Research projects and publications

This project, in co-operation with government agencies, committees of watershed management councils and farmers, allowed to develop strategies for adapting to climate change, with the goal of improving the quality of bodies of water and ecosystems' recovery capacity.

The "Climate teconstruction at Ouranos for Quebec" CROQ project has created a complete and consistent database for several weather variables of interest to users for recent climate in Québec. For example, CROQ precipitation data is being used for the interpolation of IDF curves in a project with Hydro-Québec, and for post-processing extremes as part of an INFO-Crue project.

The CANOPEX database can be used as a baseline for climate change and adaptation studies in a coherent framework across Canada

This work shows that the most widespread and harvested species in the boreal forest of eastern Canada, due to its exceptional qualities, shows surprising resistance to treatments simulating medium-term global warming (8 years).

Studying the potential impacts of climate change on northern biodiversity will provide better tools for tracking its spatial and temporal dynamics. The results will help identify areas that meet the goals of the protected areas network and ensure sound biodiversity conservation.

It is important to take into account both the direct impact and indirect impact (via disturbance regimes) of climate on vegetation in order to understand how climate change will affect the future distribution of species.

This project has highlighted the importance of changing stormwater management practices in urban areas in order to adapt drainage systems to climate change. One of the actions suggested in this project is to promote projects that reduce impervious surfaces.

Agricultural land has become increasingly sensitive in recent years to climate extremes. This work is a preliminary phase in developing regional management strategies for agricultural practices and land use.

The use of the maps created with this project as a tool for community land-development planning was a simple but fundamental initial means of adapting to climate change.

The results of this project have led to a better understanding of the relationship between the surface layer and permafrost processes. They have also benefited local communities by providing an innovative methodology for planning transport infrastructure maintenance on sensitive permafrost in particular.

This project has helped to develop an international-scale pilot project in the field of integrated watershed management in the context of climate change.

In light of the results obtained, the scope of the expected water-level declines will require equally significant adaptation measures.

The results of this project have produced better tools and methods that hydropower companies can use to incorporate the impacts of climate and climate changes on the power production of their installations.

The involvement of the MRCs resulted in a better understanding of the notion of essential systems as well as greater awareness of the impact of climate change on essential systems and the importance of considering their vulnerabilities from an adaptation perspective.

This project made available for practitioners in the assessment of climate change adaptation a list of indicators collected and categorized in a logical structure that can be implemented and adapted according to context and assessment requirements.

The results of this project will allow to ensure better management of fish stocks in lakes by taking account of future thermal profiles under climate change. It will also permit to assist the government of Québec formulate its strategic orientations and policies with respect to fauna, contributing to the survival of aquatic ecosystems and species in Northern Québec by quantifying the sensitivity of fish to climate change.

The study findings suggest that it is important to put information panels in parks and wooded areas in the Montérégie region to increase the awareness of users about the potential risks and the steps to take to protect themselves.

The hydrodynamic model of the river is now calibrated and ready to be used for low-flow and high-flow simulations of contaminant diffusion and dispersion, allowing hydrologists to adapt infrastructure according to anticipated climate change.

This project allows to improve knowledge about the competitive position of Quebec under climate change for three major agricultural sectors, as well as the identification of adaptation measures that could optimize production costs under climate change.

This project made it possible to raise awareness on the magnitude of climate change impacts and the evolution of agricultural land use on surface water quality in the future (2041-2070); and to improve the model used to evaluate the effectiveness of various combinations of agricultural adaptation options to reduce sediment and nutrient transport towards surface waters.

Taking into account both forest productivity and fire risk, as developed under this project, was used by the committee to study the northern limit for forest attribution in Québec as one of the determining criteria for evaluating a region’s potential for sustainable forest management.

The project helped to raise awareness among plant health professionals regarding the potential impacts of climate change on crop pests and their natural enemies.

As a result of this research, Quebec stakeholders in crop protection will have the elements needed to launch a climate change adaptation strategy for the sector based on an analysis of the coherence between the actions identified in Quebec’s 2011-2021 crop health strategy and the priority adaptation measures identified during this project.

Agricultural sector users have now access to summary knowledge on climate change and its potential impacts on the agricultural sector. They can access resource documents validated by experts, including an inventory of the knowledge and tools available for dealing with expected climate changes.

The tool developed in this project describes the levels of freedom space and can serve to integrate this concept into municipal and provincial water management policies. The analyses revealed the important role wetlands play in the proper functioning of rivers, especially in the climate change context, and supports efforts to better protect these essential areas.

This project has allowed to increase awareness through regular meetings of the municipal water withdrawers who share the same finite resource. It will allow improved preparedness for expected low flow periods, through a decision support tool that helps municipal users react more
rapidly and equitably. Moreover, it is an approach to monitoring that can be adapted to circumstances other than low flows.

The results obtained for the Yamaska basin will allow the extension of the studies to other basins and could eventually allow the implementation of the methodology within the forecasting system of the Centre d'expertise hydrique du Québec.

The results of this study reinforce the importance of avoiding disturbance of wetlands, which encourages the establishment of the common reed through seed germination, and revegetating any areas disturbed by work in marshes as quickly as possible.

This project reccomands the reduction of the fragmentation of habitats to encourage the spatial reorganization of species; to expand the network of protected areas and to conceive it based on climate change considerations. Moreover, a better system for monitoring biodiversity in Quebec is needed to detect changes and respond to them in time.

This project has revealed that it is to the advantage of the tourism industry to take a proactive leadership role in raising awareness and training; increased knowledge among participants and encouraged decision-making bodies in the pilot regions to adopt a practical approach to climate change adaptation; and shown the need for a support system and regulatory framework for the tourism industry that will encourage better climate change adaptation.

The project helped raise awareness about the health risks related to ragweed for property owners, managers and residents from neighborhoods in the eastern part of Montréal. It also enabled researchers to test the effectiveness of measures such as information mailings to owners of ragweed-infested land in limiting the impacts of ragweed during the pollen season so as to inform decision makers in terms of efforts to be made for heightening awareness.

This project allowed to determine the relationship between climate and mortality in Quebec, using 1981 and 1999 climate and public health data. Moreover, it enabled to estimate future increases in mortality due to climate change.

This project highlighted an higher pollen concentrations during the 1994-2002 period, forecasting an increase in the incidence of allergic rhinitis over the coming decades. Moreover, pollen proliferation appears to be exacerbated by the increase in CO2 concentration and urban sprawl according to this study.

This project allowed to integrate the issue of adaptation to climate change into the curricula of university courses on urban and land use planning, as well as to assess and validate proposed adaptation measures based on criteria regarding feasibility and social acceptability.

This project allowed to raise awareness among the various levels of government and the institutions involved in the development of adaptation policies and actions to the importance of a linkage between the specific needs at the neighbourhood level and the responses and interventions proposed by the municipality.

Collaboration with other research teams doing similar work but at different scales or from a different perspective (societal and territorial vulnerabilities) leads to a more thorough understanding of the issues and effects of adaptation choices.

The aim of this project is to minimize the biases of general circulation models before they are used to drive modelling, thus considerably improving the quality of regional climate model results.

This project allows agronomists and engineers to have access to updated data to help them design hydro-agricultural works adapted to Quebec’s climatic and agricultural context, and to be more aware of the need for taking climate change into account in their practices thanks to a presentation on IDF curves under future climatic conditions given at various selected events.

The participatory approach used in this project made it possible to develop tools that are appropriate for the people who will use them, and at the same time helped strengthen the adaptation capacity of participants.

The maps produced in this project have already been used to select suitable sites for the construction of residential buildings. The results of these analyses were also used in projects to develop tools for improving municipal management.

How can we make Quebec's more resilient to climate change? This project identifies the industries to be targeted and offers possible solutions to better understand all the risks, cascading effects and cross-border impacts on the Quebec economy.

The project results are directly applicable by the stakeholders in the road sector. The percentages of the relative service life span can be considered in the design phase of the road structures in order to adapt the pavements to climate change. The methodology for selecting a frost index adapted to in the design phase that takes climate change into account is also directly applicable by practitioners.

Implementing the design measures described in the guide will contribute significantly to reducing the heat island effects of parking lots. This normative guide can serve to accelerate innovation and become a reference tool for municipalities when drafting regulations or call for tender documents.

This project has presented a preliminary map and hierarchy of the vulnerability of this area that can serve as a valuable decision support tool for the region.

This project highlights the importance for water users to prepare for prolonged dry periods during the growing season, which could lead to increased irrigation needs, especially when recharge is already extremely low.

This study provides perspectives for the development of one or more decision support tools that would enable forest communities to identify priority areas of vulnerability so that they can develop a strategy for strengthening the capacity to adapt to climate change.

The findings of the study helped refine the indicators that are used to better assess future forest productivity. The findings help identify sectors where certain species may be affected in the future and may serve as a basis for certain forest management choices.

The results presented in the Atlas will help actors of the forest sector to better understand the links between the expected changes in climate and ecological impacts; to evaluate the opportunities and the risks associated with climate change for this sector; to better focus future projects on forest ecosystems and more generally on terrestrial ecosystems in Quebec in terms of adaptation to climate change.

The results of this study point out that for the salamanders, it may be more important to monitor anthropogenic activities than climate changes. It also allows to illustrate the relevance of a comprehensive approach to land conservation at the local scale.

In the current context of declining caribou populations, the inclusion of climate components in the analysis of space use by the migratory caribou sheds new light on the factors that determine the dynamics of these populations. These factors are being taken into account in the development of management plans.