Red Fox Study heads the material

With funding by New Brunswick’s Wildlife Trust Fund and Environment Canada, a joint project between Kouchibouguac National Park and the Irving Eco-Centre was initiated to inventory two rare species in 2000. The Maritime Ringlet (Coenonympha nepisiguit), a rare butterfly known only from a few marshes in Bathurst and around the Bay des Chaleurs, and a threatened plant, the Gulf of St-Lawrence Aster (Aster laurentianus) were studied. These two species live in salt marshes, habitats common along the Bouctouche dune and Kouchibouguac lagoons and dunes. While surveying, the observers would also look for other rare plants of New Brunswick found in salt marshes.

Results:
No Maritime Ringlets were found in Kouchibouguac Park or on the Bouctouche spit.
The Gulf of St. Lawrence aster was found in two localities for both study sites.

• One colony in Kouchibouguac was composed of at least a thousand plants
• A second again in Kouchibouguac had only a few individuals
• A colony at the southern end of the Bouctouche spit had a few hundred plants
• Another site nearby on the spit had only two plants

The aster colonies in Kouchibouguac and those on the Bouctouche spit were geo-referenced. A voucher specimen from the Bouctouche spit was sent to the New Brunswick Museum for preservation.

Recommendations for this project are included in a more detailed report available from the Irving Eco-Centre. A large-scale (entire East Coast of New Brunswick) project is planned for 2001. It would include data collected from the Irving Eco-Centre, Kouchibouguac National Park and the Acadian Peninsula’s Piper Project.