Jérôme Dupras

Université du Québec en Outaouais · Institut des sciences de la forêt tempérée

This study provides the first complete framework for the valuation of ecosystem services of agroforestry and uses a tree-based intercropping (TBI) system in southern Québec, Canada, as a case study. Ten ecosystem services were estimated, all of which were of interest and directly applicable to most agricultural systems worldwide: nutrient mineraliz...

Urban sprawl is central to the issues surrounding sustainable urban develop- ment. It generally leads to multiple impacts on land-use change, including loss of sensitive natural areas, farmland and fragmentation of ecosystems, which negatively impact the production of a wide range of ecosystem services (ES). In this study, we evaluate the value of...

Using qualitative data, we investigate the impact of the problem‐framing process on stakeholder mobilization for fish habitat restoration and its influence on transforming agricultural practices in floodplains. Problem‐framing involves defining and delineating a problem to suggest practical and measurable solutions for addressing it. We are examini...

The whales of the St. Lawrence Estuary in Quebec, Canada, including the resident beluga (Delphinapterus leucas) population, classified as endangered and continuing to decline, face many threats of anthropogenic origins, in particular underwater noise generated by boat engines. In order to better understand the impact of recreational boating on the...

Payments for ecosystem services (PES) are widely applied incentive‐based instruments with diverse objectives that increasingly include biodiversity conservation. Yet, there is a gap in understanding of how to best assess and monitor programs’ biodiversity outcomes. We examined perceptions and drivers of engagement related to biodiversity monitoring...

By generating and explaining facts, science holds an important role in environmental policy decision‐making. However, scientific knowledge is often framed as objective and neutral in policy debates, which can be challenged by stakeholders who have a different view of the issue. To counter this situation, we propose a novel scientific approach to an...

Background The importance of urban trees and their benefits to society are increasingly recognized. However, cities are a challenging environment for trees to grow and thrive. Current knowledge on tree vulnerabilities to existing urban stressors remains scarce and available only for a limited number of species and specific stressors. Methods Using...

Early energy analyses of agriculture revealed that behind higher labor and land productivity of industrial farming, there was a decrease in energy returns on energy (EROI) invested, in comparison to more traditional organic agricultural systems. Studies on recent trends show that efficiency gains in production and use of inputs have again somewhat...

Maple sugaring mainly uses sugar and red maples (Acer saccharum and Acer rubrum) by tapping them for sap in the leafless-state across large portions of their ranges. How much sap exudes from a tap hole and how sweet this sap is, can vary substantially. Year-to-year variation in sap yield and sugar content can be primarily traced to differences in m...

Nature conservation begins with detailed knowledge of the ecosystem based on inventories and maps. A difficult part of the conservation process subsequently starts, namely, the design of an action plan that achieves the desired protection outcome. As both funding and time are limited, conservation is subject to difficult trade-offs among competing...

The ePEStemology database is the largest review of PES scientific research to date and addresses the following research questions: - In the history of 15 years of PES research, what are the dominant criteria used to define and assess success of PES in practice? Are there geographical patterns in defining those criteria? Where does research take pl...

Over the past fifty years, the world's wildlife populations have drastically declined. This stems from multiple causes, including the loss of natural habitat, which plays a vital role. Effective strategies to help endangered wildlife species recovery requires broad public support to be politically viable. In this study, we conducted a randomized su...

Payments for Ecosystem Services (PES) are incentive-based instruments that provide conditional economic incentives for natural resources management. Research has shown that when economic incentives are parachuted into rural communities, participation and benefits are collectively negotiated and shared. However, we know little about how benefit-shar...

Coastal ecosystems are recognized as important providers of ecosystem services such as carbon storage, increased fish productivity, and wave energy reduction. In a context of climate change, coastal ecosystems are exposed to erosion and subject to coastal squeeze, even as they provide natural coastal protection against extreme weather. While civil...

Governing ecosystem services entails the recognition of mutual and interdependent relations between different actors (i.e. beneficiaries, providers and intermediaries) in relation to each other and the living world. Appreciating these social interdependencies requires understanding ecosystem services as commons, generated at the entanglement of soc...

BACKGROUND AND AIM: Fine particles (PM2.5) have been associated with childhood asthma onset. Trees have been suggested to reduce PM2.5 levels in urban settings. However, the influence of the urban forest on asthma onset is unclear as trees can reduce air pollution but also emit pollen and biogenic organic compounds. We aim to characterize the influ...

Payments for Ecosystem Services (PES) are a popular conservation instrument in the Global South. However, little is known about how evolving PES design features affect local institutions and collective participation dynamics. Drawing on long-term field research spanning over a decade, we address this gap by investigating the evolution of PES design...

Field studies have shown that dense tree canopies and regular tree arrangements reduce noise from a point source. In urban areas, noise sources are multiple and tree arrangements are rarely dense. There is a lack of data on the association between the urban tree canopy characteristics and noise in complex urban settings. Our aim was to investigate...

Payments for ecosystem services (PES) programs in agriculture are designed to encourage farmers to adopt agro-environmental practices through financial or non-financial incentives. Using a choice-based conjoint (CBC) analysis, we measured public preferences regarding different constitutive attributes of PES (e.g., types of agro-environmental measur...

The evaluation of the water footprint of goods is a good step towards the evaluation of the circularity of water. The assessment of the whole life cycle of a product allows the quantification of its actual consumption of water – including direct and indirect water usage as well as water devalued through contamination. The circular economy seeks to...

Exposure to allergenic tree pollen is an increasing environmental health issue in urban areas. However, reliable, well-documented, peer-reviewed data on the allergenicity of pollen from common tree species in urban environments are lacking. Using the concept of ‘riskscape’, we present and discuss evidence on how different tree pollen allergenicity...

Ce projet visait à mesurer et analyser économiquement les bénéfices fournis par le capital naturel retrouvé sur le territoire de la Ville de Québec et de la Communauté métropolitaine de Québec (CMQ); et à évaluer la production future des services écosystémiques par les écosystèmes de la région selon différents scénarios réalistes d’utilisation des...

Urban green infrastructures (GI) are important features of cities which provide many ecosystem services promoting citizens’ well-being. As space is often limited in cities for establishing new GI, it is important to optimize the contribution of ecosystem services of existing GI. The objective of this paper is to compare the performance of lawns to...

The lack of information on the value of ecosystems contributing to human well-being in urban and peri-urban setting is known to contribute to the degradation of natural capital and ecosystem services (ES). The purpose of this study was to determine the economic value of ES in Canada’s Capital Region (Ottawa-Gatineau region), so that these values ca...

The asbestos mining industry in Canada shut down in 2012, leading to several decommissioned and some abandoned sites. In southeastern Quebec, asbestos mining residues cover an area of 2308 hectares. About 800 million tonnes of tailings are vestiges of this mining industry, along with socio-economic and environmental impacts resulting from mine clos...

The influence of the urban forest on asthma onset is unclear as trees reduce air pollution but also emit pollens and biogenic organic compounds. Additionally, rudimentary vegetation data have so far been used to assess risks. We aimed to assess associations between residential urban forest characteristics and the onset of childhood asthma. We used...

Environmental inequality is a phenomenon drawing much attention in the scientific and policy-making debates about urban forests and city greening. Most studies on the subject have shown that socially vulnerable, multicultural neighborhoods are disproportionately affected by the lack of urban forest while richer neighborhoods tend to be greener. But...

Agricultural intensification causes habitat modification, sometimes leading to habitat loss and subsequent loss of connectivity. Remaining species in these agriculture-dominated landscapes often use hedgerows, such as windbreaks or riparian strips, as movement corridors or even as habitats. However, the understanding of the use of these hedgerows b...

Offsetting and, more broadly speaking, the mitigation hierarchy have been widely studied in terms of decreasing the impacts of economic activities on biodiversity. There has been considerable tendency to anchor these mechanisms in science, promoting the idea that they are scientifically constructed. Building on Quebec's recent regulatory changes co...

Facilities using surface water to provide drinking water to communities must contend with the risk of cyanobacteria and cyanotoxin infiltration. Although risk management protocols can be put in place to anticipate the presence of cyanotoxins in concentrations exceeding guidelines, based on cyanobacterial cell count for example, this indicator is no...

A recent study on Colombian protected areas has found an increase in deforestation after ending armed conflict. The authors propose several drivers behind this trend and take their findings as proof of how these drivers specifically affect protected areas and render them particularly vulnerable to deforestation during post-conflict transition. Howe...

In Canada, the Alternative Land Use Services (ALUS) program aims to support conservation projects by financially compensating farmers for ecosystem services. The program advocates a bottom-up approach that allows farmers to decide which projects to implement. In this respect, ALUS distinguishes itself from more traditional agri-environment schemes,...

Incentive-based mechanisms, such as payments for ecosystem services (PES) are increasingly being employed to encourage adoption of biodiversity conservation practices in agriculture. Farmers’ participation in a PES depends – amongst other factors – on their interactions with previous programs and schemes. This research analyses how the institutiona...

In response to widespread soil erosion, biodiversity loss, and rapid social and ecological homogenization of agri-environmental landscapes, economic incentives such as payments for ecosystem services (PES) are presented by natural resource managers as the most efficient way to address the unintended consequences of intensive agriculture. In this ar...

We conducted a field stated preferences survey to understand the influence of payment and provision consequentiality script on valuation associated with voluntary contribution. Based on four treatment groups with single or combined consequentiality scripts and a contingent-ranking willingness to pay question, this paper provided some evidence that...

Cette recherche avait comme objectif de dresser le portrait écologique, social et économique des initiatives agroenvironnementales mises en place en milieu agricole depuis les dernières années au Québec. En plus de mettre en lumière ces initiatives, ce projet visait à étudier leur efficacité sur le déplacement de la faune et l’adhésion des producte...

When conservation conflicts occur, the recognition of a plurality of perspectives among the stakeholders makes it possible to better understand the divergences and convergences between the parties. In this research, Q methodology was used to explore different stakeholder views on management issues surrounding intensive farming in the floodplain of...

Based on a case study carried out on the Lac Saint-Pierre (LSP) World Biosphere Reserve (Québec, Canada), this paper estimates ecosystem service loss, more precisely the loss related to cultural and recreational activities of the LSP due to the fall of its water level under the pressure of climate change. We measure two dimensions of this loss. As...

Background: Commercial shipping is identified as a major source of anthropogenic underwater noise in several ecologically sensitive areas. Any development project likely to increase marine traffic can thus be required to assess environmental impacts of underwater noise. Therefore, project holders are increasingly engaging in underwater noise modeli...

Algal blooms, whether they are harmful or more akin to a nuisance, do pose negative impacts on human wellbeing. In the province of Quebec, excessive phosphorus that contributes to the problem of cyanobacterial blooms comes mainly from non-point sources. Limited regulation on the management of this nutrient leads to its strong accumulation in soils...

Our food choices, food production pathways and household behaviors together govern the impact that our diet has on our health as well as the environment. As the planetary population grows, there is an increasing awareness of the need to both improve the quality of our diets for health reasons and to reduce its impact on the Earth. From the consumer...

Agricultural practices in southern Quebec have intensified over the past decades with impacts for biodiversity and water quality, especially in the Lake Champlain basin. The region has experienced recurring algal blooms over the last 20 years. Riparian buffer strips have been identified as one possible agro-environmental solution. Current public an...

À travers la lentille de la gouvernance adaptative, cette recherche vise à analyser comment les arrangements institutionnels formels et informels établis par des acteurs de différents niveaux de gouvernance déterminent les résultats de la cohabitation entre les activités agricoles et celles dédiées à la conservation dans un système socio-écologique...

À travers la méthode d'expérience de choix, cette étude visait à mieux comprendre la demande sociale dans l'aménagement des zones d'exploitation contrôlée (zecs) au Québec. Ce projet comporte deux volets visant à : 1) analyser les perceptions de la forêt à partir d’une enquête réalisée auprès du grand public; 2) mettre en lumière les préférences de...

Projet de recherche ayant pour objectifs de : 1) identifier et de classer les enjeux potentiellement conflictuels et les conflits dans l’utilisation des ressources naturelles et des territoires des zones d'exploitation contrôlée (zec); 2) mettre en lumière les stratégies et les outils utilisés par les gestionnaires de zecs afin d’atténuer les ris...

The agricultural sector is considered as an important contributor to diffuse nutrient pollution within watersheds. While hierarchical models of environmental governance are costly to implement when targeting diffuse pollution, market-based water quality trading (WQT) is viewed as a win–win solution. Based on economic incentives, WQT promoters sugge...

Cet article présente une recension des écrits sur les infrastructures naturelles (IN) comme moyen d’adaptation aux changements climatiques, en prenant pour exemple la gestion des eaux de ruissellement et des crues. Une revue d’études de cas permet d’apprécier le potentiel des IN comme solution de rechange aux approches reposant sur des infrastructu...

In the Canadian province of Prince Edward Island (PEI), producers have been financially incentivized over the past decade to halt soil erosion, improve water quality, and promote habitat for biodiversity through a provincial programme called “Alternative Land Use Services” (ALUS). ALUS is the first example of a provincial-wide application of paymen...

This article explores the suitability of Ostrom and colleagues' social-ecological systems framework (SESF) for the study of resource-dependent communities in Canada. Through a broad literature about resource-dependent communities in Canada, three main approaches are identified, named staples research, rural development, and sustainability studies....

Looking at two cases of community forests (CF) in Eastern North America, this article examines their institutional features in order to assess whether they are conducive to adaptive governance. To do so, this article presents CFs as manifestations of polycentric governance, which allow identifying the complex networks of relations existing between...

This article presents an energy analysis of Quebec agroecoystems at five periods of time: 1871, 1931, 1951, 1981, and 2011, calculating for each year the various energy flows and their resulting Energy Return on Investment (EROI). In the nineteenth century, Quebec agroecosystems were typical examples of historical organic agriculture, with a low de...

Urbanization poses both challenges and opportunities for the management of urban ecosystems globally. In the Greater Montreal Area (GMA), a major North American urban area where green infrastructure (GI) implementation is in its early stage, there are challenges in maintaining provision of ecosystem services due to urban expansion and climate chang...

This paper argues that payments for ecosystem services (PES) serve as a neoliberal performative act, in which idealized conditions are re-constituted by well-resourced and networked epistemic communities with the objective of bringing a distinctly instrumental and utilitarian relationality between humans and nature into existence. We illustrate the...

This paper argues that Payments for Ecosystem Services (PES) serve as a neoliberal performative act, in which idealized conditions are re-constituted by well-resourced and networked epistemic communities with the objective of bringing a distinctly instrumental and utilitarian relationality between humans and nature into existence. We illustrate the...

Satisfying the nutritional needs of a growing population whilst limiting environmental repercussions will require sustainable intensification of agriculture. We argue that intercropping, which is the simultaneous production of multiple crops on the same area of land, could play an essential role in this intensification. We carried out the first glo...

This study aims to evaluate the non-market values of ecosystem services generated by wetlands in southern Quebec. To accomplish this, we evaluated the value of wetland services related to (1) habitat for biodiversity, (2) flood control, (3) water quality and (4) climate regulation. Two non-market valuation methods are proposed, contingent valuation...

The recovery of whale species at risk requires the implementation of protection measures designed to mitigate the risks posed by various stressors. In the St. Lawrence Estuary (Canada), several whale species are threatened by navigation activities in various ways. Since 2013, seasonal voluntary ship strike miti-gation measures, including a speed re...

This study explores the willingness to pay (WTP) for an improvement of the environmental situation in agricultural areas with a specific focus on landscape aesthetics. We used the contingent valuation method to measure the discrete value of landscape aesthetics externalities produced by different beneficial management practices implementation scena...

L’objectif de cette étude est de présenter les opportunités et les contraintes liées au développement des infrastructures naturelles (IN) dans la grande région de Montréal, telles qu’exprimées par les participants aux ateliers de consultation tenus dans le cadre du Sommet sur les infrastructures naturelles du Grand Montréal, 16-17 juin 2016. Les ré...

Forest stewardship in Québec has gone through several mutations during the last decades. From a forest regime that favoured the industrial stakeholders, the Government of Québec has progressively integrated a large scope of local and regional stakeholders. However in the spring of 2015, the Government of Québec adopted a legislation resulting in th...

A study on the perception of vulnerability and adaptive capacity to climate change (CC) was realised among 27 small private forest owners (SPFOs) of a region in southern Quebec. In-depth semi-structured interviews were conducted with SPFOs of diverse profiles to better understand their perception of environmental disturbances and their needs to imp...

This study used a contingent choice method to determine the economic value of improving various ecosystem services (ESs) of the Blue Network of Greater Montreal (Quebec, Canada). Three real projects were used and the evaluation focused on six ESs that are related to freshwater aquatic ecosystems: biodiversity, water quality, carbon sequestration, r...

• La qualité et la quantité des services écosystémiques (SE) fournis par le lac Saint-Pierre (LSP), tels les produits de la pêche, les activités récréo-touristiques et la qualité des paysages, sont menacés par plusieurs facteurs de pression, dont les changements climatiques; • Selon plusieurs scénarios hydroclimatiques, les changements climatiques...

Despite the growing interest they arouse, market instruments, such as payments for ecosystem services (PES), are still far from being the dominant political strategies in the conservation of biodiversity and protection of the environment, in Quebec as elsewhere. Even though the PES have received greater consideration in recent years, the field of l...

Musicians, singers and bands can use their popularity to promote various causes and products, either through endorsements or more individual initiatives. Environmental activism is becoming more widespread as humans are trying to tackle and mitigate climate change. In this paper, we ask how best a band can compensate for the carbon emissions generat...

Over the last few decades, Mediterranean coastal areas have experienced profound land-use changes due mainly to urban sprawl and reforestation at the expense of former traditional agrarian mosaics and natural resources, such as beach areas or freshwaters streams. These changes have had severe negative consequences on the biodiversity and ecological...

Through the analysis of semi-structured interviews held with key actors involved in the planning of the Greater Montreal region, we seek to understand the conditions that could lead to the establishment of a green infrastructure for the city. This article first describes the region's environmental and political context and then analyzes the opportu...