Holocene development of maritime ombrotrophic peatlands of the St. Lawrence North Shore in eastern Canada

2014 ◽  
Vol 82 (1) ◽  
pp. 96-106 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gabriel Magnan ◽  
Michelle Garneau ◽  
Serge Payette
Keyword(s):  
Early Developmental Stage ◽  
Larix Laricina ◽  
Eastern Canada ◽  
Peat Accumulation ◽  
Lawrence Estuary ◽  
Clay Deposits ◽  
St Lawrence Estuary ◽  
Early Developmental ◽  
Insight Into

AbstractMacrofossil analyses were used to reconstruct long-term vegetation successions within ombrotrophic peatlands (bogs) from the northern shorelines of the St. Lawrence Estuary (Baie-Comeau) and the Gulf of St. Lawrence (Havre-St-Pierre). Over the Holocene, the timing and the ecological context of peatland inception were similar in both regions and were mainly influenced by fluctuations in relative sea level. Peat accumulation started over deltaic sands after the withdrawal of the Goldthwait Sea from 7500 cal yr BP and above silt–clay deposits left by the Laurentian marine transgression after 4200 cal yr BP. In each region, the early vegetation communities were similar within these two edaphic contexts where poor fens with Cyperaceae and eastern larch (Larix laricina) established after land emergence. The rapid transitions to ombrotrophy in the peatlands of Baie-Comeau are associated with particularly high rates of peat accumulation during the early developmental stage. The results suggest that climate was more propitious to Sphagnum growth after land emergence in the Baie-Comeau area. Macrofossil data show that treeless Sphagnum-dominated bogs have persisted over millennia and that fires had few impacts on the vegetation dynamics. This study provides insight into peatland vegetation responses to climate in a poorly documented region of northeastern America.

Marine tube-dwelling diatoms of eastern Canada: descriptions, checklist, and illustrated key

1984 ◽  
Vol 62 (4) ◽  
pp. 778-794 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher S. Lobban
Keyword(s):  
New Species ◽  
Northwest Territories ◽  
Common Species ◽  
Bay Of Fundy ◽  
Eastern Canada ◽  
Lawrence Estuary ◽  
The Common ◽  
Living Material ◽  
St Lawrence Estuary ◽  
A New Species

From a study of living materials and specimens in several regional herbaria, a list has been drawn up of all the common and several of the rarer tube-dwelling diatoms of eastern Canada. Descriptions, illustrations of living material and acid-cleaned valves, and a key to the species are provided. Most specimens were from the Atlantic Provinces and the St. Lawrence estuary, but a few were from the Northwest Territories. By far the most common species is Berkeleya rutilans. Other species occurring commonly in the Quoddy Region of the Bay of Fundy, and sporadically in space and time elsewhere, arc Navicula delognei (two forms), Nav. pseudocomoides, Nav. smithii, Haslea crucigera, and a new species, Nav.rusticensis. Navicula ramosissima and Nav. mollis in eastern Canada are usually found as scattered cohabitants in tubes of other species. Nitzschia tubicola and Nz. fontifuga also occur sporadically as cohabitants.

Role of the bedrock topography in the Quaternary filling of a giant estuarine basin: the Lower St. Lawrence Estuary, Eastern Canada

2010 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mathieu J. Duchesne ◽  
Nicolas Pinet ◽  
Karine Bédard ◽  
Guillaume St-Onge ◽  
Patrick Lajeunesse ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Eastern Canada ◽  
Lawrence Estuary ◽  
Bedrock Topography ◽  
St Lawrence Estuary

scholarly journals Do Barrow's Goldeneyes, Bucephala islandica, Breed South of the St. Lawrence Estuary in the Gaspé Peninsula, Eastern Canada?

2010 ◽  
Vol 124 (2) ◽  
pp. 179
Author(s):  
Jean-François Ouellet ◽  
Pierre Fradette ◽  
Isabel Blouin
Keyword(s):  
North America ◽  
Breeding Season ◽  
Breeding Habitat ◽  
Eastern North America ◽  
Eastern Canada ◽  
Lawrence Estuary ◽  
North Shore ◽  
The North ◽  
Bucephala Islandica ◽  
St Lawrence Estuary

We report the first observations of Barrow's Goldeneyes south of the St. Lawrence estuary in typical breeding habitat during the breeding season. Until recently, the confirmed breeding locations for the species in Eastern North America were all located on the north shore of the Estuary and Gulf of St. Lawrence.

Identification and dating of a key Late Pleistocene stratigraphic unit in the St. Lawrence Estuary and Gulf (Eastern Canada)

2008 ◽  
Vol 27 (25-26) ◽  
pp. 2390-2400 ◽  
Author(s):  
Guillaume St-Onge ◽  
Patrick Lajeunesse ◽  
Mathieu J. Duchesne ◽  
Hubert Gagné
Keyword(s):  
Late Pleistocene ◽  
Eastern Canada ◽  
Lawrence Estuary ◽  
Stratigraphic Unit ◽  
St Lawrence Estuary

Recherches sur les Alaria (Phaeophyceae) de l'est canadien. I. Nombres chromosomiques et identité des Alaria de l'estuaire du St-Laurent

1974 ◽  
Vol 52 (4) ◽  
pp. 691-694 ◽  
Author(s):  
M.-J. Feller-Demalsy ◽  
P. Demalsy
Keyword(s):  
Chromosome Number ◽  
Single Species ◽  
Chromosome Counts ◽  
Eastern Canada ◽  
Lawrence Estuary ◽  
Haploid Chromosome Number ◽  
Biosystematic Study ◽  
Alaria Esculenta ◽  
St Lawrence Estuary

Chromosome counts in gametophytes and sporophylls of Alaria collected in the St. Lawrence Estuary show that all the specimens of this genus in eastern Canada may not belong to the single species A. esculenta Greville. Indeed, the haploid chromosome number (n) found in these algae is equal to half of the number attributed in the literature to Alaria esculenta from the British coasts. Three hypotheses for the interpretation of these observations are considered. The solution of the problem of the identity of Alaria can only be hoped for from their global, morphological, and biosystematic study.

The Limnological Units of the Lower Great Lakes - St. Lawrence River Corridor and Their Role in the Source and Aquatic Fate of Toxic Contaminants

1986 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
pp. 168-186 ◽  
Author(s):  
R.J. Allan
Keyword(s):  
Great Lakes ◽  
Residence Time ◽  
Control Strategies ◽  
Salt Water ◽  
Transport Systems ◽  
Long Term Effects ◽  
Lawrence Estuary ◽  
St Lawrence Estuary ◽  
St Lawrence River

Abstract The waterways of the lower Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River, between Sarnia and the Saguenay Fiord, are made up of four limnological units. The first comprises the high discharge, rapid flow rivers, namely the St. Clair, Detroit, Niagara and St. Lawrence. Second are the four shallow, short residence time, riverine lakes, namely St. Clair, St. Francois, St. Louis and St. Pierre. Third are the two, relatively deep, long residence time, lower Great Lakes Erie and Ontario. Lastly, there is the freshwater-salt water mixing zone of the upper St. Lawrence Estuary. The rivers are essentially sources and transport systems of toxic contaminants on a grand scale. The riverine lakes provide only temporary storage or sinks even for contaminants associated with sediments because these are eventually resuspended and moved on downstream. The major sinks, where long-term effects are most evident are the two lower Great Lakes and the St. Lawrence Estuary. These sites are also where sediment associated contaminants can be permanently removed by deep burial in bottom sediments. However, even here, a proportion of the contaminant load passes on downstream and eventually out to the Gulf of St. Lawrence. The distinctive characteristics of the four limnological units are discussed in relation to sources and fate of toxic contaminants. Understanding the role of the units is critical to development of toxic chemicals control strategies and reduction in aquatic ecosystem contamination.

Diet and feeding behaviour of the sea cucumber Cucumaria frondosa in the St. Lawrence estuary, eastern Canada

1998 ◽  
Vol 76 (6) ◽  
pp. 1194-1198 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jean-Francois Hamel ◽  
Annie Mercier
Keyword(s):  
Feeding Behaviour ◽  
Field Experiments ◽  
Skeletonema Costatum ◽  
Physical Parameters ◽  
Tidal Variation ◽  
Eastern Canada ◽  
Lawrence Estuary ◽  
Laboratory Conditions ◽  
St Lawrence Estuary ◽  
Cucumaria Frondosa

Combined laboratory and field experiments showed that sea cucumbers (Cucumaria frondosa) from the St. Lawrence estuary in eastern Canada have well-defined feeding cycles with marked seasonal and tidal variations. Typical feeding behaviour involved extension of the tentacles, which were then successively introduced into the oral cavity. Field observations and analysis of intestinal contents and indices demonstrated that C. frondosa fed mainly during spring and summer. Their diet comprised an abundance of phytoplanktonic cells (Coscinodiscus centralis, Chaetoceros debilis, Skeletonema costatum, and Thalassiosira gravida), with occasional ingestion of small crustaceans and a variety of eggs and larvae. Food types found in the digestive tract were closely related to the periodic abundance of plankton species in the water. Fewer individuals were observed feeding during fall and winter; they mostly ingested nonliving particles and the intestinal indices were low. In field populations, feeding rates were highest during ebb and rising tides, whereas under laboratory conditions without tidal variation, individuals showed no distinct feeding periods. However, individuals maintained under laboratory conditions and periodically provided with phytoplanktonic cells demonstrated a strong ability to detect the food in the water and react accordingly by extending their tentacles and beginning to feed. The results of the study suggest that food availability, rather than physical parameters such as temperature or current, best explains the cyclic feeding behaviour of C.\x11frondosa at seasonal and tidal scales.

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