Study sites :

• Salt marsh in Barachois, Gaspésie

Project leaders: Scott Davidson (UQAM) and Michelle Garneau (UQAM)

In collaboration with :

• Nature Conservancy Canada
• Pascal Bernatchez (UQAR)

Graduate students :

• Frédérique Turmel (UQAM)

Salt marshes act as natural carbon dioxide (CO₂) sinks and contribute significantly to the fight against climate change. However, blue carbon remains poorly documented in northern regions, particularly in eastern Canada, where large areas of salt marshes are located.

This project aims to quantify the net carbon balance in the salt marsh of Barachois de Malbaie (Gaspésie) from measurements of atmospheric carbon fluxes, environmental data (soil and air temperature, groundwater level and photosynthetically active radiation) as well as the estimation of soil carbon stocks.

The assessment incorporates measurements of CO₂ and CH₄ fluxes during the 2024 and 2025 growing seasons as well as the quantification of carbon stored in the main vegetation units of the marsh.

Research objectives :

• 1. Calculation of the carbon balance in each of the vegetation units.
• 2. Characterization and mapping of the different vegetation units of the marsh by identifying their spatial distribution.
• 3. Extrapolation of values ​​to the entire salt marsh in order to quantify the overall capacity of the marsh to sequester carbon.

This project is made possible with Mitacs funding and in collaboration with Nature Conservancy Canada, Gaspésie region. It also involves the collaboration of Professor Pascal Bernatchez from UQAR.