Research projects and publications

The application and adaptation of the HYDROTEL model to the boreal environment in Quebec will allow Hydro-Québec to better understand past and future hydrological behaviours in these watersheds, and improve the management of hydroelectric production.

This project provided one of the first forums for discussing the analysis of vulnerabilities and opportunities under climate change for forest ecosystem management in Quebec. In particular, we were able to pinpoint the vulnerabilities to consider when using FEM management, and produce a decision-making tool to help managers assess the costs of protecting allowable cut against fire activity, which will increase under climate change.

The results of this study have contributed to an improved understanding of the adaptive capacity of black spruce under climate change, which will help optimize the future management of this species; approaches to forest management that will help reduce climate change impacts on this species; and beginning the development of a tool for predicting the mechanical properties of wood based on the input of environmental data in order to test the impact of climate change on wood formation.

The research suggests that it would be wise to maintain a mix of species, given that they have different responses to the uncertainties in the water balance resulting from climate change. New forest productivity models for calculating timber volumes for harvesting would better capture the relationships between climate, location and growth.

One of the benefits for adaptation from this project is the better knowledge of the CC response and adaptive capacity of balsam fir and black spruce will lead to a deeper understanding of forests and their future productivity (and therefore the amount of wood available), which will guide the management of forest resource harvesting.

The project showed that some coastal communities are already feeling impacts associated with environmental changes. The documentation of some traditional Inuit knowledge was made possible as well as increasing community awareness of climate change issues; and the development of awareness activities for community youth.

The project documented the geomorphic response of the St. Lawrence tributaries to different hydrological conditions ranging from very low flows, to winter floods and very high floods.

This study made it possible to contribute to the reflections of various governmental and non-governmental stakeholders whose role is to encourage the incorporation of climate change adaptation to integrated watershed management in Québec.

This project made it possible to produce information to integrate the influence of climate change into the plans of reconstruction or construction of new power plants the ensure the safety of the equipment; plan for probable changes in extreme flood events in order to benefit from the probable increase in hydroelectric production; evaluate various post-processing methods for climate data, which are essential to various studies leading to adaptation.

The results of this project provide a more complete and precise regional climatic and hydrological portrait in current and future climates to support decision-making on the identification of impacts and adaptation solutions to be planned and implemented for transportation.

This project is documenting, analyzing and projecting the consequences of water scarcity in terms of their cascading effects on the well-being of human populations and ecosystems.

This project will design ecofiscal measures and study their potential effects in order to document the issues to be anticipated if they are implemented. It will assess the utility of ecofiscal measures in supporting adaptation to climate change and the protection of species at risk.

Data collected in a participatory manner can be fed into models in order to define the flood zones and the alert levels for populations and infrastructure, in particular for the rivers where more traditional data collection is not possible.

This methodological approach is applicable in different climates and for different reclamation methods. Mining industry stakeholders have a method to assess the resilience of present or future reclamation facilities in the face of climate change. 

Under Thrust 5 of the 2020-2025 Action Plan for Responsible and Sustainable Tourism, Quebec’s Ministry of Tourism (MTO) is interested in acquiring and sharing knowledge on climate change mitigation, supporting partners in testing innovative solutions, and stimulating the mobilization of regional and sectoral players for a tourism industry that is resilient to climate change.

The results of this project will enable indigenous communities, regional organizations, and provincial and federal governments to consider a future where food security is assured.

The use of the Raven framework will help building several semi-distributed models appropriate to the watersheds of southern Quebec. It will allow the exploration of the different algorithms to simulate snow melting and evapotranspiration.

This study responds to a need expressed by mining companies and the provincial government to review mining waste management measures by considering climate change and its impacts on the industry in order to ensure the long-term sustainability and safety of tailings structures.

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 is a real-life case study on participatory governance being used in municipal settings to address climate change challenges at a regional scale.  The goal is to have public, community and private organizations and residents coordinate their adaptation efforts.

This project will contribute to advance methods and metrics for adaptation monitoring and evaluation in critical infrastructure sectors.