Exotic Invasive Plants - Kouchibouguac

At the establishment of Kouchibouguac National Park in 1969, remnants of past human history and intervention activities such as agriculture and wood harvesting since the mid-1880s have significantly influenced the Park’s current landscape. To this day, human-caused disturbance continues through visitor use, construction of trails, campgrounds and facilities, as well as maintenance work such as the mowing of roadsides. As expected, this long history of anthropogenic disturbances has greatly increased the prevalence of exotic vegetation species on the landscape. The invasion of natural ecosystems by these invasive plants is considered one of the biggest threats to the biodiversity and ecological integrity of these systems. In terms of richness, introduced plant species (both invasive and non-invasive) comprise 26% of the Parks vascular flora, one of the highest percentages in the Parks Canada network. The purpose of the exotic invasive plants monitoring program is to determine the number, distribution and/or abundance of these species, and use an Invasive Plant Index (IPI) in order to detect modifications of exotic vegetation composition over time within the forest ecosystem. The methods for this measure involve a total census of focal disturbed areas (e.g., trails, roads, campgrounds, grounds of major buildings or facilities, cemeteries, recreational or picnic areas, wharfs) every five years in summer from mid-July to late August. Data collection for all detected exotic invasive species include: identification code, occurrence number, observation date, location zone, presence of natural or anthropogenic disturbance, growth form, abundance, patch size/distribution, phenology, and reproduction stage.