Measuring what matters: Biocapacity and ecological footprint
Participants of the joint Global Footprint Network and York University workshop (Photo courtesy of Martin J. Bunch, PhD)
The most-used measure of a country’s progress is its gross domestic product (GDP) — the value of the goods and services produced over a period of time, such as a year. A huge drawback of GDP, however, is that it does not fully reflect...
Antlers of the East: Tracking the decline of the Atlantic-Gaspésie caribou (part one)
Woodland caribou at the summit of Mont Jacques-Cartier, tallest among the Chic Choc Mountains of Gaspésie National Park, QC. (Photo by Zack Metcalfe)
It was August 18, 2017, when I gained the summit of Mont Jacques-Cartier, an alpine peak of shattered stone and meagre vegetation some 1,270 metres above Quebec’s Gaspé Peninsula. Several stones were organized into mounds, marking the...
Carbon and wetlands: So what's the big deal?
Wetlands can support lots of plants and vegetation. (Photo by Amanda Loder)
Wetlands can support a lot of plants and vegetation, which take up carbon from the atmosphere. What's unique about wetlands is that they enable dead plant material and the carbon they contain to be buried in their soils without being released into...
Climate change, fire and their implications for species
Will forest fire hazard signs be over into the red more often because of climate change? (Photo by Aaron H Warren CC BY-ND 2.0)
The role of fire in forest ecosystems Forest fires are powerful and devastating. But they are also necessary for the rejuvenation of some ecosystems. Many plants are well adapted to fire. Some trees have dense bark or shed their lower limbs to...
Three creative ways to reach people with conservation content
Conservation Volunteers event at Bunchberry Meadows (Photo by NCC)
Nature conservation could not exist without conservationists. To keep this important work going, it is necessary to get as many people involved as possible. Conservation work can be fun and exciting, but it's also work. So how can we best reach...
Hibernation with a hiss
A drawing of a snake (Photo by Darwin Online)
Snakes are such misunderstood creatures. Many people fear them, but that might be because they don’t know how awesome snakes are! Snakes are limbless reptiles with scaly skin. They are very diverse, with different sizes, colours and...
How plastic waste threatens marine organisms
Plastic waste is often seen washed up on shorelines (Photo by Kevin Krejc/Wikimedia Commons)
Ocean plastic pollution has grabbed worldwide attention in quite a short period of time. This is because the impact of plastic waste on marine plants and animals is tremendous. Plastic garbage patches the size of small countries floating on the...
Taking the creep out of creeping Jenny
Conservation Volunteers at Westmeath Freshwater Cave tackling creeping Jenny (Photo by Cheryl Spotswood)
On July 26, 2018, 14 Conservation Volunteers (CV) journeyed to the Nature Conservancy of Canada’s Westmeath Freshwater Caves property, which is part of the longest underwater cave system in Canada, to remove creeping Jenny. The Westmeath...
What the heck is a neotenic salamander?
Lemon-yellow prehistoric-looking creature that I later found out to be a western tiger salamander (Photo by Sherry Nigro)
My dad told me about it during a phone call. A neighbour had discovered some weird, not-seen-here-before creatures in his dugout. Bright yellow ones, dark ones, some with frills around their necks like miniature dinosaurs; these creatures were...
If you build it, they will come: Black bear dens on Vancouver Island
An example of the purpose-built den pods (Photo courtesy of Helen Davis)
For 26 years, I have been captivated by black bears and where they spend their winters. It all started with my masters of science research project in the Nimpkish Valley on Vancouver Island. I’ve been to lots and lots of dens ― usually in...
