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TIM JAQUES/TRIBUNE

Dr. Don McAlpine spoke to the Belledune Regional Environmental Association on Sept. 17 about the research being conducted in the Jacquet River Gorge Protected Natural Area.

BELLEDUNE - The Jacquet River Gorge Protected Natural Area (PNA) is full of diverse and interesting flora and fauna, the Belledune Regional Environment Association (BREA) was told at its annual general meeting on Sept. 17.
Dr. Donald F. McAlpine of the New Brunswick Museum in Saint John gave an update of research at the Jacquet River Gorge. McAlpine holds the positions of research curator, head of zoology, and chair of the natural science department at the museum, where he has worked for 28 years.
McAlpine gave an overview of the province’s protected natural areas, of which the Jacquet River Gorge is one of the largest. Some of the other PNAs are fairly well researched as to what they contain. The Jacquet River Gorge PNA is far less known, so this summer research was undertaken in that area by experts in various fields to find out what exactly is there.
A “bio-blitz” was conducted. That refers to a specialized kind of scientific inventory conducted by scientists and volunteers in a defined area over a defined period of time. MacAlpine said that it would be impossible to inventory every single living organism in the gorge. Nonetheless, the study isn’t going to focus on a specific species, as some of the blitzes do. (Some 311 species, excluding things like bacteria, have been found in the gorge so far.) He explained that the field scientists were assisted by volunteers, some of them students, and some of the locals who knew the “lay of the land” and could help the scientists find what they were looking for.
The visitors used the Blue Heron bed-and-breakfast in New Mills and a nearby house as their base of operations, setting up a lab in an restored old meeting hall on the Blue Heron property. The scientists and volunteers spent the day in the field, and in the evenings, used the lab to investigate what they had found that day.
However, the research into what was found this past summer is still ongoing and will continue over the winter, as the scientists spend the summer and autumn in the field and the winter carefully examining what they found. Nonetheless, some preliminary findings for the Gorge research are encouraging.
A very rare fungus which looks like a “charred pancake cup” was found, much to the excitement of the scientists studying them. There have only been three or four previous Canadian occurrences of this strange species, associated with old growth red spruce, and this was the first time in Atlantic region. The scientists are planning to come back in May when the fungus up and in its full (if rather ugly) glory and collect more information on it. There was a fair amount of individual examples of this species found.
Another fungus was found for the first time since it was first identified and described in 1890. Another was found that was only ever seen before in British Columbia. Some lichens on the bluffs were new to Atlantic Canada’s inventory. One was found which was identified for the first time in North America.
A tremendous number of orchids were found, which while not particularly rare in and of themselves, were in numbers never previously seen in New Brunswick. An unexpected number of certain ferns was found as well.
The insects found are still being carefully examined, but a “Bog Elfin” butterfly was found, making this the most northerly sighting in New Brunswick.
Research is also being carried out on amphibians, reptiles, small mammals, and on bats. Fossils were also located in the PNA.
The work was done only in the northern part of the gorge PNA. When the team returns for the second year of research in 2010, it hopes to do more there and in other areas. A full record would cost $250,000 to $500,000 to complete. What was done this year was accomplished with a budget of $25,000 from various donors, including BREA, and with volunteer time estimated to be worth $100,000.
All the data collected will eventually go into the museum’s databases, and be available on the museum’s website at www.nbm-mnb.ca.