The "Mer Bleue" is an important 5000-ac peat bog situated 10 mi east of Ottawa. Phytosociological and ecological studies proved that the Mer Bleue is a Sphagnum ombrotrophic raised bog. A total of 10 associations and 3 subassociations are recognized and described, including 2 new associations (Sphagno–Calamagrostetum and Polytricho–Populetum). The most important communities are heath associations (Chamaedaphne and Ledum) and black spruce stands.Occasional fires retard normal succession here and there and a ditch dug in 1938 is changing irrevocably the physiognomy of the east section where drainage permits the invasion of Vaccinium myrtilloides, Populus tremuloides, Betula populifolia, and many herbs usually excluded from an ombrotrophic bog. Sphagnum magellanicum is the most widespread of the 54 bryophytes encountered. Chamaeophytes are dominant in ombrotrophic sites, being somewhat replaced by hemicryptophytes where minerotrophic conditions prevail.
The influence of electric transmission rights-of-way on the activity of moose (Alces alces) was determined by aerial surveys during winter and inventories of browsed plant species the following summer. Moose make significant less use of the rights-of-way than the adjacent forest, but the edge zone is frequented more. Winter grounds are also found significantly less frequently in these transmission corridors. The difference in use between the two habitats is even more pronounced when the rights-of-way have been treated with a phytocide. The quantity of browse in untreated rights-of-way does not differ significantly from that found in the adjacent forest, but in treated corridors, it is three times lower. Rights-of-way that are 90 m wide are more frequently crossed in winter than those that are 140 m wide. Wild red cherry (Prunus pensylvanica) is the most browsed species in southern parts of the corridors, whereas white birch (Betula papyrifera) is the preferred plant of moose in northern areas. There is no difference between the types of forest stands in adjacent forest stations that are used by moose and those that are not. The influence of the electric transmission rights-of-way is considered weak because the natural density of the moose population is low.[Journal translation]
The winter foods of moose (Alces alces) were determined in three winter yards in representative mixed forests of western Quebec. Browse use was measured by estimation of browse units and by twig counts. The first method enabled identification of key species in the diet while the second gave, in weight, the proportion of each. Both methods are compared. A total of 21 species offered available food, but only 12 were browsed. More than 75% of the diet in dry weight came from mountain maple (Acer spicatum), balsam fir (Abies balsamea), and willows (Salix spp.), with 53, 13, and 9.5% respectively. The mean weight of browsed twigs of different species varied. widely. Balsam fir twigs weighed about seven times more than white birch (Betula papyrifera) and 10 times more than beaked hazel twigs (Corylus cornuta). Moose preferred willows and trembling aspen (Populus tremuloides), which showed the highest availability:utilization ratio. Mountain maple was eaten proportionally to its availability. Results can be used in carrying-capacity studies in other mixed stands of eastern Canada.
One hundred and twenty-one moose (Alces alces) winter yards were located in February 1975 in La Vérendrye Fish and Game Reserve, Quebec. At this time of winter, they occupied a mean area of 0.44 km2. The yards were established on various slopes or on mountain tops without preference to a particular exposure. This habitat is situated on gentle slopes of less than 11% inclination, and at an altitude less than 46 m above bodies of water considered as components of summer habitats. Discriminant analysis showed that the habitat used by moose differs from unused sites only by a lack of bodies of water and shade-intolerant stands. The typical winter yard corresponds to a mosaic of mature and disturbed stands varying in structure and age and provides both cover and food. It is dominated by white birch (Betula papyrifera) associated with conifers. Forestry maps alone cannot identify all parameters for a suitable site but coupled with topographic maps they can, for some years, localise potential sites to be protected from logging.
Mer Bleue is an ombrotrophic sphagnum and black spruce bog near Ottawa, Ontario. Its 5000 ac offer a vegetation composed of 10 associations and 3 subassociations. Day temperature in the bog is 2.7°F higher and night temperature 3.2°F lower than at Uplands Airport 7 mi away. Relative humidity is also higher. The black spruce stand is the most humid and the coolest of all plant associations and its water table is the highest, while Polytrichum association is the dryest and the warmest. Black spruce stands also have the most stable climate.Temperature at 1 ft depth in the peat moss reaches a minimum of 55°F in summer. At 2 ft depth a maximum of 47°F occurs in September and a minimum of 24°F in February. The pH lies between 3.8 in ombrotrophic areas and 6.5 in minerotrophic conditions. Many other aspects are discussed.
Three distinct groups of moose (Alces alces) were followed for one winter in settlement areas of northwestern Quebec to investigate changes in their choice of diet and habitat over the winter. No trend was observed in structure and plant composition of winter yards over the season. From December to March, each group used at least three different core areas intensively, these areas totalling 1.02 (first group), 1.28 (second group), and 2.48 km2 (third group). The size of the winter yards diminished in March but this decrease was not due to an increase in snow depth, which reached its maximum of 88 cm in February. The total areas used by the three groups were 1.7, 2.6, and 6.6 km2, respectively. No trend was found in the diet during the winter, except that trembling aspen (Populus tremuloides) was most heavily used by the three groups in March. Twenty-three species of browse were used but 6 species formed nearly 95% of the diet; balsam fir (Abies balsamea) and mountain maple (Acer spicatum) were almost completely absent from the diet.
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