Institut National de la Recherche Scientifique (INRS)
OP-10: Biodiversity

Éco-pivot, commissioned by the INRS in the Summer of 2023, visited all of our sites to do biological studies of natural areas. Éco-pivot is a social economy enterprise that acts as a consultant to municipal administrations, institutions, industries and citizens' associations wishing to carry out biodiversity inventories or awareness-raising activities on the importance of flora and fauna in an urban context. Éco-pivot visited all the sites and inventoried the flora the potential for wildlife and development to support biodiversity and other ecosystem services was assessed.

At the Laval Campus, there are five parcels of land that are either wholly or partially within the boundaries of the exceptional forest ecosystem of the Boisé Chomedey in the City of Laval. This forest is recognized by the Quebec Ministry of Natural Resources and Wildlife as a rare and refuge-type forest due to its rare plant composition in Quebec, including individuals of sugar maples and black maples, as well as the presence of species with special status. While the ministry does not grant it protected status, the City of Laval has included it in its identified forest areas and corridors of interest in the Urban Planning Code, which imposes restrictions on permissible work. The City of Laval aims to preserve trees of interest with threatened or vulnerable status to protect the biodiversity of Laval. Additionally, two of these lots include wetlands. One of these wetlands is among the wetlands of interest identified by the City of Laval in the Urban Planning Code (UPC). Activities within a wetland of interest and its 15-meter protection zone are restricted. More information about wetlands of interest is available here: https://www.laval.ca/Pages/Fr/Citoyens/protection-milieux-humides.aspx. The other wetland is among the wetlands of interest identified in the Regional Plan for Wetlands and Watercourses (PRMHH) adopted by the City of Laval in 2022. It is therefore also dedicated to conservation as part of the PRMHH, which is currently under approval by the Ministry of the Environment. Once approved, the City will ensure the compatibility of its development plan with the regional plan, and the Urban Planning Code will be modified accordingly. Until then, this wetland does not have municipal protection. The campus is home to several mammals, including geese, woodchucks and white-tailed deer. The presence of silver bats, a species likely to be designated as threatened or endangered, has also been detected.

At the Quebec City technological park site, we also host species of conservation importance. We have two woodlands on our land. The site borders on the Boisé du Parc technologique du Québec-Métropolitain, which is listed in the Quebec City directory of natural environments of interest, therefore presents a direct continuity with its elements of interest. Several types of wetlands are found on our land. The area north of the research building is a woodland with a terrestrial zone populated by mature trees, many of which have a diameter at breast height (DBH) approaching or exceeding 40 centimetres - venerable trees to be preserved. Several species are relatively rare (red maple of the trilobum variety, white poplar, bitternut hickory, serviceberry sp., hawthorn sp., mountain avens or hybrids, etc.) or of precarious status (walnut sp. probably butternut, black ash, ostrich fern matteuccie).

Plants with a precarious (vulnerable) status:
- Acer nigrum
- Fraxinus nigra
- Matteuccia struthiopteris
- Uvularia grandiflora

Critically imperiled (endangered) plants:
- Juglans cinerea

Species likely to be to be designated threatened or vulnerable :
- Silver bat

At least 149 plant species are present on the sites visited, with a greater diversity at the Laval campus and the Quebec City technological park site. Of these species, 95 are native to Quebec, while 15 are of undetermined origin indeterminate (identification impossible) and 29 are introduced, 13 of which are invasive alien plants (IAS) or weeds. In addition, five species with status were identified by Éco-pivot. At the Laval campus and the Quebec City technological park site, woodlands of exceptional value are located near such sites, and share elements of interest (mature trees, vulnerable and endangered species, wetlands, woodlands of interest, etc.).
An exhaustive study of the flora of the Laval campus had already been carried out in 2021 by local NPO Canopée.

Éco-pivot first reviewed the existing documents provided by INRS. The Centre de données sur le patrimoine naturel du Québec (CDPNQ, 2023) was searched for mentions of species in a precarious situation within a five-kilometre radius of the centroid of each site. The map produced by Ducks Unlimited (2023) was consulted to check whether any wetlands or watercourses had already been identified by this organization in the study areas. Finally, preparation for the site visits was completed by consulting several layers of cartographic information available on the Info-sols platform (Québec, 2020; topography, watercourses, soil type, potential forest stand, age of forest stand, etc.).
The data collected during field visits was georeferenced using the Mergin maps© smartphone application, with an accuracy of around five to 15-metre radius. All data was then integrated and corrected as necessary in the QGIS.org mapping software.
The sites were explored on foot by Éco-pivot's biologist. All plants seen were identified as precisely as possible according to the biologists' expertise and following the Newcomb (1977) and Victorin (1995) guides to floristic identification based on VASCAN nomenclature (Brouillet et al., 2010+). Individuals were identified at the highest level of precision (genus or family) when characters allowing differentiation between several closely related species were absent. Based on the overall picture, a plant community name was assigned and a water status (wet, hydric or terrestrial) was determined.
Wetlands were identified and delineated according to Lachance et al (2021). Notable features included rare species, mature tree individuals (with diameter at breast height (DBH) > 20 cm), location and delineation (where possible) of invasive alien species (IAS), hollow dead trees (wildlife trees), watercourses, etc.
Éco-pivot commissioned professionals from several wildlife groups to sample the Arman-Frappier woodland and the Chomedey woodland in order to deepen our knowledge of wildlife. The groups targeted are those with the highest potential for presence and/or those for which the woodland offers favourable habitat and/or species groups with known historical records (CDPNQ, 2022). Surveys for garter snakes (active search) and bats (acoustic surveys) have been or will be carried out on the Laval campus, woodland sector.
The chiropteran inventories were carried out using acoustic bat recordings made with an Anabat Swift (Titley Scientific®). The recorder was programmed to record sounds from 10 to 250 KHz for a duration of 0.02 seconds to 10 seconds. The listening routes were walked at a constant pace during the sampling period. The microphone was held about two metres above the ground at an angle of about 45° to record the calls of bats in flight. For the fixed station, the microphone was installed in a tree about two metres away at an angle of around 45°. Analysis (Anabat Insight software version 2.0.3-0-gacbd7af) of the calls according to certain criteria enabled chiropterans to be identified more or less precisely.
Snakes were actively sought during several visits in autumn 2023. High-potential areas have been scanned, and debris that could serve as thermoregulation shelters will be removed. No snakes were handled.
During each site visit, particular attention was paid to the fauna, both in terms of direct observations and traces of their presence. In addition, professional attention included the active search for potential habitats for a wide range of wildlife species.
The evaluation of potential habitats was carried out following the visits, based on an amalgam of general knowledge acquired by Éco-pivot's biologist and ecologist following several years of professional practice in the biological characterization of natural areas. Habitat assessment remains qualitative, relative to the wildlife group and, to a certain extent, subjective. The wildlife groups considered as priorities for conservation are the most discussed. They are the groups comprising the most species in a precarious situation at provincial level (amphibians, reptiles, chiropterans) and the groups among the most in decline at global level (e.g. entomofauna; Sánchez-Bayo and Wyckhuys, 2019). Large terrestrial mammals would benefit overall from more connectivity and natural spaces, so this measure is not systematically addressed in the wildlife habitat potential section.

The five sites owned by INRS were studied (Laval, Québec City (2 sites), Montréal and Varennes). Both flora and fauna were studied.

As mentionned earlier, INRS host many species to support biodiversity within our campuses (see details above).

Éco-pivot's approach is based on the connectivity of ecological environments. Following this initial characterization of ecological environments, Éco-pivot suggested a number of avenues for reflection to help INRS develop a biodiversity action plan. Steps in this direction will be taken in winter 2024.