COMING TO THE AID OF URBAN WETLANDS

• BY FANNY ROHRBACHER

Bogs, marshes, swamps—wetlands are some of our planet’s richest, most productive ecosystems. Thanks to the resources they contain and functions they support, wetlands provide us with a wide range of ecosystem services. In urban and suburban areas, they serve as natural catch basins by filtering and purifying rainwater. They also reduce the load on sewer systems and channel rainwater into rivers and streams, while also offering habitat for vulnerable urban flora and fauna. They are also seen as beautiful islands of coolness that are ideal places for birdwatching and recreational activities. Nevertheless, human or natural disturbances can soon threaten these sensitive ecosystems.

Stéphanie Pellerin is a researcher at the Jardin botanique de Montréal and an adjunct professor in the department of biological sciences at the Université de Montréal. She is seeking to understand how different disturbances affect the evolution of plant communities in urban wetlands. She has found that by drying out wetlands, urban development impacts plant diversity by allowing the introduction of terrestrial, often exotic, species. While this makes wetlands plant life more diversified, the new plants no longer perform the same ecological functions, which compromises the role of wetlands.

The goal of Dr. Pellerin’s research is to understand the functioning of these environments over time and so hopefully be able to predict how they will evolve. The results of her studies should provide guidance for management plans tailored to urban wetlands and help preserve their plant diversity. Each wetland is seen as a link in a dynamic network of interconnected ecosystems, with each one performing a function that complements the others.

In this context, Dr. Pellerin is seeking to identify sites to be preserved, restored, recreated or left as they are. Knowing that ongoing climate change will further dry up these ecosystems, she wants to be able to foresee whether the existing conservation network will continue to provide the best possible results in the future. While some wetlands may not be having particularly beneficial effects on cities today, their impact may become significant 10, 20 or 50 years from now.

Given that wetlands are among the most threatened ecosystems the world over, Dr. Pellerin’s research will help establish a solid basis for their conservation. A well-designed conservation plan for these environments could help reduce the risk of flooding, for instance, which is a growing threat for Quebecers living near rivers and lakes.

100 YEARS OF GREATNESS FOR FRANCOPHONE RESEARCH

• BY SYLVIE GOULET

In 2020, the Institut de recherche en biologie végétale (IRBV) will celebrate 100 years of age! An exceptional anniversary, since there are very few French-language research institutes in Canada. Resulting from a unique partnership between the Université de Montréal and the Jardin botanique, the IRBV is widely recognized as a centre of excellence focused on researching and teaching plant biology. It includes 21 researchers and more than 180 university students. The Biodiversity Centre, which strives for the highest research and educational standards while raising public awareness of the major issues related to biodiversity, was added to this partnership in 2011. This fruitful synergy is built on both internationally recognized IRBV scientific expertise and on the outreach of research at the Jardin botanique, which receives nearly one million visitors every year. Brother Marie-Victorin, founder of the Jardin botanique and the Botanical Institute of the Université de Montréal in 1920, would certainly be proud of the progress made!