Roxanna Thompson
Northern News Services
Thursday, July 3, 2008

LIIDLII KUE/FORT SIMPSON - Plants around Fort Simpson have recently been getting a lot of attention.

Three biologists spent two weeks, from June 17-30, identifying plant species around the village as part of a research project. GAPS (Gas, Arctic Peoples and Security) examines the impact of oil and gas industries on people in the Arctic using a multiple securities perspective, said Dawn Bazely, the leader of the Canadian component of the GAPS project.

"It's all about looking at the long term and short term impacts of oil and gas development in the Arctic," Bazely said.

Conducted by 14 researchers in Canada, Russia and Norway, GAPS is part of the International Polar Year Project. Researchers include social, political and natural scientists, all examining different factors of human security.

In Fort Simpson Bazely and her team of Milissa Elliott and Paul Marmer, both Masters of Science candidates in the biology department at York University, focused their research on environmental security. This gives an assessment of how natural environments people live in are changing.

The team is examining how ecosystems might be changing along pipeline routes. Their particular focus is on the movement of non-indigenous plant species into the North.

"Some of them can have a huge impact on ecosystems," she said.

The group is looking for patterns of occurrence of invasive species in different communities along the proposed route of the Mackenzie Gas Project. Fort Simpson was their first stop in the territory. The group will also be visiting Norman Wells, Fort Good Hope and Inuvik before the middle of August.

What the group discovered in Fort Simpson came as a surprise.

"We'd assumed we'd find a lot of non-indigenous plant species in Fort Simpson because of the road and people moving in," she Bazely.

What they weren't counting on was the legacy of the experimental farm.

"There's tons of non-indigenous plant species that are growing here from the experimental farm," she said.

Plants that started at the farm and have spread include columbine, honeysuckle and a variety of grasses.

To conduct their research the team identified plants in over 130 one-meter square plots that were chosen randomly in the village, along Highway 1 and near Checkpoint. The group also spoke with elders, youth and professionals in the area, including Jean Marie River.

On the highway the team didn't find many species that will cause a problem. Most aren't invasive and haven't moved into the forest, said Bazely.

The team is using Fort Simpson as an indicator of what's happening in communities farther south. As they go north the team expects to find fewer non-indigenous plants but aren't sure that will be the case.

"There's been very little research done on this kind of thing," she said.

The information that's discovered will be reported back to the communities through newsletters, said Bazley.

One high school student from Fort Simpson will be getting a first hand look at the research. Ramona Menicoche will be travelling with the team to the other three communities as an assistant.

"I'm enjoying the opportunity to learn," said Menicoche.

Menicoche said she's been learning about identifying plants, the proper treatment of specimens and networking. Most of the information is new to her.

"I'd never even thought about the grass," she said.