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Experts document biological diversity in N.B.

Saint John, NB, Canada / Country 94
Brad Perry
Jul 17, 2023 | 5:54 AM
Experts document biological diversity in N.B.

Paula Noël of the Nature Conservancy of Canada, New Brunswick Museum botany research association Gart Bishop, and Susan Belfry of the University of New Brunswick study detailed maps of the Loch Alva protected natural area. Image: Submitted/Donald McAlpine



Dozens of people recently spent two weeks in the wilderness near Saint John.

It is part of a 20-year biological inventory project being undertaken by the New Brunswick Museum.

BiotaNB will see experts and volunteers survey the biological diversity of 10 protected natural areas.

Their most recent excursion in late June and early July saw them visit the Loch Alva area, west of Saint John.

Dr. Donald McAlpine, head of the museum’s natural history department, said they made a number of interesting discoveries.

“There was a fungus collected that, just for example, had only been collected at two sites anywhere on the planet previously: one from Fundy National Park and one from the Great Smoky Mountains,” McAlpine said in an interview.

Experts also found a gray treefrog, a species that McAlpine said is expanding its range in New Brunswick.

Since the BiotaNB project began more than a decade ago, around 30,000 specimen records representing 3,700 species have been collected.

About 900 of those species are new to New Brunswick and some are entirely new to science, said McAlpine.

Dr. Reginald Webster, a Fredericton-based entomologist, inspects a vertical white sheet for micromoths attracted to the black light. Image: Submitted/Donald McAlpine
A series of moths collected in the Loch Alva protected natural area. The specimens have been pinned to foam blocks for drying before being added to the New Brunswick Museum insect collection. Image: Submitted/Donald McAlpine
Western University PhD student Bruce Malloch examines a microscopic fungus in the BiotaNB field lab. The computer is linked to the microscope so he can capture and examine images visible through the eyepieces. Image: Submitted/Donald McAlpine

In addition to biodiversity experts, several artists-in-residence participated in this year’s project. The museum also held an open house to highlight some of their discoveries.

McAlpine said it is important to document the biological diversity of the province’s protected natural areas.

“If we’re going to manage these areas for biodiversity, and that’s how they’re set aside, we need to know what’s there,” he said. “If you don’t know what’s there, you can’t protect it,” he said.

The data they collect is also useful in terms of monitoring biodiversity more generally over the larger New Brunswick landscape, he said.

“Because the sites will remain in place for a long, long time, we can use them as baselines for tracking changes that are occurring across the larger New Brunswick landscape,” said McAlpine.

McAlpine said months and sometimes even years of lab work in the New Brunswick Museum and other institutions worldwide can flow from the project.

The project has generated dozens of peer-reviewed publications to date.

Brad Perry

Regional News Director
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Regional news director for Acadia Broadcasting's New Brunswick radio stations. A self-described weather geek who wakes up way before the sun to keep you informed.

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