PROGRAM
FEATURES ⊕ The fascinating world
of phytotechnologies → 4
⊕ Nature’s architects → 8
⊕ Cosmic collisions → 12 ⊕ The International Space Station: An extreme habitat → 16
⊕ Change is in the air at the Biodôme and Insectarium → 18
⊕ Trees are our allies → 24
⊕ Rescuing butterflies → 28 OPINION ⊕ We dwell on the Earth… but it also dwells within us! → 21
NATURE AT HOME ⊕ Stargazing 101 → 7 DON’T MISS ⊕ Natural harmony → 23 LOCAL ATTRACTIONS ⊕ Discover Montréal’s forests! → 27
PHOTO AndrĂŠ Sarrazin
EDITOR IN CHIEF
TOAST Studio / Charles Prémont
RESEARCH AND VALIDATION
Montréal Space for Life
JOURNALISTS
PROOFREADING
Charles Prémont Marie-Claude Ouellet Martin Primeau
Catherine Baudin
CONTRIBUTORS
Terry Knowles Pamela Ireland
T8aminik Rankin and Marie-Josée Tardif GRAPHIC DESIGN
orangetango
TRANSLATION & PROOFREADING
GRAPHIC ARTIST
Stéphanie Rivet (Pulsation graphique)
© MONTRÉAL SPACE FOR LIFE 2018 • BY CHARLES-MATHIEU BRUNELLE, MONTRÉAL SPACE FOR LIFE DIRECTOR
IN THIS EDITION THE FASCINATING WORLD OF PHYTOTECHNOLOGIES → 4
For most of us, the idea of “dwelling” conjures up the image of our family nest, our house or apartment, where we live.
STARGAZING 101 → 7
It’s where we feel comfortable – at home, in other words. A space we have arranged to suit us and that probably reflects our personalities.
NATURE’S ARCHITECTS → 8
Revealing this space means offering a glimpse into our private lives.
COSMIC COLLISIONS → 12 QUESTIONS FROM OUR VISITORS, YOUNG AND OLD → 14 THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION: AN EXTREME HABITAT → 16
It shows who we are. Who we want to be. It protects us from the weather, and also from prying eyes. We find ourselves and take refuge there. It’s where we start a family. Where we anchor our values. It’s our base, from which we look out on the rest of the world. The place we leave behind when we leave home, and to which we often return.
CHANGE IS IN THE AIR AT THE BIODÔME AND INSECTARIUM → 18
This definition of dwelling refers to what we possess and control. In our quest to meet our needs, we have become so owning and controlling that ironically we now find ourselves disconnected from nature.
WE DWELL ON THE EARTH… BUT IT ALSO DWELLS WITHIN US! → 21
But what if true freedom meant learning to dwell in nature differently?
NATURAL HARMONY → 23 TREES ARE OUR ALLIES → 24 DISCOVER MONTRÉAL’S FORESTS! → 27 RESCUING BUTTERFLIES → 28 HUMAN & NATURE ENCOUNTERS → 31
Through our 2018 program of activities, Montréal Space for Life will endeavour to show how we can be inspired by the many strategies devised by other creatures. As they stroll along the immersive Nature Is Your Shelter path, for instance, visitors will see how cleverly animals, insects, birds and mammals create the natural lairs, shelters and tunnels they need to survive. Montréal Space for Life will also be using its expertise to get people thinking and talking about all the different ways we dwell on our planet, and to launch a dialogue about a world of possibilities. We will be organizing the very first Human & Nature Encounters, to foster inspiring ideas and encourage citizens to become involved in preserving biodiversity. Join us for what is sure to be a fascinating conversation! ⊗
Legal deposit - Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec, 2018. ISBN 978-2-9815879-8-5
ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING
4
THE FASCINATING WORLD OF PHYTOTECHNOLOGIES • BY MARIE- CLAUDE OUELLET
PHOTO Alija/iStockphoto.com
Of all the species on our planet, we humans are the one that most alters our environment. Human actions can have drastic consequences – climate change, anyone? Fortunately, in recent decades humans have been seeking ways of better dwelling on our planet. And phytotechnologies, meaning the use of living plants to solve environmental problems, are a good and widely applicable option. A few examples:
5
ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING
CONTAMINATED SOIL Over the years, human activities have contaminated the soil, in particular through toxic spills and landfills. Phytoremediation, or using plants and microbes to absorb or degrade certain toxins, is one way of solving this problem.
WASTEWATER We have also polluted our water through industrial activities of all kinds. Artificial filtering marshes are an effective, ecological and inexpensive way of purifying it. The water is kept in a pond filled with rooted (e.g. bulrushes, water lilies) and floating (e.g. duckweed) plants. These plants and their associated microbes clean the water by extracting various substances or breaking them down into less-polluting molecules. This technology is used mainly to treat domestic wastewater, but can also be applied to effluent from factories, dumps, mines and farms. In fact, filtering marshes are used to treat the water at Montréal’s Jean Doré beach.
HEAT ISLANDS Temperatures in an urban heat island are higher than in nearby areas with more greenery. These “heat bubbles” are caused by factories, vehicles, air conditioning, and concrete and asphalt surfaces that absorb warmth from the sun. They make life unpleasant and unhealthy for city-dwellers. One way of mitigating them is with green roofs and plant walls, since plants cool and humidify the air. They also help to limit the harmful effects of climate change, by removing carbon dioxide (CO2) from the air. ⊗
THE PATHWAY TO PHYTOTECHNOLOGIES JARDIN BOTANIQUE STARTING AUGUST 30 Starting in 2018, Montréal Space for Life will be introducing visitors to different phytotechnologies at the Jardin botanique. As they stroll along this educational path, they’ll learn about seven techniques used to solve environmental problems, including green roofs, living sound barriers and rain gardens. The work is to be carried out between 2017 and 2023. The first phase in the Pathway, in the Aquatic Plants Garden, will explain how filtering marshes purify wastewater. This ambitious and innovative project will be funded jointly by the city of Montréal and the Montréal Space for Life Foundation, with the city matching every dollar raised by the Foundation.
PHYTOTECHNOLOGIES AT THE JARDIN BOTANIQUE In 1990, the Jardin botanique and the Université de Montréal founded the Institut de recherche en biologie végétale (IRBV), a plant biology research institute fostering collaboration between scientists. Phytotechnologies are one of the IRBV’s fields of advanced expertise. “I would say that we have developed two main strengths in studying phytotechnologies at the Jardin botanique,” explains Michel Labrecque, Curator and head of the Garden’s Scientific Research and Development Division. “The first is soil decontamination using plants and microbes, and the second is wastewater treatment using plants.” This expertise has not been developed in isolation, but in co-operation with scientists from different universities. “The IRBV is recognized worldwide for its phytotechnology research, and it collaborates with researchers at other universities in Montréal and around the globe.”
6
PHOTO Alison Hancock/Shutterstock.com
ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING
PHYTOTECHNOLOGIES AT HOME • BY MARIE- CLAUDE OUELLET
If you’re looking to make your home healthier, certain kinds of phytotechnology can help. For instance, to mask the noise from a heat pump or swimming pool pump, one efficient and attractive solution is to erect a sound barrier of living plants. You can make a noise-blocking wall like this from heavy material (soil or sand), with plants growing up on either side.
The same is true if you want to install a plant wall in your home, to purify, humidify and cool the air. Large plant walls have been created in various buildings around the city, including the Biosphere, Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport, the Collège de Rosemont and the Centre for Sustainable Development.
You may have noticed more and more urban green roofs in recent years, on hotels, libraries and even supermarkets. They’re a great way to cut heating and air-conditioning costs, mitigate heat islands, reduce rainwater runoff, absorb certain pollutants and greenhouse gases and help boost local biodiversity. They can even be used to grow different vegetables suited to rooftop conditions. But given their complexity, you’re best to consult a specialized firm.
Phytotechnologies are also a solution if the shoreline near your home is being eroded. Plants, in particular wattles and willow cuttings, are an attractive alternative to concrete blocks as a way of controlling erosion and limiting flood risks. ⊗
7
NATURE AT HOME
STARGAZING 101 You’d like to learn more about astronomy, but you don’t know where to start? Not to worry! André Grandchamps, an astronomer at the Planétarium Rio Tinto Alcan, has a few tips for you.
1
Start by looking at the sky with your naked eye, using a star finder. “First of all, you have to make sure that you’ll enjoy stargazing,” he says. “Chances are pretty good that you will if you like stretching out in a lawn chair in the summer to watch the Perseids, for example.” 2
Then try it with binoculars. “With binoculars you can see the planets, but also star clusters and nebulae,” he adds. “I always have a pair with me when I’m stargazing.” 3
Consider buying a telescope. If you’re still curious, maybe it’s time to think about investing in a telescope. But remember: “High optical quality doesn’t come cheap,” Grandchamps emphasizes. “Specialized stores can advise you on the best choice.”
PHOTO AstroStar/Shutterstock.com
• BY MARTIN PRIMEAU
4
Start by observing… a telephone pole. “It’s not always easy to point your telescope at the right spot in the sky,” he notes. “Get used to it by observing objects low on the horizon – like a telephone pole! Then you can start looking for the moon.” 5
Join an astronomy club. “There are clubs in every region,” he says. “Veteran amateur astronomers are always happy to share their knowledge with beginners.”
A FEW HELPFUL APPS Mobile technology makes stargazing a lot easier. Here are a few apps that can help you get the most out of the experience. Astro 3D+, iOS → $2.79 Excellent for exploring the sky. The app connects automatically to Wikipedia to give you all kinds of details. Brian Cox’s Wonders of the Universe, iOS → $2.79 The Universe at your fingertips! This app is based on a BBC science series. Star Chart VR, iOS and Android → freeware or $1.39 A stellar graphic design. The freeware version is more limited, but an excellent choice for beginners.
8
HABITAT
NATURE’S ARCHITECTS • BY MARTIN PRIMEAU
↑
The architects of the Eastgate Building were inspired by the natural air conditioning provided by the tall central chimneys in termite mounds.
PHOTO Tom Cockren/Getty Images
PHOTO Piotr Gatlik/Shutterstock.com
They build structures that inspire our architects. Some of them even create their own materials! Welcome to the “Animal Home Show,” where we humans are still learning from our fellow creatures.
9
HABITAT
PHOTO Fotos593/Shutterstock.com
PHOTO Dennis W Donohue/Shutterstockcom
↓ The Beijing National Stadium architects were inspired by nests like those built by bald eagles, which reinforce and reuse old nests every year. Some of these structures are 50 to 60 years old, 6 metres tall and weigh up to 2 tonnes!
UNUSUAL SHELTERS
To cope with blazing-hot days and cold nights, they build tall towers where the air circulates to keep the temperature even inside.
Have you ever noticed a little cocoon hanging from a branch? Nothing unusual about that, you might think. On the contrary, these tiny shelters have fascinated humans for centuries!
The designers of the Eastgate Building in Harare, Zimbabwe, took their inspiration from this design. The shopping centre has a convection system patterned on a termite nest, cutting energy costs by an estimated 90%.
“The silk that goes into making these cocoons is a good example of a material we have borrowed from insects,” says Carolina Torres, co-ordinator of scientific visitor activities at the Montréal Insectarium. In order to make clothing from silk, humans learned to raise caterpillars known as “silkworms.” But clothing isn’t the only application for silk. The way insects use it is just as intriguing. When coated with a sticky substance, silk creates a rigid structure. It can also be woven into large shelters. That’s exactly what some caterpillars do every year, joining forces to create huge communal tents in the treetops.
LEARNING FROM LARGER CREATURES TOO “Our fellow mammals aren’t as creative as insects,” admits Diane Mitchell, activity designer and educator at the Montréal Biodôme. “Most of them, like black bears, simply crawl into a hole or make themselves one as a shelter.”
“Hundreds of them live in these tents, in little compartments, sharing their body heat,” Torres explains.
Some are innovators, mind you, like beavers, with their dams and lodges. But if there’s one category of vertebrates that’s inventive, it must be birds.
“When it gets too cold, caterpillars can’t digest their food. But a tent keeps them warm enough to do that.” And they aren’t the only ones to have discovered tricks for managing the temperature inside their structures. “Termites, for example, have inspired architects interested in thermoregulation,” she says.
Take the “Bird’s Nest,” for example. The Olympic Stadium in Beijing, with its web of steel beams, looks much like a simple nest. The engineers added their own touches, positioning each element to meet strict mechanical requirements. In fact, the stadium could withstand a category 8.0 earthquake. ⊗
10
HABITAT
PHOTO Mishella/Shutterstockcom
NATURE IS YOUR SHELTER JARDIN BOTANIQUE JUNE 15 — SEPTEMBER 3
LARGER THAN LIFE SHELTERS
↑
Tent caterpillars build themselves silk shelters in tree branches as protection from predators and freezing temperatures.
PHOTO Atelopus/iStockphoto.com
If you’ve ever wondered what it would be like inside a beaver lodge, we have a deal for you! This year, the experts of the Biodôme and Insectarium offer, in the Jardin botanique, a pathway lined with animal shelters, all of them built to human scale. The pathway is in keeping with the 2018 theme of Montréal Space for Life, Nature dwells within us. This immersive, multisensory experience will allow visitors to step inside seven original structures, the kind built by Quebec mammals, birds and insects. Like us, animals transform their environment to protect themselves from the elements, to stay warm or simply to rest. Some shelters are rather discreet, while others, like humans, build eye-catching structures.
↑ Urodidae moths in the Amazon build unusual open- chamber cocoons. The air circulates inside, preventing fungal growth and protecting the pupa from drowning.
“We want visitors to compare themselves with other living creatures,” says Sonya Charest, educational programs co-ordinator at the Insectarium. PHOTO Ian Tessier/Shutterstock.com
According to her, visitors will discover through this pathway how the structures built by animals are in harmony with their environment. Nature Is Your Shelter – don’t miss this experience in 2018! ⊗
↑
Beavers’ lodges, built in deep water, let them remain active all winter long. They can emerge under the ice to gather and feed on stockpiled branches.
11
HABITAT
PHOTO Dan Logan/Shutterstock.com
← A female Baltimore oriole skilfully weaves a hanging nest near the tip of a tree branch, out of reach of predators. She may use grass, strips of grapevine bark, moss, plant down, horsehair and even artificial materials.
DID YOU KNOW?
PHOTO Carol M. Highsmith/Buyenlarge/Getty Images
WHEN WATER LILIES INSPIRE ARCHITECTS • BY MARIE- CLAUDE OUELLET
Under optimal conditions, the leaves of a Victoria amazonica water lily can reach a diameter of 2.5 metres! What’s more, they are tremendously strong and can support 45 kg spread evenly across their surface. Their secret? A particularly complex network of veins and a ribbed surface. Way back in 1851, these structural qualities were applied in the design of the Crystal Palace, for the Great Exhibition in London. Many other architects, including Frank Lloyd Wright, later integrated them into their innovative designs. Thanks to the know-how of the Jardin botanique horticulturists, hybrid Victorias will be blossoming in a heated pool, far from their home in South America.
↑ Columns topped with Victoria leaves support the glass ceiling of the Johnson Wax Headquarters, a masterpiece designed in 1936 by Frank Lloyd Wright and Kenneth Frampton.
12
ASTRONOMY
COSMIC COLLISIONS • BY CHARLES PRÉMONT
Our galaxy, the Milky Way, is speeding at 120 km/second toward Andromeda, one of its closest neighbours. And everything suggests that a collision is unavoidable. But don’t worry, we have lots of time. It won’t happen for another 4 billion years. Collisions in our cosmos are central to the processes governing our Universe. From the tiniest impacts between protons in the heart of the Sun to the most massive conjoining of two galaxies, these celestial encounters make space a dynamic and constantly changing place.
COSMIC COLLISIONS STARTING APRIL 17
PHOTO AMNH
PLANÉTARIUM RIO TINTO ALCAN
13
ASTRONOMY
THE CRASH THAT CREATED OUR SOLAR SYSTEM
BYE-BYE DINOSAURS
Not all collisions are destructive – they also cause transformations. After all, there was nothing calm and peaceful about the birth of our solar system. Rather, it is thought to have been the equivalent of a huge celestial pile-up before things calmed down and took their places.
The dinosaurs are thought to have disappeared after a huge asteroid struck the Yucatan peninsula. The impact and the dust thrown up into the atmosphere spelled the end of the giant reptiles and made room for mammals to emerge. Without that impact we might not exist!
“When particles are hot, they cling together at the moment of impact,” explains astronomer André Grandchamps, responsible for the meteorite collection at the Planétarium Rio Tinto Alcan. “Over time, they clump together, sort of like a snowball.” That’s how the hundreds of objects revolving around the Sun combined to produce the planets we know today.
But could the same thing happen to us?
In fact, one of these collisions may have created our satellite, the Moon. “It’s an anomaly in our solar system,” says Grandchamps. “It’s too big compared with the Earth, suggesting that it might have formed when our planet collided with a massive celestial object, probably about the size of Mars. That would also explain why the Moon and the Earth have such similar compositions. The lunar rocks brought back by the Apollo missions revealed a great many resemblances between our planet and its satellite.”
“It’s highly unlikely,” says Maxime Pivin Lapointe, a scientific communicator at the Planétarium Rio Tinto Alcan. “A destructive event on the scale of the one that wiped out the dinosaurs is thought to happen once every 100 million years. The last one occurred 65 million years ago, so…” Above all, we humans now have technologies in place to see such hazards coming. Most celestial objects large enough to cause real damage and that could be on a collision course with the Earth have been identified. NASA and other space agencies are developing means of preventing any such impact. “We are the first species living on the Earth to be aware of the fragility of our situation in space,” says Grandchamps. “We’ve taken the first step to be able to protect ourselves if our planet were ever in danger.” ⊗
DID YOU KNOW?
JUPITER, A COSMIC SHIELD In 1994, comet Shoemaker-Levy 9, wrenched apart by Jupiter’s tidal forces, crashed violently into the planet. The impact disrupted the Jovian atmosphere and formed new molecules, including water. This spectacular event convinced many astronomers that Jupiter actually protects the Earth from comets and asteroids by intercepting them, throwing them off course or coalescing them. After all, Jupiter is 300 times more massive than our planet and exerts tremendous gravitational force. It holds celestial bodies in a wide belt, and has such powerful influence that it even pulls in most wayward asteroids.
PHOTO NASA
• BY MARIE- CLAUDE OUELLET
14
Q&A
QUESTIONS FROM OUR VISITORS, YOUNG AND OLD • BY CHARLES PRÉMONT
IS THAT PLANT ALIVE? The leaves of a Mimosa pudica fold up when you touch them. That causes lots of our visitors to exclaim: “Wow, it’s alive!”
Mimosa pudica is often called the “sensitive plant,” because its leaves respond to touch, closing almost immediately. This is thought to be a defence mechanism. When spread wide open, a mimosa’s leaves are very appetizing to herbivores, but when they fold up they look more like a leathery, unappealing twig.
PHOTO sutham/Shutterstock.com
First things first: all plants are alive, even if they don’t move!
A mimosa’s cells can store or expel water. When the leaves are exposed to some sort of stimulation, the cells exude the water they contain, causing the leaflets to close and, a few seconds later, the petiole to droop. Once things calm down, these cells fill with water again, the leaflets reopen and the leaf returns to normal. If you’d like to try it for yourself, head to the Courtyard of the Senses! Educator: In the hive, there is just one queen, who lays the eggs, and thousands of worker bees. Little girl: But how do the bees that go outside to fly around or play manage to find their way back to the right home? Educator: Well, bees communicate with each other by doing dances that let them tell other bees exactly where to go to find nectar. To find their way home, they use smells and visual clues.
15
Q&A
WHY IS PENGUINS’ FUR BLACK AND WHITE? Penguins are birds, so they have feathers, not fur. The black and white make them less visible in the water. This camouflage protects them from predators. Seen from above, they appear black against the deep, dark ocean. From below, their white bellies blend in with the bright sky and ice. Lots of fish also use this kind of camouflage, which is fairly common for species that live underwater. Penguins’ black backs are easy to spot on land, but they don’t have any predators there. It’s also a matter of comfort. Black absorbs heat from the sun. If they get cold on the pack ice, they can turn their backs to the sun to warm up. And if they get too warm, which does happen because they have so many layers of protection, they can expose their white bellies. If that doesn’t cool them down enough, they can even spread their wings and ruffle their feathers.
Little girl: Are these two spiders going to have babies? Educator: It looks like they’re about ready to mate.
Educator: Not really, I don’t think that they feel love. Little girl: But how can they have babies if they don’t love each other?
PHOTO Raymond Jalbert
Little girl: Oh! So are they going to get married? Do they love each other?
THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION: AN EXTREME HABITAT
We have to breathe, drink and eat to survive. Fortunately for us, the Earth, through its ecological services, gives us what we need. But out in space, we have to produce it all ourselves. That’s the daily challenge for astronauts aboard the International Space Station, the most ambitious habitat for humans in space. To limit the cost of delivering air, water and food, NASA recycles as much as possible.
WATER • About 65% of the water on the International Space Station is recovered. A purification system recycles the astronauts’ wastewater, including urine, along with water vapour in the air, to produce drinking water. The Sabatier system also produces some water. PHOTO NASA
RECYCLING AIR AND WATER ON THE ISS
AIR • Oxygen is produced through electrolysis to separate the hydrogen and oxygen in water. Filters scrub the carbon dioxide exhaled by the astronauts from the cabin air. The hydrogen produced with electrolysis is then combined with this carbon dioxide to recreate water, through a process called the Sabatier system. The methane that is also generated is vented into space.
PHOTO NASA
← EATING For now, astronauts’ food is prepared on Earth and warmed up and/ or rehydrated on the space station. They get fresh deliveries from time to time, but experiments are being conducted to see whether plants can be grown in space – very important if we want to send humans outside our solar system one day.
↑ PERSONAL HYGIENE You can’t take a shower in space! Instead, astronauts use a washcloth with hot water in a bag and rinseless soap to scrub up. The same goes for washing their hair. And to cut it, they use a hair clipper with a vacuum attached!
PHOTO NASA
PHOTO NASA
← EXERCISING Weightlessness can have drastic effects on the human body, including atrophying astronauts’ muscles. Without the Earth’s gravity, they quickly lose strength if they don’t work out. The residents of the International Space Station have to lift weights (with pistons), run and cycle to stay in shape. And they have to tie themselves down to do so! Otherwise they’d simply float away before their training session was over.
PHOTO NASA
→ SLEEPING Sleep is just as important in space as on Earth. But without gravity, there’s no need for a mattress or pillow: just relax your muscles and float. The astronauts climb into a sleeping bag that lets them keep their arms free, sort of like an infant sleep sack. Then the bag is hooked into a small closet-like space. Once they close the door and turn off the light, they can get a good night’s sleep.
ARCHITECTURE
CHANGE IS IN THE AIR AT THE BIODÔME AND INSECTARIUM • BY CHARLES PRÉMONT
PHOTO NEUF architect(e)s
2018 will be a year of changes for the Biodôme and the Insectarium. Both institutions are undergoing some major transformations over the next few years. These makeovers will affect not only their architecture but above all the visitor experience.
18
19
ARCHITECTURE
For Rachel Léger, Director of the Biodôme until her recent retirement, and Anne Charpentier, Director of the Insectarium, it was clear that both institutions needed to be updated. The Biodôme opened back in 1992 and the Insectarium has been around since 1990. Their popularity has never flagged over the years. But with time that became a bit of a problem. Spaces that were too small for the number of visitors, aging architecture, a desire to update the museum experience… the need for renewal had become obvious.
INSECTARIUM METAMORPHOSIS
BIODÔME MIGRATION: A CHANGE IN PERSPECTIVE
Most visitors respond emotionally when they first see an insect. “That’s why we decided to appeal to people’s emotions and senses, rather than just their intellects,” Charpentier explains. This empathetic approach will help people better understand these tiny creatures that are so different from us, as well as their own feelings about them.
The Biodôme will be reconfigured to encompass the ecosystems it houses, as if to protect them. A curved wall around each of them, like a sensitive, delicate skin, will further immerse visitors in this universe.
The Insectarium will be entirely transformed. The architecture is being redesigned, to create a completely reconfigured route. “We want to give visitors experiences that will change them, like a metamorphosis – or at least alter their perceptions of insects.” To achieve this ambitious goal, the museum will invite visitors to see for themselves how insects view the world. Once inside, they’ll head downstairs and make their way through various galleries, where they will perceive their surroundings through these tiny creatures’ eyes. Next up will be different experiences and workshops where they can get close to insects, see them in their habitats, use their own creativity and, of course, admire the splendid collection of mounted insects. A key part of the visit will be the immersive experience with insects roaming free. Along the route, visitors will be also able to observe all the work that goes into maintaining a living museum. “Everything will be transparent,” Charpentier says. “In order to display live insects, we have to not only raise them but also grow the plants to feed them. In some places, visitors will be able to grasp everything we have to do to keep this museum going.”
“We want visitors to enter into a natural world and to leave intending to protect it,” Léger says. “We’ve always done that at the Biodôme: we’ve never set out to display a series of animals behind glass; we present them in their own environments, with barriers that are as natural as possible. We’re looking to refine our spaces even more so that visitors feel that they are actually part of them.” One of the major changes will be the addition of a mezzanine offering views down into three of the four ecosystems. This new lookout will give visitors a bird’s-eye view of the treetops in different habitats, from a perspective that’s rarely accessible. In addition to the mezzanine, the lighting will play a bigger role. “Sunlight will be hugely important: we built the Biodôme inside the former Velodrome because of the luminosity, and we plan to make light a larger part of the experience. The scenography will also be rethought, to make it a more participatory and emotional experience. That could include breezes, scents, mist or variable lighting depending on the season or time of day.”
20
ARCHITECTURE
BUILDING AWARENESS In addition to communicating scientific information, in future our institutions will aim to convey their messages through even more immersive experiences. We hope that when people leave its museums, they will want to change some of their habits so that they can better dwell on our planet.
PHOTO Michel Tremblay
At the Biodôme, encouraging people to think about how fragile the ecosystems are and all the work it takes to recreate them is central to this approach. “We want to make visitors think twice, so that instead of just saying that the planet isn’t doing very well, they will try to do something about it,” Léger continues. The same is true with insects, those misun derstood creatures. “By having visitors see the world through insects’ eyes, we hope to change their perception and to get people to better understand and respect them,” Charpentier explains. ⊗
DID YOU KNOW?
WILD LEEK: HANDLE WITH CARE! Thanks to the SEM’AIL program launched by the Biodôme in 1999, about 50,000 seized wild leek bulbs are now being replanted every year by owners of maple stands. This citizen science initiative, aimed at increasing public awareness and helping restore wild leek in its natural habitat, has been a tremendous success. The goal of SEM’AIL is to safeguard the species, which has been picked almost to extinction by food lovers since the 1970s. Since 1995, this vulnerable species has been protected by a government regulation prohibiting its sale and limiting harvests to 50 bulbs a year per person.
PHOTO Carlos Amarillo/Shutterstock.com
• BY MARIE- CLAUDE OUELLET
21
OPINION
WE DWELL ON THE EARTH… BUT IT ALSO DWELLS WITHIN US! • T8AMINIK RANKIN AND MARIE-JOSÉE TARDIF, ANICINAPE (ALGONQUIN) ELDERS
Asking an Anicinape about their relationship with the Earth is like asking them about their view of life itself. The word “Anicinape” already tells you a lot about how we see things. In your language, you call us “Algonquins,” but we don’t have that word – it’s the name the French gave us, and we just went along with them. Today, we thank you for allowing us to explain that in our language we call ourselves “Anicinape,” which means “human being,” but in the sense that a human is a real being, living in harmony with nature. Our ancestors always felt that the Earth could not possibly belong to us, because we belong to it. We are its children, but also its guardians, because we are responsible for keeping it safe for future generations. Despite all the problems our people have faced in recent centuries, our fundamental relationship with Mother Earth has never changed. In every river that flows, every tree, every animal, every stone, when we look at the moon, the sun or the stars, we still see a spirit, Life in its billions of forms, each one as splendid and sacred as the next.
humans would have a crucial choice to make: to continue their headlong rush toward technology or to embark on a slower and more inward path, with the focus on self-awareness and the sacred nature of everything that Mother Earth lends us during our time here in this world. For the Anicinapek, the forest is a place filled with “medicine.” Medicine is everything that can keep our bodies, our hearts and our minds healthy, filled with joie de vivre and peace. Fortunately, there are still countless places where Mother Earth continues to nourish us. We always have to keep a positive attitude, no matter what happens, for our future generations. We must have a single aim: to leave them the Earth just as the Creator and our ancestors bequeathed it to us. ⊗
Our ancestors patiently transmitted their know-how to us, but also their knowledge of how to live. Central to this knowledge, they showed us that we dwell on the Earth, but that it also dwells within us! When the Earth gets sick, we get sick. When we get sick, it gets sick. If we want to care for it properly, we need to first tend our inner gardens. What it is experiencing at present is merely a reflection of the suffering and the frenetic pace of life that drive modern-day humans. Many First Nations prophecies spoke of this era, the one we’re seeing today, as a time when
PHOTO Juan Davila/Unsplash
Animals can also teach us many things if we care to observe them. The turtle teaches us to live in the present moment. The eagle, to gain some perspective and look clearly at our lives. The bear teaches us to stay strong in the face of obstacles. And the bison, to keep moving along our path through life, powerfully and calmly.
GARDENS OF LIGHT JARDIN BOTANIQUE
This autumn event sets three cultural gardens at the Jardin botanique all aglow. The Chinese Garden displays its traditional lanterns, the Japanese Garden leads visitors along a meditative illuminated path inspired by the seasons, and the First Nations Garden features an intense multimedia experience that lets visitors feel the beating heart of the Cycle of Life.
PHOTO Claude Lafond
SEPTEMBER 7 — OCTOBER 31
23
DON’T MISS
NATURAL HARMONY • BY MARIE- CLAUDE OUELLET AND ÉMILIE CADIEUX
The environment in which a civilization is born and grows influences its culture. The animals and plants around us feed, clothe and shelter us, but sometimes they also become the symbols we use to give meaning to our lives. In the Chinese and Japanese cultures, the relationship with the forces of nature takes many forms.
FISHING TALES AT THE CHINESE GARDEN
THE CYCLE OF THE SEASONS IN THE JAPANESE GARDEN
Over the millennia, the Chinese have venerated water, the ultimate symbol of purity and considered one of the unifying elements in the theory of the Five Elements.*
The Japanese live in harmony with the seasons, as is evident in numerous ways. For instance, when writing a letter, they usually start by alluding to the current season. Similarly, when it comes to food, they like to decorate their dishes with seasonal natural elements. And they flock in huge numbers to contemplate the beauties of cherry blossom season in spring and the showy fall colours.
In China, water is the breath and living pulse of the Earth and represents intelligence, wisdom, softness and flexibility. It is celebrated with numerous festivals, including the New Year festivities by the Dai, one of the cultural minorities in southern China. During their celebrations, the Dai splash each other with water to purify themselves and start the New Year off on an auspicious, happy note. Water also figures in countless tales, myths and legends, in the form of figures and fantastic beasts like the powerful water dragon. Finally, many people in China live near or even on the water, and have developed ingenious fishing techniques, floating markets and styles of boats found nowhere else in the world. Would you be willing to embark on the raging Yellow River in a “kettle boat” or a “pig-trough boat”? During this year’s Gardens of Light, the Chinese Garden will be sharing a fabulous fishing tale with visitors. In the village, gathered on their sampans and rafts, the fishermen were going about their daily chores, catching eels with woven baskets and collecting shellfish. Suddenly, an enormous fish leapt up in their midst. It had one head and… 10 bodies! This was the mythical He Luo Yu, inspired by the Shan Hai Jing (Classic of Mountains and Seas) book of myths and legends. To escape the fishermen, the fish turned into a bird. Now the fishermen were confused: should they use a fishing rod or a traditional net to catch it?
In keeping with Japanese tradition, the Jardin botanique will be celebrating the arrival of fall by illuminating the Japanese Garden. Near the entrance, visitors will be greeted by an audiovisual projection and artistic lighting on the façade of the Japanese Pavilion. They’ll find one of the loveliest scenes in the Stroll Garden, with the changing, colourful lighting on the bridges, the rock overlooking the cascade, the pine-covered island and other elements. Other strategically placed projectors will highlight the blazing colours, including those of the Amur maples and fragrant katsura trees. ⊗ * During the Warring States period, from the 5th century to 221 BC, the theory of the Five Elements – metal, wood, water, fire and earth – became part of traditional Chinese cosmology. These ancient concepts are still prevalent in modern-day China, where the five elements are used in categorizing objects and natural phenomena, and reflect how the Chinese view the Universe, nature, their environment and their daily lives.
24
FOREST BIODIVERSITY
TREES ARE OUR ALLIES • BY CHARLES PRÉMONT
“The history of our zoological species is contained in the life of a single tree.” This quote from world-renowned botanist Francis Hallé conveys the core of his message: trees, our mistreated allies, are more evolved than us.
PHOTO Raymond Jalbert
As far as we know, they hold all the records in the living world – for weight, height and longevity. A huon pine in Tasmania is now about 43,000 years old! In an interview with the French newspaper Le Monde, Hallé said that the total surface area of a 15-metre-tall tree (including its leaves, its entire trunk and its long and narrow roots) is about 200 hectares. That makes us look pretty puny with our 2 square metres of skin.
“There’s no one better than him to talk about trees as a habitat. He’s such a great public speaker, with so much conviction,” says Andrée Hallé, head of programming and museology at the Jardin botanique. “He manages to show us how efficient trees’ biological functions are. He draws on science as he calls on us to preserve them, and makes it really interesting.” Trees are perhaps the creatures furthest removed from us. They don’t move around, they get their nourishment via processes that appear especially strange to us, and they communicate in ways that escape us. This “otherness” is what has always fascinated Francis Hallé. Trees provide us with incalculable benefits, but our failure to grasp their reality interferes with our relationship with them. That’s why it’s so important to him to defend them wherever he goes. His best weapon for protecting them? Research.
25
PHOTO Opération canopée
FOREST BIODIVERSITY
THE CANOPY RAFT The Canopy Raft, a tool designed by Francis Hallé and built by colleagues and contributors, has given him access to the rich canopy of different tropical rainforests around the globe – in fact, the name has been applied to the scientific missions using it. The raft is a blimp-borne large net connected by inflatable pontoons that rests on the treetops, used by researchers interested in studying this environment that would otherwise be impossible to reach. Alain Cogliastro, a researcher and botanist at Montréal’s Jardin botanique and Adjunct Professor in the Department of Biology at the Université de Montréal, has had the good fortune to participate in two Canopy Raft expeditions. The first, in 1996, was in French Guiana, and the second, in 1999, in Gabon. “It was a tremendous privilege,” he begins. “These were pretty remote expeditions, far from civilization. It’s very moving to find yourself in places with so much biodiversity. Especially at first, when you’re surprised by everything.” The canopy is one of the places with the most biodiversity anywhere. “The environmental conditions there are very different from on the ground; so clearly life there has evolved differently. It’s populated by huge numbers of insects, birds and flowers.
When you spend a few days there, you realize how dynamic an ecosystem it is.” In the past, scientists had to cut the trees down to study their crowns. That interfered with the data they were able to collect. The Canopy Raft has been around for over 30 years now, and academics around the globe have been able to make use of it. “That’s something that Francis Hallé has succeeded in doing: giving scientists access to the rainforest,” Cogliastro says. “Both researchers interested in the canopy and those looking on the ground. Each Canopy Raft mission is like a huge laboratory, making researchers’ work easier.” Unfortunately, these primordial forests are increasingly threatened today. Hallé worked with film director Luc Jacquet to produce Il était une forêt, a film giving everyone a chance to see them before they disappear for good. But there is still hope. For Hallé, agri-forestry is a promising avenue for maintaining forest ecosystems, by growing and caring for forests in a way that meets different local needs for food, housing and clothing. The species are chosen for their utility. “I think the idea is catching on in Quebec,” Cogliastro points out. “It fits with his philosophy of planting trees on farmland, for instance.”
26
FOREST BIODIVERSITY
A BOTANIST'S JOURNAL JARDIN BOTANIQUE
DESSIN Francis Hallé
JUNE 24 — OCTOBER 31
DRAW ME A TREE Another of Hallé’s major contributions is his understanding of plant architecture. “It was by showing the dynamic organization of plant structures that he made his name in the academic world,” says Cogliastro. He has worked out many architectures by drawing them. Over his 50-year career, he has produced nearly 24,000 sketches. “To draw a plant, Francis Hallé may spend two hours walking around it and examining it,” Andrée Hallé explains. “All the details are there. No matter how realistic a photograph may be, it will always be inexact because it shows only a given angle. That makes a drawing much better, precisely because it is a representation.” Above all, these drawings reveal trees’ poetry and beauty. Francis Hallé has published a number of them over the years, and Montréal’s Jardin botanique is preparing an inspiring pathway to showcase them.
DID YOU KNOW?
PLEASE DO NOT DISTURB • BY MARIE- CLAUDE OUELLET
It’s not very often you get to see a wood turtle! In Quebec, they’re threatened by natural predators and various human activities, from pollution to agriculture, forestry, shoreline erosion, cars and trucks and illegal collection. Since 2014, the Biodôme has been working with the Ministère des Forêts, de la Faune et des Parcs to raise wood turtles in captivity and give them a head start. Biologists collect the eggs, hatch them in an incubator, and raise them for two years at the Biodôme. Then the young turtles are fitted with tracking transmitters and released into the wild.
PHOTO Claude Lafond
⊗
27
LOCAL ATTRACTIONS
DISCOVER MONTRÉAL’S FORESTS! What better way to get in touch with nature than by heading to the woods? Montréal has plenty of wooded areas where you can relax and enjoy yourself.
PHOTO Michel Tremblay
• BY MARIE- CLAUDE OUELLET
BOIS-DE-SARAGUAY NATURE PARK
JARDIN BOTANIQUE ARBORETUM
Location: Ahuntsic-Cartierville Borough Size: 96 hectares Explore this heavily wooded park and look for rare species like shagbark hickory, black maple, red-shouldered hawks and wood ducks.
Not many people know about this verdant oasis that covers a 40-hectare area, equivalent to 55 football fields! It contains some 7,000 trees and shrubs. In spring and summer, feast your gaze on the flowering crabapples, lilacs and catalpas. In fall, the maples, oaks, mountain ashes and birches put on a stunning show. And in winter, strap on your cross-country skis and glide through the Arboretum, where you can watch birds flocking to the feeders.
BOIS-DE-L’ÎLE-BIZARD NATURE PARK Location: Île-Bizard Size: 218 hectares Explore Lac des Deux-Montagnes from a sea kayak, admire the many different birds that nest in the park’s woods, marshes and fields, and delight in the scent of its cedar stands.
BOIS-DE-LIESSE NATURE PARK Location: Pierrefonds-Roxboro and Saint-Laurent boroughs Size: 159 hectares The Bois-Francs forest of hundred-year-old trees is a great place for a hike or bike ride. In winter, you can go cross-country skiing, snowshoeing or tobogganing with the family.
MOUNT ROYAL PARK Location: Ville-Marie Borough Size: 220 hectares Some 5 million people visit Mount Royal Park every year. This Montréal symbol has a number of lookouts offering lovely views of the city from its summit. You can go hiking, biking, snowshoeing and cross-country skiing on its trails, depending on the season. ⊗
ENTOMOLOGY
28
RESCUING BUTTERFLIES • BY MARTIN PRIMEAU
We marvel at them every summer. But we are seeing fewer butterflies, especially monarchs, all the time. What’s happening? What can we do about it? Here’s what entomologist Maxim Larrivée has to say.
BUTTERFLIES GO FREE JARDIN BOTANIQUE
PHOTO Maxim Larrivée
FEBRUARY 22 — APRIL 29
29
ENTOMOLOGY
He already knew the names of 32 different butterfly species by the age of 4. Today, Maxim Larrivée earns his living by sharing his passion. But the entomologist at the Montréal Insectarium is concerned. The populations of some species have declined dramatically in Canada in recent years. “Specialized species are the ones affected,” he says. “The more a butterfly has a specialized ecological niche, the more likely it is to be affected by the changes occurring around the globe.”
The monarch population has plummeted by 90% over the past 20 years – there were only 60 million of them left by winter 2013. But 250 million are needed to ensure their survival.
A LONG JOURNEY A monarch’s life is a perilous one. They have to travel immense distances and survive the many hazards awaiting them along their route. Every spring, flocks of monarchs leave the mountains in the Michoacán region, in Mexico, and head north. None of them will actually make it all the way to Quebec, but their grandchildren and great-grandchildren will. One or two generations later, in September, it’s up to their descendants to make the return journey, all the way to their ancestral wintering grounds in Mexico. And those individuals fly all the way across the United States, from north to south! “The problem with this migration is that it exposes the monarchs to different risks, like habitat loss and increasingly frequent extreme weather phenomena, that them more vulnerable all along the journey,” Larrivée explains. “It’s the combination of all these factors that is decimating their population.”
INSECTARIUM AUGUST 25 & 26 PHOTO André Sarrazin
Some of the ones affected are a few skipper species on the Prairies. But the species he’s most worried about are monarch butterflies, the Montréal Insectarium’s very emblem.
MONARCH FIESTA
MONTRÉAL, A MONARCHFRIENDLY CITY This year, Montréal joined a group of 270 North American cities in the Mayors’ Monarch Pledge program, a National Wildlife Federation (NWF) initiative. The city has committed to about twenty specific actions to help protect the species – ten or so have already been taken by Montréal Space for Life. For instance, milkweed will now have a special place in municipal gardens. Monarch Fiesta is another of the city’s actions, with the first edition to be held on August 25 and 26 this year. ⊗
30
ENTOMOLOGY
BE A MONARCH HERO While Larrivée paints a very dim of the state of the monarch situation, he still holds out some hope. In June 2016, the Insectarium team, in co-operation with the Institut de recherche en biologie végétale, launched Mission Monarch, a citizen science project. The goal was to encourage members of the public to get out and count monarch caterpillars themselves, so as to gather data on their population status in the field. Participants first had to identify and count milkweed plants, since these plants are indispensable for monarchs’ survival. With this information, Mission Monarch will then be able to determine the most promising sites for monarchs to reproduce. People can create their own monarch oases, by planting milkweed in their gardens and following other tips in the My Space for Life Garden program. You can also admire some ideal garden layouts at the Butterflies Go Free event held by the Insectarium at the Jardin botanique from February 22 to April 29.
MANY DIFFERENT CAUSES As might be expected, humans and our impact on the environment are behind the decline. By converting more and more land to monoculture of herbicide-resistant crops, we have gradually destroyed the monarchs’ breeding grounds. “That’s the most important cause,” the entomologist emphasizes. And then, he points out, there is climate change. “Monarchs expend tremendous amounts of energy to survive the extreme weather conditions that climate change is causing,” he says. “Not only when they are overwintering in Mexico, but also during their mating season in the United States and Canada.” Freezing rain, high winds, torrential rain and droughts, not to mention pesticides, all complicate the lives of these tiny creatures that weigh barely half a gram. ⊗
DID YOU KNOW?
WHERE DO INSECTS GO IN WINTER? Many insects produce “antifreeze” molecules that prevent their cells from freezing and exploding. That’s just one of the strategies used by our six-legged neighbours to survive the cold. Most of them hide in some kind of shelter and remain inactive, in a state called diapause. While some, like mourning cloak butterflies and giant water bugs, overwinter as adults, the majority go into diapause as eggs, larvae or nymphs. Firefly larvae burrow underground, while black swallowtail butterfly chrysalises cling to branches.
PHOTO woodleywonderworks/Flickr
• BY MARIE- CLAUDE OUELLET
PHOTO Raymond Jalbert
PROGRAM
EXO
THE GREAT GARDENING WEEKEND
PLANÉTARIUM RIO TINTO ALCAN
JARDIN BOTANIQUE
ALL YEAR
MAY 25 TO 27
THE PATHWAY TO PHYTOTECHNOLOGIES (FILTERING MARSHES) JARDIN BOTANIQUE
BUTTERFLIES GO FREE
NATURE IS YOUR SHELTER
JARDIN BOTANIQUE
JARDIN BOTANIQUE
FEBRUARY 22 TO APRIL 29
JUNE 15 TO SEPTEMBER 3
STARTING AUGUST 30
GARDENS OF LIGHT JARDIN BOTANIQUE
DOUBLE FEATURE
FRANCIS HALLÉ: A BOTANIST'S JOURNAL
SEPTEMBER 7 TO OCTOBER 31
THE BLIND MAN WITH STARRY EYES | ABOARD THE SSE-4801
JARDIN BOTANIQUE
THE GREAT PUMPKIN BALL
PLANÉTARIUM RIO TINTO ALCAN
JUNE 24 TO SEPTEMBER 3
JARDIN BOTANIQUE
STARTING FEBRUARY 27
OCTOBER 5 TO 31
COSMIC COLLISIONS
THE ARTS PUT ON A SHOW AT THE GARDEN
PLANÉTARIUM RIO TINTO ALCAN
JARDIN BOTANIQUE
STARTING APRIL 17
JULY 1 TO SEPTEMBER 2
DOUBLE FEATURE
PLANET 9 | THE SECRETS OF GRAVITY PLANÉTARIUM RIO TINTO ALCAN
DOUBLE FEATURE
MONARCH FIESTA
AURORAE | CONTINUUM
INSECTARIUM
PLANÉTARIUM RIO TINTO ALCAN
AUGUST 25 & 26
STARTING MAY 1
STARTING NOVEMBER 2
HUMAN & NATURE ENCOUNTERS MONTRÉAL SPACE FOR LIFE STARTING IN JULY SEE WEBSITE FOR DATES
#SpaceForLife Online ticketing: montrealspaceforlife.ca