No description available.

Habitat fragmentation can influence the genetics of a population through the direct loss of genetic diversity, and by the genetic processes that occur as a result of small remnant populations or the geographic isolation of populations. I examined the population genetics of two woodland amphibian species in localities with different land-use histories. The wood frog (Rana sylvatica) and the red-backed salamander (Plethodon cinereus) use the same general habitat but differ with respect to a few key life-history characteristics relating to dispersal. I then compared between species the relative influence each land-use scenario had on the population genetic structure. I found that habitat fragmentation affected the population genetics of the two amphibians and did so differently for each species. The differential population genetic response of these two amphibians to habitat fragmentation reinforces the important role of life-history characteristics in how the genetic structure of a population is shaped over time.

No description available.

No description available.

To understand maintenance of the within-habitat diversity of closely related species, I investigated 11 Carex species growing along rivers in the south-western St. Lawrence Valley of Quebec. Microenvironments within a half meter of focal plants characterized for Carex comosa, C. crinita, C. grayi, C. intumescens, C. lacustris, C. lupulina, C. pseudocyperus, C. retrorsa, C. tuckermanii, C. typhina, and C. vesicaria revealed significant differences among the species in their environmental affinities. Species appear to fall into groups based on their tolerance of flooding and are secondarily differentiated on other environmental gradients such as insolation, soil pH and soil organic matter. Several traits were related to the environments that species inhabit: diaspore weight, diaspore floating duration, and root aerenchyma. The absence of any phylogenetic trend in niche differences for pairs of species supports the idea that evolutionary differentiation of the alpha-niche is the basis for coexistence of congeners.

No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

St. Barnabé fault, in St. Hyacinthe plain of the St. Lawrence lowlands, was postulated by Clark (1947) on his geological study of this area. Structural features of this type are of great interest to the geophysicist to establish relation between physical quantities measured at the surface and geometry of such structures. A subsurface fault can be diagnosed, under density contrast condition, with surface gravity measurements. The present detailed gravity survey was undertaken to determine if such a condition existed, to correlate geological information with gravity data, and to assess this data in terms of possible parameters of the fault structure. The field work was carried out in the summer months of 1964 with a Worden gravimeter. [...]