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SCIENTIFIC MISSIONS
Since it began operations in spring 2004, the Lampsilis has made several missions on the St. Lawrence River. Here is an overview of some of these expeditions.
Ecology of the river section from lac Saint-François upstream of Montréal to the zone of estuarine transition downstream of Île d’Orléans (near Québec City)
This project comprised six missions that took place between 2005 and 2006. The project is led by Dr. Jean-Jacques Frenette of UQTR in collaboration with scientists from the Université de Montréal (Dr. Bernadette Pinel-Alloul), the Institut des sciences de la mer à Rimouski (Dr. Michel Gosselin), the Université du Québec à Montréal (Dr. Yves Prairie), and UQTR (Dr. Denis Gratton). This team, which also included more than 15 undergraduate, master’s, and doctoral students, sampled more than 30 stations from lac Saint-François, upstream of Montréal, through lac Saint-Louis and lac Saint-Pierre, and on to an area downstream of Île d’Orléans. Valuable data on the physico-chemical characteristics of the water, its optical properties, and the abundance of organisms like bacteria, algae, and zooplankton have been collected. This research program aims to better understand the impact that the fluvial lakes have on the productivity of waters further downstream, especially in the upper estuary and the zone of estuarine transition. The program allows the scientists to take stock of the river’s conditions at the start of the millennia.
Visualize a clip from the show Découverte (Radio-Canada).
Ecology of fish communities in the St. Lawrence estuary
This project, which began in 2006, is led by Dr. Julian Dodson from Université Laval in collaboration with Dr. Gilbert Cabana from UQTR. The project investigate the ecology of two important species of estuarine fish, smelt and Atlantic tomcod (“Tommy cod”). These scientists are particularly interested in the estuarine dispersal patterns of these species as they grow. The project, which includes several undergraduate and graduate students, integrates different approaches—genetics, morphology, and biogeochemistry—allowing a better understanding of the population structure of these fish, which are prey for several important predator species.
Ecology of fish communities in lac Saint-Pierre
Dr. Pierre Magnan and Dr. Marco Rodriguez from UQTR and some of their colleagues from Ministère des Ressources Naturelles et de la Faune led by Dr. Marc Mingelbier have been interested for several years in fish populations from lac Saint-Pierre, including perch, a species valued by sport and commercial fishermen. The Lampsilis is an ideal platform for quantifying the abundance and spatial distribution of species using a bottom trawl that can be deployed in less than 1.5 metres of water. This project, which began in the summer of 2006, examines the structure and functioning of the fish populations and communities in this large fluvial lake. |
