NCC Magazine - Spring 2020

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ENCOUNTERS
Songs of hope
By Sophie Arbour, NCC communications coordinator in Quebec, as told by Francisco Retamal Diaz, NCC Ottawa Valley project coordinator
We often think that there is the city, and that
beyond it lies true nature.
I was born in Gatineau, Quebec, where
I would head to the big parks on the city’s outskirts if
I felt the need to spend time in nature.
I joined the Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC) in
the fall of 2019 as the Ottawa Valley project coordinator.
While working on an invasive species inventory in some
of Gatineau’s wetlands this fall, I happened upon an area
of rich urban nature struggling to survive.
In Gatineau’s marshes and ponds lives a species assessed
as threatened in Canada: western chorus frog - Great Lakes
- St. Lawrence - Canadian Shield population. This frog is
so small and hard to find that to count the number of individuals
in a population, we need to measure the intensity
of its call (louder choruses equal more frogs). Some spring
evenings, up to 10 individuals can produce an almost
deafening sound, heard almost 100 metres away.
These days, however, the species is having a tough time.
Not only are its habitats disappearing at an alarming rate, but
its remaining habitats are often overrun by invasive species.
Many of the areas that I inventoried last fall were
completely taken over by invasive common and glossy
buckthorn. This species emits toxins that are harmful
to amphibian embryos. But the western chorus frog is
hardier than I had expected. As I stood in a thicket of
buckthorn, I was surprised to hear the call of a few.
There were only two or three individuals, but to me their
song was as piercing as ever.
I realized that there are species living in the heart
of Gatineau doing their best to survive, even if they
are heard and not seen. But the western chorus frog
may not be able to withstand the destruction and
invasion of its habitat for much longer. As I wandered
through the wetlands on that fall day, listening to
their song, I wondered for how long we might hear
them in Gatineau.
In Quebec, the western chorus frog is no longer heard
except for in Outaouais and Montérégie. For me, there’s
no doubt about it: we must protect and restore these last
habitable areas for this species, even if they are small,
isolated and invaded.1
MATHIAS BALL.
18 SPRING 2020 natureconservancy.ca