Research projects and publications

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 Agroclimatic Atlas is particularly useful for managing climate risks and opportunities; supporting decision making for long-term planning at the farm scale and for the entire agricultural sector; raising awareness among agricultural stakeholders about climate change and its impacts.

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.

The study summarizes current knowledge on the probable evolution of deciduous forests in eastern Canada, and can be used as a baseline for future observations. Adapted management of forest resources will make it possible to plan properly, while leaving enough flexibility to adjust to future advances in knowledge.

The study shows that it would be more appropriate then a warning system to consider long-term measures to reduce municipal water consumption throughout the year, along with measures to increase the retention capacity of the watershed.

Analysis of climate analogs can help water managers and decision makers to direct their search for information on adaptation methods towards regions identified as sharing similar climates, and draw upon the most appropriate adaptation measures from among the water use and conservation strategies and programs already being used by particular sectors of activity.

The project helped to provide the Naskapi community with a Climate Change Adaptation Action Plan that applies across four sectors: animals, hunting and travelling on the land, health and well-being, culture and learning.

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.

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.

The approach and the toolbox have been distributed among various major partners in the environmental assessment field, in particular the Commission sur les enjeux des mines uranifères, appointed by the Bureau d’audiences publiques sur l’environnement (BAPE).

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

The summary issued for this topic under study reviews the various climatic phenomena affecting Quebec, recalls some precedents where heritage buildings have been damaged or destroyed by a hazard, and makes a (non-exhaustive) inventory of adaptation measures implemented in Quebec or elsewhere.

This project identified future climate trends in Quebec for the purpose of helping wine growers plan their grape variety choices. The results could influence future criteria for reserved designations, specifying the types of grape varieties and their possible geographical extent in the context of climate change.

This topic under study reviews the role of adaptation monitoring and evaluation (M&E) frameworks and their contributions to the climate resilience of the electricity sector.
 

This project will provide the project's partners, responsible for managing and conserving the Lake Papineau area and its ecosystems, with recommendations to implement long-term management plans by taking into consideration climate change and cumulative impacts on lakes and wetlands.

This project helped maintain and increase the connectivity of natural infrastructures in the greater Montreal area is an important adaptation strategy to facilitate species movement over the next 100 years.

The results of this project will enable decision-makers, ecological planners and mining companies to develop adaptation strategies and industrial development and biodiversity conservation measures based on robust scientific data that takes into account the effects of climate change on the wetlands of Eeyou Istchee James Bay.

The adaptation strategies proposed upon completion of the project will allow governments and the various organizations concerned to better determine habitats of interest to waterfowl, with regard to land use planning, networks of conservation areas and forestry and agricultural practices.

The project enable Québec City to plan a long-term conservation network that takes climate change into account, and integrate this network into its planning management while contributing to the Ministère des Affaires Municipales et de l’Habitation’s Strategy to ensure the occupation and vitality of the territories.

This research project is designed to better understand the dynamics of cyanobacterial blooms and cyanotoxins under climate change. The results will provide a solid foundation for biodiversity conservation through adaptation measures.

The economic quantification of ES generated by natural capital can be used to develop new indicators for land-use planning. It can also serve to inform decision making and can be integrated with other decision support tools such as cost-benefit and multi-criteria analyses.

The knowledge gained from this project will allow the development or revision of planning and action tools for decision makers in order to promote the adaptation of the crop protection sector to climate change.

The results of this study provided producers and agricultural advisors with information about the benefits and limitations of controlled drainage as an adaptation measure against expected climate change.

This project  helped facilitate consultation between actors from the different sectors concerned and helped increase awareness of climate change and adaptation.

The project will provide rural Québec MRCs with greater autonomy in their actions to create knowledge and combat climate change.

This project changed the perception of climate change among farmers and agricultural advisors following discussion meetings and various local, regional and provincial presentations. It also increased the resilience of Québec farms to climate change and made this resilience accessible through information sheets and regional climate change adaptation plans.

The results obtained make it possible to provide dairy farm managers with concrete recommendations for choosing forage mixes adapted to current and future climate conditions and solutions to reduce the risk of heat stress in barns during hot summer weather.

The guide to developing a climate change adaptation plan is specifically designed to support municipal organizations in Quebec in their adaptation processes by helping them assess and manage the risks associated with climate change.

This project has highlighted combined climate events that should be prioritized in Quebec by targeting the information needs related to these events.

This project aims to implement and evaluate the thermal simulation module of the Raven hydrological modelling framework to simulate water temperature in the Ouelle River watershed. The feasibility of applying this model to future climates throughout southern Quebec can then be evaluated.

This report summarizes best practices in integrating climate change adaptation into seven decision-support tools used by organizations providing essential services supported by infrastructure networks requiring major investments.

The second phase of this project will begin to document the chain of consequences of water scarcity on a provincial scale, in terms of the cascading effects on the well-being of human populations and ecosystems.