Tag Archives: Cap-Saint-Jacques

The tea bag test!

This summer, the Association took part in a worldwide initiative by researchers in ecology at the Deakin University, in Australia, following a suggestion from our allies Sauvons L’Anse-à-l’Orme. It was an exciting adventure!

The project is called the TeaComposition H2O – Global Aquatic Litter Decomposition Initiative. The research consists into measuring the impact of climate, floods and other factors on the decomposition of the aquatic litter, therefore, on the carbon cycles and the greenhouse gas emitted by this environment. This is advanced scientific research aimed at better understanding the complex dynamics of climate change.

The soil samples are collected using tea bags! Indeed, the tea – which we dried in advance – will absorb the liquid in the ground. We will then collect the bags after 3, 6, 12, 24 and 36 months to send them to the Deakin University for analysis.

So, two teams of APEVIB volunteers, composed of Emily Brown (biologist), Michela Artizzu (trained in inventory and research in biology), David Kalant (biochemist) and Marie-Chantal Scholl (coordinator for the APEVIB) went this summer in the Parc-nature du Bois-de-L’Île-Bizard and the Parc-nature du Cap-Saint-Jacques à L’Île-Bizard to plant tea bags in the wetlands, with both feet and hands in the mud!

We are very excited to be part of this worldwide project, which reminds us that this beautiful island is part of the planet’s ecosystems!

So, if you come across the orange flags, think about us, the tea bags and our neighbors in Australia!

 

A million thanks to our volunteers and many many thanks to Ira Tanya Handa, teacher at the biology department of UQAM, for lending us her lab!