The ecological diversity of Ontario is outstanding, sustained as it is by a landscape of more than a million square kilometres spanning more than 1600 kilometres in length and breadth. Ontario has a maritime coast of 1400 kilometres, the most extensive wetlands in North America, the boreal forests of the Canadian Shield, and the northern half of the largest freshwater lakes in the world, the Great Lakes.
Along Lake Erie, rich deciduous forests with tulip tree, magnolia and chestnut still persist, where the frost free period is over 170 days. In the zone of continuous permafrost and tundra along Hudson Bay, the frost free period is less than 75 days. The rugged Precambrian Canadian Shield is flanked on the north and south by the Palaeozoic bedrocks of the Hudson Bay and St. Lawrence lowlands.
Over a quarter million lakes and innumerable streams dissect diverse terrains, with elevations ranging from sea level to 700 metres above sea level. The largest wetland systems on the continent permeate the James Bay and Hudson Bay basins. The province's system of protected areas spans more than 77,000 square kilometres.
Ontario's four major forest regions support a rich and diverse array of biological forms, including over 3,000 species of vascular plants, thousands of nonvascular plants (mosses, liverworts, fungi, lichens, and algae), 460 birds,80 mammals, 167 butterflies and skippers, 58 reptiles and amphibians, 165 freshwater fish,133 freshwater molluscs, and thousands of other invertebrates.
In December 1993, the Natural Heritage Information Centre (NHIC) was officially opened as a joint venture between the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources, Nature Conservancy Canada, Natural Heritage League, and The NatureConservancy. The NHIC joins 67 other programs throughout the Western Hemisphere, known as the Biodiversity Information Network (BIN), that employ similar methodology and technology to track imperiled species and spaces.
The NHIC compiles, maintains and provides information on rare, threatened and endangered species and spaces in Ontario. This information is stored in a central repository containing a computerized database, map files and an information library, which are accessible for conservation applications, land-use planning, and protected areas planning, acquisition, and management.
The centre's goal is to generate a permanent and dynamic atlas and databank on the distribution, character, and conservation status of natural areas, critical flora and fauna, communities and special features in Ontario.
The NHIC compiles data from all available outside sources, such as atlas projects, naturalist groups, universities, museums, and inventory/monitoring programs by public and private sector agencies and organizations. These data are acquired and checked by staff biologists Wasyl Bakowsky, Mike Oldham, and Don Sutherland. For example, a text file of the Rare Vascular Plant Atlas data for Ontario from the National Museum of Canada was acquired, converted into a database format and is now being checked by staff.
These diverse data are brought together and maintained in the Biological and Conservation Data System (BCD) by George Van Drunen and Pete Sorrill. The centre will share data within the Biodiversity Information Network. Envisioned in the early 1970's by Bob Jenkins of The Nature Conservancy, this information network enables studies, such as range-wide studies of species occurrence or species migration patterns, to incorporate data from across regional boundaries.
Within a couple of years, data compilation work by the centre will produce a more comprehensive picture of Ontario's biodiversity than has ever been available before.
The centre's information products will be used to help guide biodiversity conservation activities by public and private sector conservation organizations.
The NHIC provides support for numerous biodiversity conservation and planning applications, including:
Funding provided by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Nature Conservancy Canada, in partnership with the Richard Ivey Foundation, Ontario Heritage Foundation, and Carolinian Canada Program.
For the Natural Heritage Information Centre logo, we chose the Lakeside Daisy, a globally endangered plant species which has most of its world range in Ontario. This plant is also a very attractive wildflower which occurs in a distinctive and unusual habitat, alvar. The majority of this habitat type in the Great Lakes region is found in Ontario.
Lakeside Daisy (Hymenoxys acaulis var. glabra) is, from a global perspective, one of Ontario's rarest plants. The current world distribution of this showy member of the sunflower or daisy family (Compositae or Asteraceae) is limited to Ontario and a single site in northern Ohio. It formerly grew in two Illinois counties, but has now been eliminated at both sites. In Ontario, the Lakeside Daisy grows at five sites on the Bruce Peninsula (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 1990), and in at least a dozen spots on the south shore of Manitoulin Island (Morton and Venn, 1984). In the United States, the Lakeside Daisy is listed as Federally Threatened and is protected under the U.S. Endangered Species Act (Corin, 1988). A recovery plan has been prepared for the United States (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 1990), which proposes reestablishment of the species in Illinois. In Canada Lakeside Daisy receives no legal protection, although it appears on the rare species lists for Ontario (Argus et al., 1982-1987) and Canada (Argus and Pryer, 1990).
Lakeside Daisy (or Rubberweed, as it is sometimes called in Ontario) is a showy, spring-blooming, perennial which arises from a short, thick taproot. It has dark green basal
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Plant taxonomists have changed the name of Lakeside Daisy several times since it was first described in 1867. Until recently, it was considered a variety of a widespread western species, Hymenoxys acaulis; however, Cusick (1991) elevated it to the species level as Hymenoxys herbacea, presenting geographic, morphologic and genetic evidence for considering it a distinct species. Throughout its history this plant has also been known as Actinella scaposa var. glabra, Tetraneuris herbacea, Actinea herbacea, and Actinea scaposa var. glabra. The common name, Lakeside Daisy, refers to the town of Lakeside, Ohio, near the sole remaining U.S. population.
Cusick (1991) speculates that the ancestors of Lakeside Daisy migrated from further west into the Great Lakes region during the Xerothermic interval, a drier period about 8,000 years ago. During this time, many drought-tolerant western and southeastern species expanded into this region, forming fairly extensive areas of prairie vegetation. This eastern extension of a mostly midwestern vegetation type has been referred to as "the prairie peninsula". Lakeside Daisy probably became physically and genetically isolated from its ancestors when more humid weather conditions developed in the midwest about 4,000 years ago.During 1994, NHIC biologists will be surveying the Ontario Lakeside Daisy populations to obtain accurate location, population size, habitat, and management information, in order to prepare a COSEWIC (Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada) status report on this rare species.
Literature Cited
Argus, G.W., and K.M. Pryer. 1990. Rare vascular plants in Canada: our natural
heritage. Canadian Museum of Nature, Ottawa. 191 pp.
Argus, G.W., K.M. Pryer, D.J. White, and C.J. Keddy, editors. 1982-1987. Atlas of the rare
vascular plants of Ontario. Four parts. National Museum of Natural Sciences, Ottawa. Looseleaf.
Belcher, J.W., and P.A. Keddy. 1992. Protecting alvar vegetation: will the sum of the parts
equal the whole? Pages 327-331, in "Science and the management of protected areas", J.H.M.
Willison et al., editors. Developments in Landscape Management and Urban Planning 7, Elsevier,
Amsterdam.
Belcher, J.W., P.A. Keddy, and P.M. Catling. 1992. Alvar vegetation in Canada: a multivariate
description at two scales. Canadian Journal of Botany 70:1279-1291.
Corin, C.W. 1988. Protection extended to three plants. Endangered Species Technical Bulletin
13(6-7):1.
Cusick, A.W. 1991. Hymenoxys herbacea (Asteraceae): an endemic species of the Great Lakes
region. Rhodora 93:238-241.
Morton, J.K., and J.M. Venn. 1984. The flora of Manitoulin Island. Second revised edition.
University of Waterloo Biology Series No. 28, Waterloo. 106 pp.
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. 1990. Recovery plan for the lakeside daisy (Hymenoxys acaulis
var. glabra). U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Twin Cities, Minnesota. 82 pp.
| Wood Poppy (Stylophorum diphyllum) is an attractive, yellow-flowered, spring-blooming wildflower. It is known in Ontario only from two populations in the London area, and is considered Endangered in Canada by COSEWIC, and is ranked as an S1 by the NHIC. |
A preliminary list of rare vascular plants to be tracked by the NHIC has been completed. The list is divided into two parts, an "active list" containing 506 of Ontario's rarest plants, each species generally having fewer than 20 recent records, and a "watch list" of 112 species with generally between 20 and 100 recent Ontario records. The list is now under review by botanical experts. The NHIC rare vascular plant list gives the scientific name, common name, family name, global rank (determined by The Nature Conservancy), Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC) status, rarity in Canada (determined by the Canadian Museum of Nature), Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources status, rarity in Ontario (determined by the Canadian Museum of Nature), and a provincial rank (determined by the NHIC). Copies of the NHIC rare vascular plant list are available on request.
As a service to the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources field staff, the NHIC is considering offering a vascular plant identification service. Time and resources permitting, NHIC biologists will identify pressed and labelled samples of vascular plants collected in Ontario. This service may be useful to MNR staff conducting wetland evaluations, ANSI inventories, sample plots, etc.. A charge may be levied for private sector clients or for large numbers of specimens. Contact the NHIC for further details.
It has been more than a decade since the first part of the Canadian Museum of Nature's Atlas of the Rare Vascular Plants of Ontario appeared in 1982. This valuable publication has been of great benefit to the botanical and conservation community in Ontario. As part of its mandate to track rare plant occurrences in the province, the NHIC plans to update the Rare Plant Atlas. We are very interested in hearing from any botanists who know of rare plant species in places not mapped by the Rare Plant Atlas, or recent records of rare plants in areas which are only mapped in the Atlas as historic records. Contact the NHIC to submit records or for further information.
Encouraged by recent discoveries of Pumpkin Ash (Fraxinus profunda) in northern Ohio and southern Michigan, several botanists in southwestern Ontario kept an eye out for this species during 1993 fieldwork. The result was the discovery of at least a dozen sites in the counties of Essex, Kent, and Elgin for this tree, unknown in Canada until 1992. In Essex County, Gerry Waldron found Pumpkin Ash in several locations, and in Kent County, Mary Gartshore found it to be one of the dominant trees in wooded sloughs at Rondeau. Mike Oldham found several additional sites in Essex, Kent and Elgin Counties. Look for Pumpkin Ash in wooded swamps in southwestern Ontario. The best identification feature seems to be the fruits or samaras. Samaras with a width greater than about 7 to 7.5 mm are likely to be Pumpkin Ash. Narrower fruit probably indicates Red Ash (F. pennsylvanica) or another ash species. Also, any ash with a samara longer than about 5.5 cm is very likely to be Pumpkin Ash (Tony Reznicek, pers. comm.). The NHIC would be interested in hearing about any new Ontario sites for Pumpkin Ash. These should be documented with a pressed sample of leaves, twigs, and fruits.
Communities may be considered as "a set of species populations that occur in some place" (Schoener, 1986). Alternatively, communities could be thought of as assemblages of living organisms in their environment, and the interactions that occur between them. Included are the biotic features (plants, animals, bacteria, fungi, viruses etc.), and the abiotic features (atmosphere, water, soil and rock). Together, these features interact, creating new conditions, and consequently new interactions.
The concept of the community varies with a number of factors, including scale and perception. For example, at a large scale, say that of the solar system, one could recognize the community of the third planet from the sun as an "Earth" community (a.k.a. Gaia, Terra). At a smaller scale, for example a tree, one could observe an arboreal communitywith a number of inter-linked organisms sharing space and processes; ecosystem components here include the tree, insects, birds, and lichens and mosses on the bank.
There has been a continuing controversy between ecologists of the European and North American schools of plant ecology over the structure of communities. Do vegetation communities occur as discrete entities (sensu Braun-Blanquet, 1928; Daubenmire, 1966) or as assemblages of species which have individual responses to the environment, but which may frequently overlap due to similarities of habitat and grow together in recurring aggregations (sensu Gleason, 1926; Whittaker, 1962)?
Philisophical viewpoints aside, one of the most important roles for the NHIC is to assess and protect the biodiversity of Ontario's ecological communities. To do this requires an organized system of recognition, classification and inventory. In this way, we can determine what and how many natural heritage elements we have. We need to protect examples of all the community types which are present, starting with the rarest which are most prone to extirpation or extinction. Community rarity may be due to a variety of factors, including development, succession, catastrophic natural phenomena, etc.
The NHIC is cooperating with the MNR in its program to develop an Ecological Land Classification (ELC) system for southern Ontario. Such a system will provide a standardized approach in the recognition of ecological communities, their description and characterization, as well as their distribution. An inititial classification is being developed based on existing qualitative community surveys. This preliminary classification will then be used as a basis for the selection of sampling sites, which will be quantitatively sampled in 1994 and 1995. The community datasets will then be analyzed using computational methods, including ordination and numerical classification. The final result will be catalogue of "The Natural Community Types of Southern Ontario" (Lee, 1993).
In order for the classification to be both sufficiently detailed that it recognizes rare or unique communities, and broad enough that it not be too confusing, an hierarchical approach will be taken. Communities are recognized both at regional levels, such as Great Lakes - St. Lawrence Forest, and as more local units, such as Oak-Hickory Slope Forest on Dry Sand. Although a systematic community survey is just beginning, we already know that a number of community types are rare in southern Ontario. These include bogs, fens, Great Lakes shoreline meadow fens (Riley, 1988), prairies , oak savannahs, prairie fens (Gore and Storrie Ltd., 1993), alvars (Catling et. al., 1975) and Pitch Pine igneous rock barrens (Sutherland, pers. comm.).
Information on these community types is stored, maintained and updated in the BCD, where they are listed under a number of file types, including the Community Element Occurrence, Sight Basic Record, and Managed Area files. These files allow the NHIC to track occurrences of rare communities, their condition, quality, and other significant information.
The status, distribution, composition, and characteristics of these rare community types will be reviewed in forthcoming editions of this newsletter, along with other information such as reports on significant community discoveries, acquisitions, etc.
Literature cited:
Braun-Blanquet, J. 1928. Pflanzensoziologie. Springer-Verlag, 1st ed., Berlin.
165 pp.
Catling, P.M., Cruise, J.E., McIntosh, K.L. and McKay, S.M. 1975. Alvar vegetation in
southern Ontario. Ontario Field Biologist 29:1-25. Daubenmire, R.F. 1966. Vegetation: identification of typcial communities.
Science 151:291-298. Gleason, H.A. 1926. The individualistic concept of the plant association. Bulletin of the
Torrey Botanical Club 53:7-26. Gore and Storrie Limited. 1993. A review and assessment of prairie, oak savannah and woodland
in Site Regions 7 and 6 (Southern Region). Draft. Prepared for OMNR, Southern Region. Lee, H.T. 1993. Ecological Land Classification (ELC): Southern Region Draft Prospectus,
May 1. OMNR Science and Technology Transfer Unit and the Southern Region ELC Working Group. Riley, J.L. 1988. Southern Ontario bogs and fens off the Canadian Shield. P. 355-367, in M.J.
Bardecki and N. Patterson (eds.) "Wetlands Conference: Inertia or Momentum". FON / Ryerson
Polytechnical Institute. Schoener, T.W. 1986. Kinds of Ecological Communities - Ecology Becomes Pluralistic.
p. 467 - 480. in Community Ecology. 1986. Diamond, J. and T.J. Case (eds.). Harper and Row
Publishers, New York. 665 pp. Sutherland, D.A. Personal communication, 7 March, 1994. Whittaker, R.H. 1962. Classification of natural communities. Botanical Review 28:1-239.
Initial work has centred around the review of existing information for vertebrates and invertebrates contained in the BCD. These include birds, mammals, freshwater fishes, butterflies and freshwater molluscs. Ranks for elements in these groups have been reassessed and where necessary revised, to reflect current status and distributional information.The ranks reflect the most recent alterations to the ranking protocols provided by TNC's Science Division, and better articulate annual and seasonal variations in status, particularly for those species which are transient or of irregular occurrence in the province.
Elements contained in the BCD, including the number in parentheses of those ranked S1, S2, S3, SH and SX, which are actively tracked, presently number: 459 birds (88); 80 mammals (27); 165
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one of Canada's smallest turtles, is found only in southern Ontario and southern Quebec. It occurs in wetlands, often in small numbers, and is vulnerable to collecting for the pet trade, and loss of its wetland habitat. The COSEWIC considers this a vulnerable species in Canada, and the NHIC ranks it as S3 in Ontario. |
Beyond this initial reassessment of existing element ranks, lists have been developed for other selected invertebrate groups. Groups for which an element list has already been developed, include: orthopterans (116 species of grasshoppers and crickets), Odonata (156 species of dragonflies and damselflies), Terrestrial Molluscs (99 species of landsnails), and Decapod Crustaceans (9 species of crayfish). These lists will first be forwarded to TNC's Eastern Regional Science Division in Boston to receive element codes, global ranks and associated information, after which they will be assigned provincial ranks (S-ranks), and then circulated for comment and review.
Future development of element lists for other invertebrates will be directed at those groups which are sufficiently well-known, either through critical scientific study by experts or due to the attention given to them by dedicated amateur collectors, that the status of each species may be characterized with some certainty. Future efforts in this regard will include such groups as tiger beetles, leafhoppers, and freshwater leeches.
Plans for fieldwork in 1994 include faunal surveys of such globally rare or imperiled community types as the limestone alvars of Pelee Island, Manitoulin Island and the Belleville, Smith's Falls and Ottawa areas, as well as specific searches at Long Point for species such as the Least Shrew, Cryptotis parva, last confirmed there in 1941.
Rare species and communities represent important components of Ontario's natural heritage. A rare species or community is one that exists in low numbers or in very restricted areas in the region under consideration, often because of its biological characteristics, or occurrence at the edge of its range (Argus et al., 1982-1987).
There are differing degrees or interpretations of rarity. For example, a species or community occurring at only one location is rarer than something known from 10 sites. The NHIC uses a ranking scheme developed by TNC which distinguishes levels of rarity to provide a systematic approach to conservation planning.Information on the relative rarity of species and spaces is important to government agencies and planning authorities looking to avoid or minimize land use impacts on rare species and spaces. This information is also used to evaluate those species and spaces which are in greatest need of protection, or which sites should be targeted for protection by conservation organizations. In other words, this information is used to select "the last of the least, and the best of the rest" (The Nature Conservancy).
Provincial levels of rarity are determined through the use of 'S' ranks ('S' is an acronym for sub-national, in this case, Ontario). These ranks are assigned to elements (species and communities) on the basis of their known provincial distribution and abundance. The following ranks are recognized:
Other ranks are also recognized, such as S4 and S5. These are assigned to species which are considered to be apparently secure in the Province with many occurrences, or demonstrably secure in the Province and essentially ineradicable under present conditions respectively.
Initially, a preliminary ranking is applied to rare elements by the NHIC. These draft lists are then sent to experts for comment. Replies are reviewed by the NHIC, and incorporated into a revised 'S' list, which are then adopted for use by the Centre. It is important to remember that element ranking is an ongoing process, requiring continual revision as new occurrences are discovered, or as old ones are lost.
Information at the NHIC is currently stored in three inter-related filing systems: manual files, topographic map files, and computer files. This article deals with the computer files, which are accessed through the Biological and Conservation Data System (BCD).
The BCD is a product of The Nature Conservancy, based in Arlington, VA. It is a PC-based application created using the database language Advanced Revelation. It is menu-driven, with error-checking, report generation, data integrity enforcement, and user-customization features.
The BCD is composed of the following files:
A group of files which define the fundamental "elements" of biodiversity: plants, animals, community types, and special features in Ontario. These include the Element Tracking file which will contain a record for every element that occurs in the province, the Global/National/Provincial Ranking files, the Global/National/Provincial Characterization Abstracts containing natural history information for each element, and the Element Stewardship (management) Abstracts.
The main body of the data system, containing detailed information on the locations of rare elements, as well as their condition, management and conservation.
A group of files which contain information on land parcels of interest to the NHIC. This includes: the Managed Areas files dealing with areas of land protected in some way (e.g. parks); the Sites files containing information on areas of significant biodiversity to target for protection; and the Tracts files containing land ownership information.
A recent addition to the BCD containing information on biological, ecological or environmental monitoring programs of the NHIC or cooperating agencies, and providing the capability to track changes in status over time.
A computerized bibliography of all information sources used in populating the various database records.
An electronic "rolodex" of information on individuals and organizational contacts.
Much of the information in the above article was obtained from the Saskatchewan Conservation Data Centre Newsletter (Winter 1992), and is used with permission.
The NHIC is gearing up for 1994 fieldwork in selected areas of southern Ontario. Fieldwork will be aimed at gathering detailed information on critical rare plant occurrences for mapping and input into the BCD. Current plans target fieldwork at Manitoulin Island, Long Point, Windsor, Pelee Island, Bruce Peninsula, and some central and eastern Ontario alvars.
The NHIC is working with the Canadian Museum of Nature's Atlas of the Rare Vascular Plants of Ontario database. This large database contains over 12,000 records of rare plant occurrences in Ontario, compiled under the direction of Dr. George Argus of the Canadian Museum of Nature during the Museum's rare plant project. The NHIC is checking this database for geographic accuracy, and subdividing it according to MNR District boundaries. The information will then be mapped using GIS and provided to MNR District offices for use in land use planning and biodiversity protection programs. MNR field staff will be better able to steer development away from critical rare plant sites.
In co-operation with local naturalists and staff and students at Trent University, the NHIC is working on a flora of Peterborough County. With summer student assistance, we plan to computerize the herbarium at Trent University and gather background information on plant species occurrence in Peterborough County. Fieldwork by NHIC biologists, Trent University staff and students, and local naturalists will be focused on visiting a variety of interesting botanical sites throughout the County to collect plant species lists. Data will be computerized and a preliminary checklist will be produced for next year's Federation of Ontario Naturalists' annual conference to be held at Trent University. Anyone with information on vascular plant occurrence in Peterborough County is invited to contact the NHIC.
As part of its role in the Biodiversity Information Network, the NHIC is contributing information to be used in the preparation of the first-ever world list of threatened plants. The NHIC is reviewing printouts of rare plants generated by The Nature Conservancy's head office in Arlington, Virginia, for inclusion in the book. The book is scheduled to be in print before the end of 1994. Watch this space for updates.
Wasyl is the NHIC's Community Ecologist. He studied vegetation community composition (phytosociology) of common juniper communities near Thunder Bay, Ontario, for his Honours Thesis, and the phytosociology of midwestern savannah communities in the Carolinian Zone for his Masters Thesis. Upon graduation, Wasyl worked in the consulting field for a number of years, gaining experience in plant taxonomy, community description and mapping. His work has taken him to many parts of the province, including southern, central and northern Ontario. Wasyl is now applying his experience and skills to further the NHIC's mandate, and is currently determining the status of rare community types in southern Ontario.
Gartshore, M.E., D.A. Sutherland and J.D. McCracken. 1987. Haldimand-Norfolk Natural Areas Inventory. Norfolk Field Naturalists, Simcoe, Ontario. 2 vol.
Currently in its third printing, this two-volume publication reports the results of a two-year program of intensive fieldwork. The first volume details the 63 natural areas and significant sites identified in the region, and the second provides annotated lists of the region's vascular plants, butterflies, fishes, herpetofauna, breeding birds, and mammals. Copies of this publication are available from: Norfolk Field Naturalists, Box 995, Simcoe, Ontario, N3Y 5B3 ($50.00, postage paid).
Heagy, Audrey E. (ed.). 1993. Hamilton-Wentworth Natural Areas Inventory, Vol. II:
Site Summaries. x + 352 pp.
Vol. II provides concise descriptions and assessments of the biophysical features of 92 natural areas and significant sites in the Regional Municipality of Hamilton-Wentworth. Vol. I (available August, 1994) will provide background information and an overview of the biophysical attributes of the region, including annotated checklists for vascular plants, butterflies, fishes, amphibians and reptiles, breeding birds, and mammals. Copies may be obtained from: Hamilton Naturalists' Club, c/o Wolfgang Luft, 5045 Pinedale Ave., Burlington, Ontario, L7L 5J6, (905) 681-2276 ($60.00)
Internationally-acclaimed artist Liz Lesperance for designing our logo!
Thanks also go to Peterborough-based artist, Peter Burke for his fine art work in this issue