Quebec tree growth rings dating back as more than 200 years show Gaspé snow cover has significantly diminished over past decades, suggest Concordia University researchers in a study that may shed new light on the decline both of caribou herds and hydroelectric forecasts. The tree ring study has given researchers information as far back as 1822, extending the more than 100 years of data kept by local weather stations and hydrographs. And it underlines how climate change has already reshaped the region. “This reconstruction may prove useful for wildlife, fisheries and hydroelectric reservoir management,” reads the study published in the Journal of Hydrology: Regional Studies. By studying tree growth rings in the Ste-Anne River basin, researchers say they observed a reduction beginning in 1937 in extreme spring river flows and snow levels, which they attribute to climate change.