The provincial government of Quebec (French: gouvernement provincial du Québec) is the body responsible for the administration of the Canadian province of Quebec. A constitutional monarchy, the Crown is the corporation sole, assuming distinct roles: the executive, as the Crown-in-Council; the legislature, as the Crown-in-Parliament; and the courts, as the Crown-on-the-Bench. The powers of the Crown are exercised on behalf of three institutions—the Executive Council (Cabinet); the National Assembly; and the judiciary, respectively.The term Government of Quebec (French: Gouvernement du Québec) can refer to either the collective set of all three institutions, or more specifically to the executive—ministers of the Crown (the Executive Council) of the day, and the non-political staff within each provincial department or agency, i.e. the civil services, whom the ministers direct—which corporately brands itself as the Gouvernement du Québec, or more formally, Her Majesty's Government (French: Gouvernement de Sa Majesté).In both senses, the current construct was established when the province joined Confederation in 1867. Quebec is a secondary jurisdiction of Canada, a constitutional monarchy with a parliamentary democracy in the Westminster tradition; a Premier—presently François Legault of the Coalition Avenir Québec—is the head of government and is invited by the Crown to form a government after securing the confidence of the National Assembly, typically determined through the election of enough members of the National Assembly (MNAs) of a single political party in a election to provide a majority of seats, forming a governing party or coalition. The sovereign is Queen Elizabeth II, Canada's head of state, who is represented provincially in Quebec by the lieutenant governor, presently J. Michel Doyon..
Projected global changes are anticipated to alter the fire regimes within boreal ecosystems. Understanding the relationship between fire activity and climate change requires a long-term dataset of annual burned area. Currently, there are only a limited number of long-term fire histories derived from detailed fieldwork. In this study, we used a spatially explicit reconstruction of forest fires from 1890 to 2024 across boreal Quebec based on historical forest maps, satellite images, and more than 3500 fire scars and 4800 establishment trees. Over the past 135 years, the fire regime has been marked by numerous minor seasons, punctuated by a few major ones, including those between 1915-1923, 1941 and, more recently, 2023. Our results indicate that severe droughts more than temperature have been the main driver of major fire seasons. Our findings indicate that a long-term record of fires provides a clearer understanding of how temperature increases, and precipitation deficits interact to influence the extent of burned areas. An increase in the intensity of climate change in the future is expected to further disturb the frequency of occurrence of major fire seasons.
Soil acidification, a major issue responsible for cropland degradation, can be efficiently addressed by forest-derived alkaline residues. However, indirect effect of these by-products on phosphorus (P) forms and their availability to crops is not well recognized in temperate acidic soils. Using the Hedley fractionation procedure, a study was conducted to characterize the P forms, after a 40-week laboratory incubation, of a gleyed clay and a podzolized sandy loam soils, each receiving six different forest materials and a calcitic lime. Lime mud, two types of wood ash ( papermill biosolids and wood bark), two biochars (maple and pine), and a de-inking paper sludge were applied at a CaCO3 equivalence-based rate to achieve a target pH of 6.5 in each soil. Results indicated that all liming materials decreased organic P (Po) in both soils. However, the inorganic P (Pi) fractions reacted differently depending on soil. For the clay, there was a shift of P from organic pools (NaHCO3-Po and NaOH-Po) and NaOH-Pi toward NaHCO3-Pi, an available P form for crops. For the sandy loam, P from organic pools and NaHCO3-Pi moved toward stable pools (HCl-P+ residual P), mostly associated with Ca. This redistribution of P was largely associated with the soil pH increases. Apart from pH, wood ash also contributed to increase soil total Pi owing to their P content. By contrast, pine biochar had minimal effect on soil P fractions. We conclude that addition of forest alkaline residues to cropland improved soil pH and also modified the P availability to plants.
BACKGROUND AND AIMS:Successful regeneration depends on the reproductive traits and adaptations of species to the local environment. Rapid climate change is altering the fire regime in boreal regions, affecting the reproductive potential and potentially reshaping forest composition. We use the wide latitudinal gradient of the boreal forest to assess how reproductive traits respond to climate. We test whether and why populations from contrasting latitudes differ in reproductive traits due to seed resource allocation strategies. METHODS:This study assessed variability in reproductive traits among five populations of black spruce (Picea mariana (Mill.) B.S.P.) ranging from 48 to 53° parallels in Quebec, Canada. We tested differences in cone and seed traits, germination performance, and seed biochemical composition. KEY RESULTS:Compared to northern sites, southern sites had bigger seeds (14% longer and 16% wider) and 50% more seeds per cone (45 vs 30). Seed mass and wing loading decreased with latitude. A higher nutrient content, especially sucrose (5.8 vs. 2.6 mg·g-1) and phytic acid (8.74 vs. 0.93 mg·g-1), was detected in the southern sites, which also showed a higher germination rate (13%). Northern sites had lower germination rates (9%) and seeds dominated by starch (0.94 mg·g-1). Northern sites required higher temperatures to open their cones than southern sites (≥ 55.1 vs. 48.9 °C). Reproductive traits indicate a shift in resource allocation, with southern sites producing larger, nutrient-rich seeds that promote rapid establishment, while smaller, starch-dominated seeds in northern sites are associated with dispersal capacity. CONCLUSIONS:Our results reflect trade-off between seed dispersal and persistence in regeneration, supporting a moving-or-staying dilemma in black spruce. Latitudinal variation in seed traits represents ecological adaptations to the local environment. Understanding the reproductive ability of species is critical for predicting the responses of black spruce to future climate for planning adaptive forest management of boreal stands.
BACKGROUND:Whether granulocytes for transfusion are beneficial remains uncertain, although some evidence suggests that efficacy may be dose-related. Granulocytes are mostly produced by apheresis procedure, but other means of production are increasingly used. METHODS:Centers that produce and/or use granulocytes were recruited through the BEST Collaborative and completed a detailed survey of granulocyte manufacture, specifications, clinical use, operational considerations, and data collection initiatives. RESULTS:Fifteen national, regional, and local producers and/or users of granulocytes were included. Granulocytes were produced from apheresis procedure (n = 10), pooled buffy coats (n = 2), single buffy coats (n = 4) or pooling of residual leukocyte units from whole blood processing (n = 1). The mean adult dose of granulocytes reported was 1.6 to 3.7 × 1010 for apheresis, and 1.8 to 2.2 × 1010 for pooled buffy coat granulocytes. For apheresis procedure donations, donor stimulation included steroids and/or granulocyte colony-stimulating factor. Centers providing whole blood-derived granulocytes reported shorter times from request to delivery than those using apheresis procedure products. Indications and product selection criteria were similar. The most frequently reported challenges with granulocytes were donor availability for apheresis procedure (n = 7), short shelf life (n = 5) and lack of evidence of efficacy (n = 5). The cost of one unit of apheresis procedure granulocytes ranged from 568 to 7500 PPP-USD, and for one pooled buffy coat unit was from 2208 to 2822 PPP-USD. CONCLUSIONS:We have highlighted differences in granulocyte production that are relevant for the design and interpretation of much needed international clinical studies.
