Jérémi St-Pierre

MSc student

Centre d’étude des sciences de la forêt, Institut des sciences de l’environnement

Tanya Handa

st-pierre.jeremi@courrier.uqam.ca mail_outline

Interests and Expertise

Short description of Project

Urban environments represent a unique ecosystem made up of gray and green infrastructure. Like forests, the vegetation of urban green spaces is varied, consisting of trees, shrubs and grasses that provide habitats and refuges for wildlife. This vegetation is subject to different types of management. For example, alternative management lawns left fallow allow for a significant diversity of arthropods compared to lawns that are cut frequently. In fact, the disturbances associated with urban environments would lead to a taxonomic and functional decline of arthropods. However, knowledge is limited with regard to arthropods in urban soils. Springtails, a group of soil microarthropods, were chosen as the indicator arthropod group because of their high density in the soil and their essential role in the decomposition of organic matter. The first objective of this study is to understand the influence of the choice of vegetation and their maintenance of urban development on the structure of the communities of springtails. In July and August 2020, springtails were collected from soil samples extracted in three types of urban development (lawns, lawns with trees and shrubs) located in three landscaped green spaces on the island of Montreal. Three urban woodlots spread over the island of Montreal were also sampled to determine the ability of trees and shrubs in urban parks to provide habitat for species of springtails found in woodland soils. The second objective is to test whether alternative lawn management methods promote the diversity of springtail communities. In August 2021, the sampling of springtails was carried out in seven parks and in the Arboretum of the Botanical Garden practicing differentiated management of lawns in the Rosemont-La Petite-Patrie borough. Soil samples were taken from both frequent cut lawns and annual cut lawns. The abundance and species richness and the composition of springtail communities will be determined for each type of vegetation and management method. The intention of this study is to know the types of vegetation and the maintenance practices of urban developments that promote a significant diversity of springtails in order to make recommendations to diversify the arthropod community and improve the quality of urban soils. .

Short description of internship with partner

Trace the past uses of the land in Rosemont-La Petite-Patrie parks from the archives of the Jardin-Botanique de Montréal.