Montreal's Biodome

The best way to understand an ecosystem is to experience it firsthand. Most people will never have an opportunity to visit some of Earth's most sensitive and important habitats, such as tropical rain forests or the Arctic. Zoological parks can educate the public by showing plants and animals in simulated natural environments. I recently visited Montreal's Biodôme, which recreates four important habitats found in the Americas.

Beginning with the most exotic, a South American rain forest, the tour progresses through a Laurentian forest indigenous to the Montreal area, a St. Lawrence marine ecosystem and, finally, the cold habitats found in the Subarctic (Labrador's Atlantic Coast) and Antarctica. Each exhibit presents not only interesting wildlife, but also richly diverse flora. A search of the plant database shows 133 species records for the Laurentian forest, 34 for the St. Lawrence marine ecosystem and 121 for the tropical forest (each online record, along with those in the animal database, presents excellent descriptive information and a drawing of the organism).

Each microhabitat features a few large animals, such as capybaras and Yacar caimans in the jungle, lynx and river otter in the woods with freshwater fish in an adjoining large aquarium, black guillemots and common eiders on the synthetic rocky shoreline, puffins and auks in the Arctic and several penguin species in the Antarctic (the penguins can be viewed on web cam). 

The Biodôme also houses several endangered species and participates in conservation programs. Hyacinth macaws and golden lion tamarins live in the rainforest exhibit as part of captive populations, which may help these species survive. The Biodôme participates in a program to reintroduce individuals into the wild, preserve natural habitat and eradicate illegal trade in the species. Closer to home, the Laurentian and St. Lawrence exhibits house species threatened in Quebec: two fishes (striped bass and copper redhorse), wood turtle, wild leek and American ginseng. The Biodôme's participation in conservation programs for these species is described on the web site.

Ironically, the simulated indigenous habitats are the most unusual. Every zoo boasts a few penguins or crocodiles, or an apiary full of scarlet ibises and spoonbills. Setting up a few crowd pleasers was a good strategy for the Biodôme, which opened in 1992. 

Exhibits of our own North American forests, wetlands and sea coasts are rarer. Montreal's Biodôme does a good job of making these equally beautiful and interesting. It's an important undertaking. We often wave the flag of Earth consciousness over distant conservation issues, and forget that the hard work of protecting biodiversity begins right around our own cities and waterways.