The St. Lawrence Lowlands

Small arboreal mammals, such as Eastern Gray Squirrels (Sciurus carolinensis), American Red Squirrels (Tamiasciurus hudsonicus) and Eastern Chipmunks (Tamias striatus), play important roles in forest ecosystems of the St. Lawrence Lowlands, including that of the Ste-Anne-de-Bellevue Morgan Arboretum. These species are essential to healthy forests because they distribute seeds from plants, as well as fungi […]

Acer saccharum, also known as “Sugar Maple”, is a deciduous tree species native to the St-Lawrence Lowlands’ area. It is usually found in the northeast of the United-States and in the southeast of Canada. The sugar maple is very dominant and broadly distributes in the northern hardwood forests of this region (Lovett & Mitchell, 2004). […]

Identification and Description                                   The Black-capped Chickadee (Poecile atricapillus) is a passerine bird belonging to the family Paridae. It is a charismatic species that approaches humans without fear, which makes it much easier to see than other birds. It is a very small bird with a total body length of around 12 to 15 cm and […]

When one looks out on the St. Lawrence waterway, they normally see large container ships passing by. However, the traffic below the surface is far greater, as it is teeming with life. Although they constitute a large part of this underwater community, aquatic macroinvertebrates are often overlooked. Despite this, they represent a key link between […]

One of the most challenging aspects of studying the natural history of bracket fungi is to define exactly what one includes in this grouping. Bracket fungi is a commonly known classification, but since it is based upon the fungi’s pattern of growth as opposed to genetics and evolutionary history, there is a lot of gray […]

The eastern hemlock (Tsuga canadensis) is a long-lived coniferous tree native to eastern North America. It is shade tolerant and has a high moisture requirement for establishment. Hemlock trees are important parts of northeastern forest ecosystems. Recent declines in the vitality of hemlock populations due to invasive pests pose a serious threat to the future […]

The Arthropoda phylum accounts for approximately three quarters of the Earth’s organisms (Yi, H. M., Andrew Ralph, 2011), inhabiting both water and land; they are the most diverse of taxa of invertebrates. Arthropods are characterized as having segmented bodies, bilateral symmetry, and exoskeletons made of chitin (Introduction to Phylum Arthropoda, 2012). Litter dwelling arthropods are […]

The American Crow, also known as Corvus Brachyrhynchos, belongs to the family of Corvidae, and is a native species found throughout North America. It is present from Alaska, down to British-Columbia, all the way east to Newfoundland ranging as far south as Florida (A.O.U., 1998). These birds migrate during the winter months to the more […]

General Natural History The American Beech tree (Fagus grandifolia) is a deciduous hardwood tree, native to eastern North America. Its habitat ranges in Canada from Nova Scotia to southern Ontario, and in the United-States from its western limit of Illinois, south to northern Florida (Forrester, McGee & Mitchel 2003). Although, it may have a wide […]