The Réserve écologique André-Linteau (André-Linteau Ecological Reserve) is an

ecological reserve A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, funga, or features of geologic ...

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

, Canada. It protects a high quality forest of white pine growing beside the

Ottawa River The Ottawa River (, ) is a river in the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec. It is named after the Algonquin word "to trade", as it was the major trade route of Eastern Canada at the time. For most of its length, it defines the border betw ...

Location

The Réserve écologique André-Linteau is located in the northwest of the

Outaouais Outaouais (, ; also commonly called The Outaouais) is a region of western Quebec, Canada. It includes the city of Gatineau, the municipality of Val-des-Monts, the municipality of Cantley, Quebec, Cantley and the Papineau Regional County Municipal ...

region in the

Pontiac Regional County Municipality Pontiac () is a regional county municipality in the Outaouais region of Quebec, Canada. Campbell's Bay is the county seat. It should not be confused with the municipality of Pontiac, which is located in the neighbouring Les Collines-de-l'Outaoua ...

, northwest of the municipality of

Rapides-des-Joachims Rapides-des-Joachims is a municipality and village in western Quebec, Canada, part of Pontiac County in the Outaouais region. The village is situated on Rapides-des-Joachims Island (''l'île de Rapides-des-Joachims'') on the Ottawa River, about ...

. It has an area of . It is roughly rectangular, bounded by Ferris Brook to the northwest, the Ottawa River to the southwest and southeast, and a straight line to the northeast. It is an Ecological reserve with

IUCN protected area categories IUCN protected area categories, or IUCN protected area management categories, are categories used to classify protected areas in a system developed by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). The enlisting of such areas is part ...

IA (Strict Nature Reserve), designated in 1993. The reserve is named after André Linteau (1910–66), the first doctor of

silviculture Silviculture is the practice of controlling the growth, composition/structure, as well as quality of forests to meet values and needs, specifically timber production. The name comes from the Latin ('forest') and ('growing'). The study of forests ...

in Quebec. It is one of three ecological reserves in or near the

Dumoine River The Dumoine River is a river in western Quebec with its source in Machin Lake near La Vérendrye Wildlife Reserve. From Dumoine Lake, the river flows almost due south off the Canadian Shield and empties into the Ottawa River, just west of Rapides- ...

watershed, the other two being the Aigle-à-Tête-Blanche Ecological Reserve and the James-Little Ecological Reserve.

Terrain

The region is a

peneplain In geomorphology and geology, a peneplain is a low-relief plain formed by protracted erosion. This is the definition in the broadest of terms, albeit with frequency the usage of peneplain is meant to imply the representation of a near-final (or ...

of hills with elevation of above sea level. The ecological reserve is on a terrace above the

. The bedrock is mostly made up of crystalline

gneiss Gneiss (pronounced ) is a common and widely distributed type of metamorphic rock. It is formed by high-temperature and high-pressure metamorphic processes acting on formations composed of igneous or sedimentary rocks. This rock is formed under p ...

quartzite Quartzite is a hard, non- foliated metamorphic rock that was originally pure quartz sandstone.Essentials of Geology, 3rd Edition, Stephen Marshak, p 182 Sandstone is converted into quartzite through heating and pressure usually related to tecton ...

and

limestone Limestone is a type of carbonate rock, carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material Lime (material), lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different Polymorphism (materials science) ...

. There are covered with glacial tills of varying thickness. The thick sandy and silty surface deposits are mostly recent, formed as terraces at the mouth of the Ferris stream.

Vegetation

The reserve protects a high quality forest of

white pine ''Pinus'', the pines, is a genus of approximately 111 extant tree and shrub species. The genus is currently split into two subgenera: subgenus ''Pinus'' (hard pines), and subgenus ''Strobus'' (soft pines). Each of the subgenera have been further ...

growing on a deposit of thick sand. The site is dominated by white pines, including large diameter trees and excellent regeneration of pines in the gaps, with some occurrences of

red pine ''Pinus resinosa'', known as red pine (also Norway pine in Minnesota), is a pine native to Eastern North America. Description Red pine is a coniferous evergreen tree characterized by tall, straight growth. It usually ranges from in heigh ...

, large-tooth aspen, trembling aspen and

red maple ''Acer rubrum'', the red maple, also known as swamp maple, water maple, or soft maple, is one of the most common and widespread deciduous trees of eastern and central North America. The U.S. Forest Service recognizes it as the most abundant nati ...

. Forests of this type were once common in the region, but are now rare.

Notes

Sources

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:André-Linteau, Réserve écologique Protected areas of Outaouais Protected areas established in 1993 1993 establishments in Quebec