Develop a climate change adaptation and management strategy for biodiversity

In 2019, the MRC Nicolet-Yamaska adopted an ecological transition plan to guide the sustainable development of its territory. In order to respond to the issues related to biodiversity, Habitat was mandated to draw up an ecological portrait of the territory, to report on the benefits offered by the natural environments and the vulnerabilities to which they are exposed.

Our team first analyzed the benefits (ecosystem services) provided by natural environments and in particular their capacity to limit erosion, reduce the transfer of nutrients to watercourses or to capture and store carbon. Two connectivity analyses were also carried out to determine the main ecological corridors and the importance of natural environments as habitats for animal species. In addition, the vulnerability of natural environments was studied in order to identify the most vulnerable sites and propose actions to increase their resilience.

Major findings:

• The territory's natural environments store large quantities of carbon

  The territory's natural environments contain more than one billion tons of carbon in the soil, trunks, branches, roots, etc. In monetary terms, this total stock has an estimated economic value of $244 billion.

  More than one billion tons of carbon is the equivalent of driving 1.3 billion cars for a year or the annual electricity consumption of nearly 1 billion Canadian homes.

  The wetlands of the territory contribute greatly to this carbon stock. A peat bog stores on average 1372 tons per hectare while a forest environment stores 69 tons per hectare.

• The territory of the MRC has many ecological corridors

  Many corridors facilitate the movement of wildlife species between their habitat patches and contribute to the regional connectivity network.

  Natural areas with a high connectivity index are priority areas for protection to ensure long-term connectivity at the landscape level. Improvements can also be made now where corridors are identified near urban areas or where they cross roads.

• Half of the woodlots are poorly diversified and intolerant of flooding and drought

  A forest composed of functionally different tree species, with diverse tolerances and vulnerabilities, will be better able to adapt to as many stresses as possible and thus be more resilient to global change.

  On the MRC territory, more than half of the woodlands are dominated by species from functional group 1. This group includes maples, yellow birch, elms, and ironwoods, all of which are intolerant of drought and flooding.

  Our team therefore recommends diversification interventions in the most vulnerable sectors in order to make them more resilient to global changes and maintain the benefits offered by these ecosystems.

Our team modeled three potential development scenarios (status quo, compensation, and renaturalization) to compare the gains and losses associated with different land use strategies. Under the status quo, the land in 2070 would experience a net loss of services due to the loss of natural areas to development.

Only significant restoration efforts (scenario 3), including conversion of agricultural land to woodland, would improve the supply of natural environment services, their level of connectivity and their resilience.