Benoît Côté

Image by Alex Tran.

Associate Professor

Director, Morgan Arboretum and Molson Nature Reserve

T: 514-398-7952  |  benoit.cote [at] mcgill.ca (Email)  |  Macdonald-Stewart Building, MS2-067A  |  Website 

Degrees

B.Sc.A. Forestry (Université Laval)
PhD Forest Ecology (Université Laval)

Short Bio

Benoît Côté's interest for the forest goes back to his childhood when he would spend his summer vacations at the family cabin in the boreal forest of Quebec. He has fond memories of his interactions with woodsmen that were spending weeks away from their family in remote forest camps. He learned to fish on rivers and lakes covered with wood logs destined for pulp and paper mills. The mosaic of forests left after harvesting was basically his backyard for years. This provided him with a unique opportunity to learn about the complex interactions between wildlife and their habitat and experience first-hand forest dynamics and diversity. His hands-on training came in handy for his studies to become a forest engineer and then for his graduate studies in Canada and the USA. Some 50 years later after his first steps in woods, he is still as curious as he was in his tender years about forest ecosystems. His backyard is even bigger now but the inquiry process remains the same. The questions keep changing but most address the issue of sustainability relating to the maintenance of soil fertility and tree/forest nutrition.

Research Interests

Effects of anthropogenic (human) factors e.g. global climate change, acid rain, forest management on forest nutrition.

Current Research

Professor Côté is currently investigating the potential role of plant silicates on physiological processes associated with shade tolerance, carbon sequestration and alleviation of aluminum and manganese toxicity in trees. He’s also conducting research to assess the potential of forests to store carbon and contribute to the decarbonisation of the construction sector by replacing steel and concrete with very energy efficient wood structure in new buildings.

Courses

WOOD 441 Integrated Forest Management 3 Credits
    Offered in the:
  • Fall
  • Winter
  • Summer


FMT4 015 Forest Management 1.33 Credits
    Offered in the:
  • Fall
  • Winter
  • Summer

Publications

View a list of current publications

Houle D, Paquette A, Côté B, Logan T, Power H, Charron I, Duchesne L 2015. Impacts of climate change on the timing of the production season of maple syrup in eastern Canada. PLOS-ONE DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0144844

D’Orangeville L, Houle D, Duchesne L, Côté B 2015 Can the Canadian drought code predict low soil moisture anomalies in the mineral soil? An analysis of 15 years of soil moisture data from three forest ecosystems in Eastern Canada. Ecophysiology DOI: 10.1002/eco.1627

McMillan C, Côté B, Hendershot WH 2015 Short and long-term nutritional effects and retention of fertilizer-K in a sugar maple stand of southern Quebec. Can. J. For. Res. 10.1139/cjfr-2014-0395

D'Orangeville L, Houle D, Côté B and Duchesne L 2014 Soil response to a 3-year increase in temperature and nitrogen deposition measured in a mature boreal forest using ion-exchange membranes. Environ. Monit. Assess. 186:8191-8202: DOI 10.1007/s10661-014-3997-x

D'Orangeville L, Côté B, Houle D, Whalen J 2013 Reduced mineralizable carbon in a boreal forest soil after three years of artificial warming. Can J Soil Sci 93:567-572

Chen, C-C, Beauregard F, Côté B, Bélanger N, Courchesne F, Hendershot W 2013 Partitioning of the source of leaf calcium of American beech and sugar maple using leaf Ca/Sr ratios: a predominantly surficial but variable depth of Ca uptake. Plant and Soil 373:229-242. DOI 10.1007/s11104-013-1787-9

D'Orangeville L, Côté B, Houle D 2013 Increased soil temperature and atmospheric N deposition have no effect on the N status and growth of a mature balsam fir forest. Biogeosciences 10:4627-4639. DOI10.5194/bg-10-4627-2013

D'Orangeville L, Côté B, Houle D Morin H 2013 A three-year increase in soil temperature and atmospheric N deposition has minor effects on the xylogenesis of mature balsam fir. Trees - Structure and Function 27(6):1525-1536

D'Orangeville L, Côté B, Houle D, Morin H 2013 The effects of throughfall exclusion on xylogenesis of balsam fir. Tree Physiol 33(5):516-526

René W, Côté B, Camiré C, M. Burgess and Fyles JW 2013 Development and application of CVA, DRIS and CND norms for three hybrids of Populus maximowiczii planted in southern Quebec. J Plant Nutr 36:118-142

Bélanger N, Holmden C, Courchesne F, Côté B and Hendershot WH 2012 Constraining soil mineral weathering 87Sr/86Sr for calcium apportionment studies of a deciduous forest growing on soils developed from granitoid igneous rocks. Geoderma 185-186: 84-96

 

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