Bryophyte ecology in northern disturbed ecosystems

为了勘探和开发自然资源，加拿大的人口正在缓慢而稳定地向北迁移。例如，在曲梅省，泥炭开采正在向北转移，因为曲梅省南部的可用地点越来越少。研究Sphagnum的可靠建立和定植以及恢复栖息地的固碳功能（Rochefort 2001）将有助于减少CO2排放并获得开采后的绿色景观。同样，了解控制褐藻生产力的因素有助于设计大规模生产褐藻生物量，减轻对环境的压力。在安大略省和阿尔伯塔省，收集腐烂的莎草泥炭用于燃料生产或焦油砂用于汽油生产的大型项目将需要恢复大片沼泽地区。这项研究计划的一部分将是了解褐藓的再生生态位，从而在加拿大发展沼泽恢复方面的专业知识，希望能够与更好地了解泥鳅的再生生态位而获得的国际认可相媲美。随着北方经济活动的发展，交通网络往往是为了建设而发展的（如筑坝），然后减少或放弃（如冬季道路，通道，临时飞机跑道，公路建设的借用坑）。这些建筑在景观上留下了一系列的伤疤，需要很长时间才能恢复。在这个项目中，我将研究在恶劣环境下，苔藓在暴露的土壤和岩石表面的定植动态的控制因素。

Slowly but steadily the human population of Canada is moving North for natural resource exploration and development. For example, in Québec, peat extraction is moving North as the availability of sites in southern Québec is becoming rare. Research on reliable establishment and colonisation of Sphagnum and the return of C sequestration function to the restored habitat (Rochefort 2001) will help to decrease CO2 emissions and get a green landscape after mining. Equally, understanding the factors controlling the productivity of Sphagnum could help in designing large scale production of Sphagnum biomass and alleviate pressure on the environment. In Ontario and Alberta, huge projects to harvest decomposed sedge peat for fuel production or tar sand for petrol production will necessitate the restoration of large fen areas. Part of this research program will be to understand the regeneration niche of brown mosses to develop an expertise in Canada on the restoration of fens that hopefully will become comparable to the international recognition gained with knowing better the regeneration niche of Sphagnum. With the development of economical activities in the North, a network of communication is often developed for construction (e.g. for building dams) and then reduced or abandoned (e.g. winter road, access road, temporary airstrips, borrow pits for road construction). These structures leave a series of scars in the landscape that take quite a long time to recover. In this program, I will study the factors controlling the dynamics of moss colonization of exposed soil and rock surfaces in harsh environments.