Mélanie Primeau
Université de Montréal
M.Sc. candidate
Supervisor: Stéphanie Pellerin
Marie-Hélène Brice
Start: 2022-09-01
End: 2024-08-31
M.Sc. candidate
Supervisor: Stéphanie Pellerin
Marie-Hélène Brice
Start: 2022-09-01
End: 2024-08-31
Project
Effets of emerald ash borer on biodiversity and succession in urban forests.The arrival of exotic species in an environment can cause many changes in ecosystems and influence the communities that are found there. Since the discovery of the emerald ash borer (EAB) in the United States in 2002, it has gradually migrated north, causing the death of the vast majority of ash trees planted in cities or present in forest environments. The EAB arrived in Quebec in the last decade and the effects of its passage in woodlands are yet to be discovered, both in terms of understory biodiversity and forest succession. The objective of my project is to evaluate the impacts of EAB-associated ash tree mortality on changes in floristic composition and forest succession in urban woodlands. To do so, I will study Montreal woodlots, whose flora was already intensively surveyed in 2011, before the arrival of the EAB in Quebec. More specifically, I will assess the status of ash populations in Montreal's forests, evaluate the successional trajectory of these forests as well as their diversity by studying the understory flora. To achieve my objectives, in the summer of 2023, I will re-inventory 50 urban woodlots in the Montreal area using the same sampling methodology as in 2011. In each woodlot, I will return to the sampling quadrats and measure the diversity and abundance of plant strata, as well as various abiotic variables. In addition, I will quantify ash mortality, as well as the growth and regeneration of other species. My study will shed light on the effect of disturbance on biodiversity and successional trajectory of forest ecosystems in urban areas.
