Scientists studied Anticosti Island like never before this summer. Plants, birds and insects have been the subject of extensive inventories. And geologists continued their long-term work on the fossils, this natural jewel which could earn the island the place on the UNESCO world heritage list in a few days.
In terms of botany, the efforts devoted this summer are the most important since those of Marie-Victorin and Rolland Germain, in the 1920s. “A hundred years later, we found species which had not been seen in the sector since that time,” marvels botanist Benoît Tremblay.
Mr. Tremblay is one of ten people — botanists, ornithologists, entomologists, technicians, etc. — who inventoried the island’s biodiversity this summer on behalf of the Ministry of the Environment, the Fight against Climate Change, Wildlife and Parks (MELCCFP) of Quebec.
The summer of 2023 was the first where the ministry meticulously characterized the richness of the fauna and flora of the planned Anticosti biodiversity reserve, created at the end of 2020. This protection status, which allows the conservation of fossils in view of the probable nomination by UNESCO, also implies obligations to protect ecosystems.
“It’s the first summer of a new era,” says Jérémie Fuller, the biologist responsible for the biodiversity reserve within the MELCCFP. “Acquiring this knowledge will allow us to manage the reserve more effectively,” he explains, particularly to protect rare species.
In terms of vascular plants, a dozen populations of threatened or vulnerable species were discovered on the island this summer. In some cases, botanists understood that Anticosti was home to some of the most important sites in Quebec displaying these rare plants.
For around ten days, Mr. Tremblay and his colleagues made “toad jumps” by helicopter to carry out their inventories. “It allowed us to access territories quickly; territories that would otherwise have been virtually inaccessible,” he explains.
Botanists particularly targeted river canyons and rock escarpments. “These are habitats where arctic alpine species have managed to persist since the end of the last glaciation,” underlines Mr. Tremblay.
On the slopes of the Jupiter River canyon—a place that is very difficult to access for animals—they discovered boreal plants that were abundant before the introduction of white-tailed deer, but which have now virtually disappeared from the area. island due to the excessive grazing of this mammal.
Ornithology and entomology
Ornithologists from the Canadian Wildlife Service, for their part, inventoried shorebirds, small wading birds that feed on invertebrates in the mud at low tide. Among the birds in this group that stop on Anticosti Island, we include the red knot.
Aboard a helicopter, they circled the island twice, in late July and mid-August. The number of shorebirds exceeds 65,000 individuals: an “impressive figure”, according to Jérémie Fuller. Thanks to this inventory, federal specialists estimate that more than 200,000 shorebirds pass through Anticosti Island during their migration.
An unexpected observation also delighted ornithologists: a Mongolian plover – a highly migratory species that usually lives in Africa and Asia – was spotted.
As for the entomologists, they set traps on the island and collected the catches every week. Significant identification work remains to be done.
By comparing their results with those of a sampling campaign carried out in 1993, they will be able to know whether insect populations are declining, even in an environment as far removed from agriculture, pesticides and pollution as the Anticosti Island.
An imminent vote at UNESCO
Geologist André Desrochers, scientific director of Anticosti’s UNESCO World Heritage nomination, visited the island this summer to support colleagues from the United States, France and Belgium who came to take samples there. .
“Anticosti is the best natural laboratory in the world for the study of fossils and sedimentary layers at the border of the Ordovician and Silurian, and this period coincides with a critical point in the evolution of life on Earth: the first mass extinction of life,” explains Mr. Desrochers, who is also a professor at the University of Ottawa.
The geologists who came this summer are trying to replace certain pieces in the great puzzle of evolution. The island’s rocky layer contains the fossils of marine organisms that lived on Earth around 440 million years ago — and many of which disappeared during the mass extinction.
Anticosti is the best natural laboratory in the world for the study of fossils and sedimentary layers at the border of the Ordovician and Silurian, and this period coincides with a critical point in the evolution of the life on Earth: the first mass extinction of life.
There is a “deficiency” in the field of very ancient geology in Quebec, laments Mr. Desrochers. To remedy this, he has high hopes for a postdoctoral scholarship program from the Quebec Research Funds on Anticosti, which already allows three young scientists to devote themselves to the island.
Mr. Desrochers, who first came to Anticosti as a student in 1977, is now thinking mainly about the next generation. He dreams of a research station, located somewhere in the middle of the island, which could accommodate scientists on expeditions to this immense territory.
“If, even before the possible inscription on the world heritage list, Anticosti generates so much interest in scientific research, we can imagine the leverage that the confirmation of such an inscription could have,” underlines the geologist.
The 45e expanded session of the World Heritage Committee will take place from 10 to 25 September in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. A small Quebec delegation will be on hand for the vote, which should take place between September 18 and 21. Last year, the International Union for Conservation of Nature recommended Anticosti for listing.