INRS
Postdoctoral fellow candidate
Supervisor: Valerie Langlois
Start: 2023-12-01
End: 2026-12-01
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Project

Tracking Aquatic Biodiversity with eDNA: A Study in Quebec’s Mining Regions
Biodiversity is essential for the proper functioning of ecosystems. However, in Canada, it is particularly threatened in regions where mining activities fragment habitats and degrade aquatic ecosystems. Rigorous biodiversity assessment is therefore crucial to guide conservation strategies, but it requires extensive data collection, which traditional methods, such as direct observation and trapping, often fail to provide effectively. In this context, environmental DNA (eDNA) has emerged as an innovative and promising tool. This technique involves analyzing DNA traces released into the environment by organisms through cells, excreta, scales, enabling the detection of even the rarest species in a non-invasive, faster, and more cost-effective manner than traditional methods. In this study, eDNA was used to assess the presence of several fish species around two mining sites in the James Bay area. Sampling campaigns were conducted in 2022 and 2023, and the collected eDNA was analyzed using qPCR with species-specific detection kits developed as part of the pan-Canadian iTrackDNA project. The results revealed the presence of walleye and brook trout, as well as yellow perch and Northern pike, both considered invasive species. Notably, the absence of sauger and the endangered lake sturgeon around the mining sites was also observed. Although mining activities did not seem to impact water quality, they may influence hydrology and alter habitats. Organisms are also subject to competitive pressures, and eDNA may help reveal certain ecological dynamics. It provides a concrete solution for better biodiversity management in environments subject to intense human pressures and can contribute to the protection of threatened species and to a deeper understanding of rapidly changing ecosystems.

Keywords

ADNe, Biodiversité, Sites miniers, Poisson

Publications

1- Sources, distribution et risque potentiel du furosémide dans le bassin versant de la Seine
SANDRÉ, Fidji, L GRIMAULT, Régis MOILLERON, Laure GARRIGUE-ANTAR
2024 Techniques Sciences Méthodes

2- Comprehensive analysis of a widely pharmaceutical, furosemide, and its degradation products in aquatic systems: Occurrence, fate, and ecotoxicity
Sandré, Fidji, Régis Moilleron, Christophe Morin, Laure Garrigue-Antar
2024 Environmental Pollution

3- Occurrence and fate of an emerging drug pollutant and its by-products during conventional and advanced wastewater treatment: Case study of furosemide
Sandre, Fidji, Nina Huynh, Emilie Caupos, Lamyae El-Mrabet, Chandirane Partibane, Isabelle Lachaise, Christophe Pommier, Michael Rivard, Christophe Morin, Régis Moilleron, Julien Le Roux, Laure Garrigue-Antar
2023 Chemosphere

4- Detection of Adsorbed Chlordecone on Microplastics in Marine Sediments in Guadeloupe: A Preliminary Study
Sandre, Fidji, Charlotte R. Dromard, Karyn Le Menach, Yolande Bouchon-Navaro, Sébastien Cordonnier, Nathalie Tapie, Hélène Budzinski, Claude Bouchon
2019 Gulf and Caribbean Research

5- Road Runoff Characterization: Ecotoxicological Assessment Combined with (Non-)Target Screenings of Micropollutants for the Identification of Relevant Toxicants in the Dissolved Phase
Sandré, Fidji, Nina Huynh, Marie-Christine Gromaire, Gilles Varrault, Christophe Morin, Régis Moilleron, Julien Le Roux, Laure Garrigue-Antar
2022 Water