests. This will be a pilot organization in Nova Scotia. The Biodiversity Research Associates will network with the Nova Scotia Department of Natural Resources, the University College of Cape Breton, the Nova Scotia Museum of Natural History, and Parks Canada, and have the opportunity to form a working relationship with the Nova Scotian Institute of Science. Several scientists volunteered their services in order to initiate the project and some students were trained on the site. This endeavor is ongoing, and more sites will be added. Nova Scotia is an excellent place to install a monitoring system in northeastern North America. Acadian forests are a transitional zone between the northern Appalachian flora to the south and the great boreal ecosystem which stretches across much of Canada. In this monitoring system, biological diversity and phenology will be used as indicators of global change. A multiplicity of microclimates and differing ecoregions exist in proximity. This kaleidoscope of different landscapes has been well described, but little quantitative ecological work has been attempted. Kejimkujik National Park lies in an ecoregion associated with a remnant of the Atlantic Coastal Plain, part of a larger area exposed during the last period of glaciation. This southwestern section of Nova Scotia has one of the warmer climates in Nova Scotia. The climate is cooler in the Bornish Hills. Nevertheless, the vegetation of the Bornish Hill Nature Reserve is largely composed of the Northern Appalachian floristic element, which reaches its limits at the lower elevations of the Northern Peninsula of Cape Breton. Since Cape Breton is on the "edge", researchers have an excellent opportunity to monitor the present state of, and future change in the biodiversity at this and other sites. Changes in biological diversity will be an excellent indicator of global change, whether it be change in climate, the atmosphere, or pollution levels due to the activities of increasing human population. Major changes in global temperatures may be reflected by a change in the balance between the Acadian and the transitional boreal ecosystems. This includes not only the forest systems but the organisms associated with these ecosystems. Also, long term variation in oceanic temperatures will have an impact on the maritime land mass. For more information contact Mary (Pixie) Williams, Biodiversity Research Associates; tel: (902) 737-2794; fax: (902) 562-0119, or Dr. Donald Arseneau; tel: (902) 564-9950
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