Background
Métis Crossing is Alberta’s first and only major Métis cultural interpretation center and aims to develop Métis culture, education, and ecotourism. It is a 300 hectares historical Métis homestead that was part of the River Lot system along the northern bank of the North Saskatchewan River (Belcourt 2006). The site is located in Smoky Lake County along the Victoria Trail just off Highway 855. It is an important site, as it promotes and exposes the public to Alberta Métis culture (Christianson et al. 2012). It is a cultural gathering area, and provides economic and education opportunities for the Métis Nation of Alberta. At the site, a mixture of ecotourism, cultural tourism, agriculture, and industry are all planned or taking place.
As Métis Crossing is an important cultural hub for Métis, it is important to protect and conserve areas within the natural boreal forest , cropland, aspen parkland, and grassland that have higher diversity than others to maintain the diversity of vegetation and ecosystem type in Métis Crossing. Métis Crossing is in the boreal mixed wood system (ABMI 2019), composed of aspen parkland, cropland, grassland, and natural boreal forest, and the dominant vegetation is trembling aspen (Populus tremuloides) with some black spruce (Picea mariana), white spruce (Picea glauca), and balsam poplar (Populus balsamifera) (Aneva et al. 2020) . Besides trees, the lesser plant layers such as shrubs, herbs, forbs, and graminoids (grasses, sedges, and rushes), are an important part of the species and structure diversity of the boreal mixed wood forest and are therefore important to monitor (Colwell 2009). By monitoring plant diversity between and within different ecosystems, the Métis Nation of Alberta will be able to make decisions that focus on sustainable development of Métis Crossing and continue its goal of conservation and ecotourism, as well as monitoring how different ecosystems affect the vegetation at the site.
As Métis Crossing is an important cultural hub for Métis, it is important to protect and conserve areas within the natural boreal forest , cropland, aspen parkland, and grassland that have higher diversity than others to maintain the diversity of vegetation and ecosystem type in Métis Crossing. Métis Crossing is in the boreal mixed wood system (ABMI 2019), composed of aspen parkland, cropland, grassland, and natural boreal forest, and the dominant vegetation is trembling aspen (Populus tremuloides) with some black spruce (Picea mariana), white spruce (Picea glauca), and balsam poplar (Populus balsamifera) (Aneva et al. 2020) . Besides trees, the lesser plant layers such as shrubs, herbs, forbs, and graminoids (grasses, sedges, and rushes), are an important part of the species and structure diversity of the boreal mixed wood forest and are therefore important to monitor (Colwell 2009). By monitoring plant diversity between and within different ecosystems, the Métis Nation of Alberta will be able to make decisions that focus on sustainable development of Métis Crossing and continue its goal of conservation and ecotourism, as well as monitoring how different ecosystems affect the vegetation at the site.
Research Objectives
Find sites within each ecosystem that have higher vegetation diversity than others.
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How large do my sampling sites need to be for effective surveys of different ecosystem?
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Expected Results
There are four kinds of ecosystem types in Métis Crossing, namely aspen parkland, grassland, cropland, and natural boreal forest. According to relevant ecological knowledge and field survey, we expected that the sites receive the most sunlight and precipitation, as well as the least disturbance such as road building, human activities, and grazing, will have higher vegetation diversity than other sites within ecosystem. Less sampling sites would be enough for cropland with less species richness, more sampling sites would be better for ecosystem with more species richness.