Early Detection and Monitoring of Exotic Invasive Plants in Québec: Building Networks in the Context of Climate Change

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1 Early Detection and Monitoring of Exotic Invasive Plants in Québec: Building Networks in the Context of Climate Change Isabelle Simard Ministère du Développement durable, de l Environnement, de la Faune et des Parcs

2 Prevention Education and outreach E&O are essential to prevent the introduction and spread of AIS But without early detection networks, our potential to react quickly and reduce the impacts of AIS is limited

3 Aquatic invasive plants in Québec Need for more information on the distribution and abundance of exotic invasive plants in Québec Limited resources, several problematic species Water chestnut Eurasian water milfoil Common reed More important, we need to detect quickly the bad ones that are at our door Hydrilla Fanwort Water soldier Brazilian elodea Brittle naiad

4 Aquatic invasive plants ED Networks Existing networks or under development 1. Wetlands of the St. Lawrence River 2. St. Lawrence Action Plan 3. Volunteer Lake Monitoring Program 4. Climate Change Action Plan 5. Citizen Scientists

5 1. Monitoring of exotic invasive plants the wetlands of the St. Lawrence River Environment Canada Transferred to MDDEP in 2011 Collaboration with 6 NGOs 10 sp.

6 Myriophylle à épi Châtaigne d eau Hydrocharide grenouillette Butome à ombelle Salicaire commune Alpiste roseau Roseau commun Nerprun bourdaine Renouée du Japon Berce du Caucase 1. Monitoring of exotic invasive plants the wetlands of the St. Lawrence River > 300 sites visited between NGOs partners collect data on: Eau libre Eau peu profonde Bas marais Haut marais Marécage arbustif Marécage arboré Forêt Type of wetland habitat Niveau d eau au printemps Niveau d eau à l été AIS plants Dominant sp. Surface area Diversity Disturbance Martin Jean et Caroline Savage, Environnement Canada Location and pictures

7 X1Y1 X4Y4 Results m Global invasion Index X2Y2 100 m X3Y3 Total of the median surface area of all AIS in 1 station, than mean of all the stations in one hexagon Martin Jean & Caroline Savage, Environnement Canada

8 Lake Saint-François, Common reed in the wildlife management areas 8

9 Lake Saint-Louis, Purple loosestrife, common reed, European frog-bit

10 Montréal-Longueuil, Common reed and reed canary grass

11 Lake Saint-Pierre, Common reed and reed canary grass

12 Estuary, Mix of AIS

13 Overview of sites sampled by the partners Low water level have influenced species abundance Common reed and reed canary grass are spreading Purple loosestrife the most wide spread species, sometimes dominant in certain sectors, otherwise mid to low abundance Lake Saint-Pierre Estuary Haut Saint-Laurent

14 2. St. Lawrence Action Plan Detection Monitoring Partnerships Vectors High risk Suitable habitat

15 3. Volunteer Lake Monitoring Program 2013: pilot project Created in 2004, now 700 lakes Yves Laporte, MDDEP Mapping protocols: Light or detailed Evaluate the abundance and the spread of aquatic invasive plants Multi-year monitoring: new introductions and spread Detection protocol: Detect the presence or establish absence Localisation of exotic invasive plants, ID confirmation by MDDEFP

16 4. Climate Change Action Plan Adaptation to climate change Identify priority vectors and pathways Floristic inventories Detection and monitoring stations, South-North Satellite imagery to detect larger populations of common reed and Japanese knotweed

17 4. Climate Change Action Plan Species of concern Salvinia complex Water hyacinth Water lettuce Research project Sylvie de Blois, McGill University

18 4. Climate Change Action Plan Collaboration with States of the Northeast through the NEANS Panel Sentinel species Water temperature max and min Latitudinal gradient of stations

19 5. Citizen Scientists Collect information on exotic invasive species (40 plants, 10 animals): 1 st version of mobile App end of June for Android and end of July for Apple Web mapping tool by March 2014

20 Next step: connecting the networks Information is the key Northeast States and provinces Great Lakes and Ontario Alert system across Canada for AIS for National aquatic invasive species committee