Backroads Bill in Gros Morne National Park, Newfoundland

Backroads Bill ventured to Bond May Marine Station in Gros Morne Park, Newfoundland, to study not only its beautiful, rugged terrain, but to get a sense of Newfoundland's moose population, which has dramatically increased recently.

Bill was accompanied by Dr. Peter Nosko, an associate professor of environmental science at Nipissing University.

Nosko said he enjoys bringing his students to Newfoundland, where they are able to apply their learning to real-world ecological problems.

One of the problems facing that part of the province is the "perfect storm" of conditions that has allowed the park's moose population to explode.

"And because of the moose density here," Nosko said, "forests aren't regenerating properly."

Nosko has been researching moose "browsing" and how their movements across the park affect the way the forest regrows.

Lisa Belanger, a graduate student at Nipissing, said her studies with Professor Nosko center around the nutritional aspects of the moose population.

Specifically, Belanger studies the nutritional quality of what the moose eat. And to accomplish this, Belanger has collected samples of moose droppings.

"We dry out the droppings and perform chemical analyses, looking at fiber content," Belanger said, "which increases through the winter as balsam fir makes up 90 per cent of the moose's winter diet."

That's much higher than the average Ontario moose. In Ontario, balsam is only about ten to twenty per cent of their winter diet.

Belanger said she hopes the data will eventually assist in resource management.

• Listen to Lisa Belanger tell us how she prepares the moose 'samples.'