Montreal - Montreal Biodome
Originally constructed in 1976 as a velodrome for the 1976 Olympic Games, the Montreal Biodome is now an indoor nature exhibition. Visitors can walk through replicas of four eco-systems found in the Americas.
The Tropical forest is a reproduction of the South American rainforests with a river landscape, caves, young forest and dense mature plant life. 130 species of animal and almost 300 different plants are housed in the 2600 square metre replication. The temperature here is kept at 25 to 28°C during the day and 21 to 22°C at night so is a nice place to visit during a Montreal winter.
The Laurentian Forest – The landscape here is based on the Quebec forests, St. Lawrence River area and surrounding wilderness. Through the year the climate inside, changes with the seasons to mimic the conditions in northern latitudes. Beavers, otters and the Canadian Lynx can be seen here along with Montreal’s official bird – the American Goldfinch.
The St. Lawrence Marine ecosystem – This bio-system is based on the Gulf of St. Lawrence estuary although the climate inside the biodome is milder than in the natural world. Visitors can walk through an underwater observatory that holds 2.5 million litres of home made seawater to view the numerous resident species of fish.
Arctic and Antarctic zone – You may want to wrap up warm when visiting the polar replicas in the Biozone. The Arctic replica features the craggy steep cliffs of the Labrador coastline and is home to the Atlantic Puffin. The Antarctic reconstruction is colder at around 2-5°C and has a collection of Penguins unique to Canada.
http://www2.ville.montreal.qc.ca/biodome/site/site.php?langue=en
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