NLIS 2
November 8, 2005
(Environment and Conservation)


2005 research permits for provincial parks and reserves up over last year

The Minister of Environment and Conservation, Tom Osborne, said today that a total of 26 scientific research permits were issued in 2005 for our province�s wilderness and ecological reserves and provincial parks, an increase of seven permits over 2004.

Minister Osborne said government values and supports the continuous efforts of researchers in our province�s protected areas. "Gathering natural history information is essential to the effective management of protected areas in Newfoundland and Labrador. We encourage continued research in our parks and reserves, and wish all individuals involved great success with their various projects."

Many agencies, such as the Canadian Wildlife Service and Memorial University of Newfoundland, as well as provincial government departments conduct research in parks and reserves in the province. Researchers in 2005 studied a variety of topics, including bird behaviour, insect communities, fossils, endangered plants, snowshoe hare, capelin and caribou populations. Dr. Ian Jones with Memorial University has published several articles on the most diverse seabird breeding colony in Labrador, the Gannet Islands. The Gannet Islands Ecological Reserve protects the largest razorbill and third-largest Atlantic puffin breeding colonies in North America and access is restricted to scientific researchers. For more information on research conducted in 2005, please see the table below.

Permits are required to conduct scientific research and monitoring in provincial parks and reserves. Research is encouraged and new researchers are welcome. For further information on our reserves and parks, or on how to obtain a research permit, call Nicole Lights at (709) 635-4529 or visit www.gov.nl.ca/parks . The Parks and Natural Areas Division of the Department of Environment and Conservation is the management agency responsible for the 18 wilderness and ecological reserves and 32 provincial parks in Newfoundland and Labrador.

Media contact: Sonia Glover, Communications, (709) 729-2575, 685-6612

2005 scientific research in provincial parks and reserves

Name and Affiliation Reserve/Park Project Title
Dr. Ian Jones,

Memorial University

Gannet Islands Ecological Reserve Seabird ecology and demography at the Gannet Islands in relation to environmental variability
Dr. Luise Hermanutz, Memorial University Cape St. Mary�s Ecological Reserve Demography of moss campion
David Fifield,

The Alder Institute

Witless Bay Ecological Reserve Attachment of dummy data loggers to Atlantic Puffins as an initial phase in determining post-breeding dispersal patterns and winter distribution
Dr. Bill Montevecchi, Memorial University Baccalieu Island Ecological Reserve, Cape St. Mary�s Ecological Reserve, Funk Island Ecological Reserve, Witless Bay Ecological Reserve Foraging and feeding ecology of Newfoundland seabirds
Dr. Gregory Robertson, Canadian Wildlife Service Witless Bay Ecological Reserve, Funk Island Ecological Reserve, Gannet Islands Ecological Reserve Demographic studies of seabirds in Witless Bay Islands Ecological Reserve, with additional banding of murres at Funk and Gannet Islands
Dr. Gregory Robertson, Canadian Wildlife Service Witless Bay Ecological Reserve, Cape St. Mary�s Ecological Reserve Censuses of selected seabirds in the Witless Bay Islands Ecological Reserve (ongoing) and Cape St. Mary's (new)
David Fifield,

Memorial University

Witless Bay Ecological Reserve Winter ecology of Atlantic Puffins: diet, distribution and movement
Dr. Anne Storey/Carolyn Walsh,

Memorial University

Witless Bay Ecological Reserve Reproductive and Parental Behaviour of Common Murres
Dr. Katherine Mehl,

Ducks Unlimited Canada

Hare Bay Islands Ecological Reserve Ducks Unlimited Canada's East Coast Eider Initiative (nest shelter component)
Sabir Bin Muzaffar, Memorial University Witless Bay Ecological Reserve, Cape St. Mary�s Ecological Reserve Ecology of parasitism in seabird colonies in eastern Canada
Dr. Guy Narbonne, Queen�s University Mistaken Point Ecological Reserve Ediacaran fossils at Mistaken Point
Dr. Trevor Bell,

Memorial University

Burnt Cape Ecological Reserve Vulnerability assessment, management implications and socio-economic impacts of future climate change on rare plants of the limestone barrens ecosystem, Great Northern Peninsula, Newfoundland
Dr. Luise Hermanutz, Memorial University Burnt Cape Ecological Reserve, Watts Point Ecological Reserve Risk assessment of insect pests and pathogens on endangered plants of the limestone barrens of Newfoundland
William Clarke, Department of Natural Resources Bay du Nord Wilderness Reserve Arboreal lichen survey
Mike McGrath, Department of Environment and Conservation Bay du Nord Wilderness Reserve Causes and rates of mortality of caribou calves of the Middle Ridge herd
Stephen Mayor, Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Science Bay du Nord Wilderness Reserve The spatial structure of habitat selection of Newfoundland caribou
Rick Curran, Department of Environment and Conservation Avalon Wilderness Reserve Avalon caribou herd population estimate
John Neville, Department of Environment and Conservation Bay du Nord Wilderness Reserve Determining seasonal movements of caribou herds and coyotes, frequency of and cause-specific caribou mortality rates, and interactions between coyotes and caribou
Brian Nakashima, Fisheries and Oceans Bellevue Beach Provincial Park Spawning, egg deposition, and recruitment of capelin-Bellevue Beach, Trinity Bay
Duncan Mcllroy,

Memorial University

Mistaken Point Ecological Reserve, Fortune Head Ecological Reserve An interdisciplinary analysis of the earliest metazoan habitation
Patricia Cousins, Marine and Mountain Zone Corporation Sandbanks Provincial Park, J.T. Cheeseman Provincial Park, Codroy Valley Provincial Park The piping plover (beach) guardian program
Ray Gerber, Saint Joseph�s College, Maine Pistolet Bay Provincial Park Analysis of zooplankton in the ponds and the lake of the Pistolet Bay Provincial Park
Jeanette Goulet,

Canadian Wildlife Service

Codroy Valley Provincial Park Newfoundland and Labrador Shorebird Survey
John Reynolds, Department of Environment and Conservation Butter Pot Provincial Park The effects of hunting on snowshoe hare abundance
Andrus Voitk, Humber Natural History Society Butter Pot Provincial Park, LaManche Provincial Park, Cape St. Mary�s Ecological Reserve Mushroom survey of Newfoundland
Hubert Crummey, Department of Natural Resources Butter Pot Provincial Park, Lockston Path Provincial Park, Sir Richard Squires Provincial Park, Marine Drive Provincial Park, Jipujijkuei Kuespem Provincial Park, Pistolet Bay Provincial Park, Barachois Pond Provincial Park, Little Grand Lake Provisional Ecological Reserve, King George IV Ecological Reserve, Hare Bay Islands Ecological Reserve Insect survey (forecast)

2005 11 08                                  12:00 noon


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