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2. Study Area
The pilot study area incorporates the entire James Bay Lowland
ecoregion of the Hudson Plains ecozone in Ontario (Figure 1).
The formerly submerged marine region (Abraham et al. 2011) is
dominated by wetlands, flat terrain, and impervious soils creating a
myriad of muskegs, bogs, and connecting water (Marshall and Jones
2011). The study area extends south of the James Bay Lowland
ecoregion into a portion of the Lake Abitibi ecoregion, within the
Boreal Shield ecozone, to include the full extent of the Pagwachuan
caribou range (OMNR 2012) and permit range-level considerations
of land-use impacts to caribou. The Lake Abitibi portion of the
study area also extends into the area of undertaking (AOU) and
includes portions of five sustainable forest licenses (SFLs). The study
area covers 158,844 km 2 .
The climate is cool in the James Bay Lowland with a mean annual
temperature of -2°C, while the summers are short and the winters are
cold. The mean summer temperature is 11.5°C and the mean winter
temperature is -16°C. The ecoregion is an area of transition, lying
between the coniferous and mixed forests of the clay belt to the south,
and the tundra to the north. Rivers are shallow and slow-moving and
tidal influences may occur 15-20 km upstream of the major rivers
in the James Bay Lowland ecoregion (e.g., Attawapiskat, Albany,
Moose, Kenogami). In the southern section and along rivers, the
forests are composed of balsam fir (Abies balsamea), white spruce
(Picea glauca) and black spruce (Picea mariana), trembling aspen
(Populus tremuloides), and paper birch (Betula papyrifera). Most
of the ecoregion is dominated by peatlands and wetlands, while the
dominant vegetation consists of sedge, mosses, and lichens with or
without stunted black spruce and tamarack (Larix laricina).
The study area contains valuable natural resources, including the
Ring of Fire mineral deposits and large rivers with hydropower
potential, making it likely that the largely intact region will experience
increased development in the coming decades. Development
in the study area is currently limited to the Victor Diamond Mine
located west of Attawapiskat, four hydroelectric dams located along
the Mattagami River, and timber harvest within SFLs in the south.
4 Canadian Boreal Initiative | Wildlife Conservation Society Canada