Atlas of Territories of Conservation Interest in the St. Lawrence Lowlands (2019)

Produced as part of the St. Lawrence Action Plan, the Atlas of territories of conservation interest in the St. Lawrence Lowlands presents sites where the conservation needs are most pressing. Conservation targets (coarse filter) selected for this atlas are woodlands, wetlands, open habitats (old fields, perennial crops), and aquatic environments, to which are added fine filter elements such as rare aquatic environments of the St. Lawrence River (spawning sites), alvars, colonial bird nesting sites, and other faunistic sites (e.g., nesting sites for bank swallow and chimney swift, etc.) and critical floristic sites. Our objective was to determine sites of interest until a 20% representativeness threshold; sites with high conservation interest were first selected, those sites being located within or adjacent to protected areas or unique forested ecosystems, sites hosting species at risk, or those having unique ecological features. A prioritization analysis was then carried out on conservation targets using a multi-criteria analysis when the 20% representativeness threshold was not reached following the selection analysis. Finally, a multitarget analysis was performed to determine regions with high concentration priority sites for multiple targets.

The geospatial data associated with these sites and the land cover mapping of the St. Lawrence Lowlands, essential data used to produce this atlas, are publicly available. This will allow users to visualize better the geographical location of the sites of interest and the conservation value associated with each habitat patch of the conservation targets (woodlands, wetlands, old fields, perennial crops, and aquatic environments) using geographic information systems (e.g., ArcGIS). Users will also have the opportunity to adapt the determination of sites of high conservation value given their own spatial territory and conservation objectives. Since the conservation of natural environments and species at risk is a shared responsibility, this atlas will address the priorities of numerous organizations involved in conserving coastal environments, i.e., conservation organizations, municipalities and RCMs, government organizations, and academic institutions.

View data in the OCTO application and the scientific article published in the journal Le Naturaliste canadien: L’atlas des territoires d’intérêt pour la conservation dans les basses-terres du Saint-Laurent : un outil pour orienter la conservation des milieux naturels dans le sud du Québec