Knowledge to action (K2A) research groups

Despite major advances in wetland restoration in recent years, Quebec is currently failing to effectively compensate for the loss of wetlands on its territory. Our team aims to inform restoration projects about governance and restoration methods that need to be employed to ensure success. More specifically, the objectives of our K2A group are to promote collaborative work in multidisciplinary teams composed of people from various sectors (universities, ministries, cities, NPOs) to catalyse action to restore wetlands; identify the brakes and levers on restoration projects; train HQP and graduate students; and create summaries and tools to inform and support restoration projects.

In Canada, 7 species of bumble bees are threatened with extinction according to the COSEWIC. However, most of the knowledge on bumble bees available is on commercially bred species, such as Bombus impatiens. Information on wild species is comparatively lacking. As part of the “Solutions for Farmers and Food for Bees” project (supported by the Liber-Ero program), we initiated work on the benefits of native pollen on the reproductive performances native bumble bee species, in collaboration with farmers, ENGOs and industry partners. The general objective of our K2A group is to build on this work to improve knowledge on the nutritional requirements and health of native bumble bees and provide science-based solutions to the conservation of endangered species. Specifically, we aim at: 1. Characterizing the nutrient profile of native plants’ pollen and of pollen maximizing queen reproduction. 2. Developing non-invasive techniques to assess bumble bees’ health, including parasite loads and viral loads.

Many organizations investing in biodiversity initiatives struggle with evaluating the effectiveness of their efforts in a standardized and scientifically robust manner. Without reliable metrics, it remains difficult to assess whether initiatives are successfully supporting target populations, and how management strategies can be adjusted. This research project seeks to address this challenge for pollinators by developing a "pollinator preservation score," a scientifically validated scoring system that quantifies habitat success based on pollinator species detection. This tool will enable organizations such as Pollinature and their partners, including energy companies and municipal stakeholders, to assess and compare the quality of pollinator habitats with greater accuracy. This data-driven evaluation framework, will enhance bee diversity conservation efforts, provide a meaningful reporting scheme for conservation organizations and inform better habitat management practices.

Approaches to carrying out ecological restoration projects in parallel with sustainable urban development projects have major gaps in scientific and practical knowledge in Quebec. Our research aims to address this issue, more specifically in a highly anthropized context of industrial brownfields. The study of ecological restoration in the context of urban redevelopment is an element that is rarely present in the sites studied in the RARE project. This K2A project will broaden the spectrum of understanding the operationalization of wetland restoration in Quebec in an urbanized environment.

This K2A project is focused on the exchange of knowledge between basic research and end users, with a specific purpose of informing policy, decision making, and action for conserving genetic diversity. This project will leverage a group of QCBS participants and stakeholder involvement to implement a novel research direction which has been highlighted through sustained dialogue with end user partners, who have expressed a need for new methods and tools for genetic diversity indicators. The K2A project will work on two new research directions: the first implementation of genetic diversity indicators at a sub-national level (in Quebec), and the first temporal calculation of genetic indicators in order to understand rates of change in indicator values, including hindcasting indicator values on a decadal scale. This will require integrating three of the QCBS research axes: Observe and monitor, Detect changes, and Support decisions. It will require integration of these different axes, and it will require communication and hand-in-hand work with the end users

Biodiversity science research relies on large databases and sophisticated analyses. The research steps from study design to statistical analyses pose significant challenges. We therefore propose the creation of a research group to support research at the stages of experimental design, sampling planning, data validation and management, and the development of analysis strategies. The group will be based in the Department of Biological Sciences at UQAM and will bring together six professors with broad and solid expertise in biodiversity science. It will offer consultation for QCBS members, training workshops, and the organization of a support group allowing student members to meet to help each other and discuss the challenges posed by their research projects. This group will thus complement the QCBS workshops and courses on statistical methods.

Our research team works on conservation planning, more specifically on the spatial prioritization of sites of interest via decision support tools using algorithms. We take a particular interest in the integration of the notions of access of the population to the various ecological services. As part of the From Knowledge to Practice project, we aim to strengthen ties between Quebec government actors working on themes presenting environmental issues (agriculture, urbanization, forestry, transportation, etc.) and university researchers working in conservation planning.

The CESCO Chair focuses on the social issues of wildlife habitat conservation on private land. Working closely with MELCCFP analysts and opening up discussions with a number of conservation stakeholders, this initiative aims to develop scientific knowledge that will highlight existing obstacles and levers that can hamper or favor the conservation of threatened and vulnerable species on private land in Quebec. The objective is therefore to derive observations of the current situation and identify innovative approaches to tackle the observed challenges. The knowledge developed on the social dynamics of conservation will more specifically help orient stakeholders and decision-makers in regard to which approaches, measures or tools would allow for greater openness to social realities and to greater success to engage all conservation stakeholders. Our synthesized results are disseminated through our partners’ networks, allowing all stakeholders to have access to a better understanding of the social issues of conservation.

Preserving and enhancing the conditions necessary for life on Earth is the defining challenge for inter-disciplinary and trans-epistemic (bridging scientific and Indigenous systems) knowledge-to-action. Biocultural approaches to biodiversity conservation acknowledge the interdependence of culturally and linguistically diverse Indigenous communities – in particular their environmental knowledge and stewardship institutions – and the biological diversity of their territories. We develop a multi-disciplinary research collaboration between the Centre for Indigenous Conservation and Development Alternatives (CICADA) and the Panama Research and Integrated Sustainability Model (PRISM). We will integrate Indigenous biocultural knowledge practices, counter-cartographic and videographic techniques (CICADA) with remote sensing, species distribution and hydrological modeling (PRISM), to develop local ecosystem baselines that will strengthen the capacity of our partner communities, the Majé Emberá Drüa in the Bayano-Majecito watershed of south-eastern Panama and the Cree Nation of Wemindji in the Old Factory and La Grande watersheds of northern Québec, for territorial planning and stewardship.

The purpose of this group is to inform and consult biodiversity management stakeholders on the ways to include information and data about biotic interactions. Specifically, this work will lay the foundation for the development of Essential Biodiversity Variables (EBVs) that draw information from ecological interactions and the structure of species interaction networks.