Atlas of Sites of Interest for Conservation along the Estuary and Gulf of St. Lawrence Coastline Methodology Report October 2019 This document should be cited as follows: Suggested citing: Jobin, B., L. Gratton and P. Desautels. 2019. Atlas of Sites of Interest for Conservation along the Estuary and Gulf of St. Lawrence Coastline – Methodology Report. Environment and Climate Change Canada and ministère de l’Environnement et de la Lutte contre les changements climatiques, St. Lawrence Action Plan, Québec, 92 p. Cover photos: © Thinkstockphotos ou nom auteur Published by Authority of the Minister of the Environment © Her Majesty the Queen in Right of Canada, 2019 Published by Authority of the Ministre de l’Environnement et de la Lutte contre les changements climatiques du Québec © Government of Quebec, 2019 Cat. No. : En154-102/2019E-PDF ISBN : 978-0-660-32210-0 Aussi disponible en français sous le titre : Atlas des milieux côtiers d’intérêt pour la conservation dans l’estuaire et le golfe du Saint-Laurent - Rapport méthodologique Production team Project coordination Benoît Jobin1 Louise Gratton2 Writing Benoît Jobin1 Louise Gratton2 Spatial analyses and mapping Patrick Desautels3 Collaboration Marie-Josée Côté4 Annie Lebel5 Kateri Monticone6 1 Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) 2 Consulting 3 Néogis – Solutions géomatiques 4 Ministère de l’Environnement et de la Lutte contre les changements climatiques du Québec (MELCC) 5 Bureau d’écologie appliquée 6 Nature Conservancy of Canada Atlas of Sites of Interest for Conservation along the Estuary and Gulf of St. Lawrence Coastline – Methodology Report Acknowledgments We would like to thank all those who participated in the production of this atlas by sharing their knowledge, data or time, particularly Jean-François Rail, Josée Tardif, Pierre Aquin and Karine Picard from the Canadian Wildlife Service of Environment and Climate Change Canada; Line Couillard, Jacques Labrecque, Guy Jolicoeur, Vincent Piché, Frédéric Poisson, Tingxian Li and Olivier Pfister from the ministère de l’Environnement et de la Lutte contre les changements climatiques; Normand Villeneuve, Marc Mingelbier, Antoine Nappi, Nathalie Desrosiers, Claudine Laurendeau, Valérie Simard and Marc-Antoine Couillard from the ministère des Forêts, de la Faune et des Parcs; Anne Lagacé from the Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada; Michèle Dupont-Hébert from the Bureau d’écologie appliquée and Chantal Quintin from the Université du Québec à Rimouski. Atlas of Sites of Interest for Conservation along the Estuary and Gulf of St. Lawrence Coastline – Methodology Report ii Abstract One of the projects under the biodiversity conservation theme of the St. Lawrence Action Plan is the development of an integrated plan for conserving the St. Lawrence’s natural environments and biodiversity. Identifying the sites where the conservation needs are the most urgent was the first step in this integrated planning process leading to the production of the Atlas of sites of interest for conservation in the Estuary and Gulf of St. Lawrence coastal regions. Conservation targets (coarse filter) selected for this atlas are forested areas, inland wetlands, coastal marshes and sandy environments. For each selected targets, sites of interest for conservation were determined up to a representativeness threshold of 20% for a given spatial reference unit (e.g., territorial zones - grouping of ecological districts). To do so, sites with high conservation interest were first selected, those sites being located within or adjacent to protected areas or exceptional forested ecosystems, sites hosting species at risk, sites bordering salmon rivers, 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. Other sites of interest not covered with the coarse filter targets and representing local sites with high conservation value were also determined (fine filter), such as bird colonies, eelgrass beds, important wildlife elements (critical habitats of species at risk, Bank Swallow and Chimney Swift nesting sites, Harlequin Duck winter concentration sites, breeding and rearing habitat for Rainbow Smelt in the southern St. Lawrence Estuary, etc.), important plant occurrences and salmon rivers. This atlas describes the regions where many sites of interest for conservation are concentrated. It also compares these sites with existing planning documents. In addition, since the geospatial data associated with these sites are publicly available, this allows users to better visualize the geographical location of the sites of interest and the conservation value associated with each habitat patch of the conservation targets (forested areas, inland wetlands, coastal marshes, sandy 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. The development of conservation strategies for natural sites and land-use planning will guide the selection of concrete conservation actions for sites where the need is greatest. Since conservation of natural environments and species at risk is a shared responsibility, this atlas will address the priorities of numerous organizations involved in the conservation of coastal environments, i.e., conservation organizations, municipalities and RCMs, government organizations and academic institutions. In addition, because this atlas is intended to be a tool in landscape and land-use planning, we believe upcoming conservation strategies for natural sites can be oriented towards sites with high conservation value and facing coastal hazards, or include them in the planned review of RCMs’ and municipalities’ land use and development plans. Atlas of Sites of Interest for Conservation along the Estuary and Gulf of St. Lawrence Coastline – Methodology Report iii Table of Contents 1. Introduction ............................................................................................................... 1 1.1. Why produce an atlas of coastal sites that are priorities for conservation? .......... 2 1.2. Who is the atlas of coastal sites of conservation interest intended for? ............... 2 1.3. Conceptual framework: Open Standards for the Practice of Conservation .......... 4 2. Goal of the planning process ................................................................................... 5 3. Project team ............................................................................................................... 6 4. Vision…………………………………………………………………………………………..6 5. Scope of project ........................................................................................................ 7 5.1. Spatial reference : territorial zones ...................................................................... 8 6. Ecological context ..................................................................................................... 9 6.1. Geology, topography, hydrography ..................................................................... 9 6.2. Climate ............................................................................................................. 10 6.3. Natural environments and biodiversity of interest .............................................. 10 6.4. Protected areas ................................................................................................. 12 7.Threats………………………………………………………………………………………...12 7.1. Climate change ................................................................................................. 12 7.2. Urban development ........................................................................................... 13 7.3. Oil and gas exploration and production ............................................................. 13 7.4. Tourism and recreational activities .................................................................... 14 7.5. Forestry operations ........................................................................................... 15 7.6. Invasive alien species and problematic native species ...................................... 15 8. Conservation issues ............................................................................................... 15 9. Conservation targets ............................................................................................... 18 9.1. Coarse-filter targets .......................................................................................... 18 9.1.1. Forested areas ............................................................................................... 18 9.1.2. Inland wetlands .............................................................................................. 19 9.1.3. Coastal marshes ............................................................................................ 20 9.1.4. Sandy environments ...................................................................................... 21 9.2. Fine-filter targets ............................................................................................... 21 9.2.1. Eelgrass beds ................................................................................................ 22 9.2.2. Bird colonies .................................................................................................