Cavern Lake Canyon, showing diabase cliffs and talus slopes.
On October 9 and 10, 1996, the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR) Natural Heritage Information Centre (NHIC) and Natural Heritage Section (NHS) held a meeting that included NHIC and NHS staff, ecologists from MNR district and area offices in MNR Southcentral Region, as well as representatives from Southcentral Region Planning, the Federation of Ontario Naturalists (FON) and The Nature Conservancy (U.S.). The main purposes of the meeting were to discuss the ecologists' role in the new MNR organisation, co-ordination of projects, data sharing and improved communications between the various administrative levels, divisions, sections, branches and field offices within the MNR, as well as two important private conservation organizations (both of which are affiliated with the NHIC).
Highlights of the meeting included presentations by Adair Ireland-Smith (Manager, NHS), who gave an overview of the province's natural heritage program and policies, Glenn Holder (Director, MNR Natural Resources Information Management Branch), who spoke on MNR's innovative information technologies for the future, Bill Crins (Ecologist, MNR Southcentral Region), who presented his methodologically-concise gap analysis that will be applied to identifying representative natural heritage areas in the province, and John Riley (Managing Director of Conservation and Environment, FON), who informed the meeting attendees of the many partnerships between the MNR and non-government conservation organisations.
Substantial time at the meeting was allotted for lively discussions among the participants. Discussion topics included implications of the new Provincial Planning Statement (e.g., how no negative impacts are to be demonstrated; the official threatened and endangered species lists; confidentiality of rare species information; vulnerable species and species with high S-ranks), communications within the MNR and with external agencies and the public, central co-ordination of data, and the future of biological inventory work in the province. The meeting's twenty-six action items included a resolution that the ecologists meeting should become an annual event, and that it should include representation from the northern parts of the province. Other noteworthy action item topics included: use of the term supporting landscape in the place of intervening landscape when referring to areas between natural heritage sites; the need for further clarification of the MNR field office role in providing technical advice to municipalities; consideration of the need for some redundancy to be incorporated into the provincial ANSI selection process (i.e., from the point of view of ecological sustainability, it might be prudent to identify more than one provincially significant site to represent specific landform and vegetation patterns); consideration of holding a workshop on gap analysis for natural heritage areas; completion of a confidentiality/access protocol for sensitive natural heritage data; assessment of requirements for the completion of wetland evaluations in the province; assessment of ANSI inventory needs; scoping of a project to analyse the relative importance of various natural area designations (e.g., provincial ANSIs, regional ANSIs, provincially significant wetlands, etc.) to the protection of biodiversity; development of standards for ANSI reports and fact sheets; maintenance of lists of consultants and native species nurseries; the development of an e-mail distribution list to link MNR ecologists, natural heritage specialists and biologists across the province; and Ecological Land Classification workshops for MNR staff.
Cavern Lake Canyon, showing diabase cliffs and talus slopes. |
The arctic-alpine flora of the Lake Superior region is an interesting facet of Ontario's natural heritage. Arctic-alpine here refers to those species which have their principal populations and core ranges in alpine or arctic regions, but also occur elsewhere in open, colder-than-normal microclimates. Near Lake Superior, they are relics from a previous wider distribution of tundra-like vegetation which occurred along the margins of continental ice-sheets that formerly covered the Lake Superior basin.
Approximately 11,500 years ago, this sheet had receded northward, leaving a series of proglacial lakes in its wake. It is assumed that the arctic-alpine species have been able to persist along the shores of these lakes, including present-day Lake Superior, where local microclimates are sufficiently cold to mimic the habitat to which they are adapted (Given and Soper 1981).
In a few instances, these species persist further inland, where a combination of factors result in a specialized cold-producing microclimate, such as are found on the glacière talus in the spectacular gorges at Ouimet Canyon and Cavern Lake Canyon northeast of Thunder Bay.
Talus refers to fragmented rock which has broken away from bedrock surfaces and falls to the base of the bedrock feature, where it accumulates to form a sloping broken rock surface. Glacière talus refers to talus which overlies ice year-round, and is thus cold-producing (T. J. Frest 1996 pers. comm.). In northwestern Ontario, this habitat is rare, and is only known from the floors of these two narrow, vertical-walled canyons.
In the summer of 1996, NHIC biologists were able to conduct fieldwork at Cavern Lake, as part of a broader study investigating natural heritage features in this incompletely-documented region.
At Cavern Lake, the canyon is approximately 100 m wide from cliff to cliff, and about 90 m deep, with cliffs approximately 30 m in height, and talus comprising the remaining 60 m to the bottom. Due to the narrowness of the canyon, the talus which has formed at the bases of the canyon walls has over time covered the whole canyon bottom. The narrowness and depth of the canyon limit the exposure of the canyon bottom to full sunlight, and for much of the day it lies in shadow (Given and Soper, 1981). Cold streams run deep beneath the talus at both Cavern Lake and Ouimet Canyons. Ice has been reported from Ouimet Canyon as late as the first week of August (Barclay et al. 1971). It is possible that these streams contribute to the maintenance of the glacière ice beneath the talus through a heat sink function.
How cool is it along the canyon floor? On the day fieldwork was conducted (June 29, 1996), temperatures in the region hovered near the 30° C mark. However, steady flows of refrigerated air flowed out from the talus crevices, and ice was still visible within the cracks and holes between the rocks. The various descriptions attributed to these sites, such as cooler than normal, fail to adequately describe this local cold microclimate, so invigorating on a hot summer day.
Given and Soper (1981) measured the variation in local microclimate at Cavern Lake during mid-summer, and reported marked temperature gradients near the glacière ice. For example, in the lee of a talus block, 2 m from the ice, the temperature was 20° C, while on the sloping side of the block 1 m from the ice the temperature was 5.5° C. The top of the talus block, 2.4 m from the ice, registered 16° C, and temperatures rose to 24° C on the adjacent talus slope some 16m away, which received full sun exposure.
The retarded flowering dates observed within these canyons is striking, and profuse flowering of various herbs has been observed here as late as October (Barclay et al. 1971).
At Cavern Lake, the glacière talus valley bottom is comprised of talus boulders, varying in size from 0.4 to several metres in diameter, producing a very irregular surface. The smaller boulders and low-lying sections are covered by a moss carpet, while the larger boulders are largely exposed and covered with lichens.
Small Black Spruce (Picea mariana) are scattered along the bottom, along with a few White Birch (Betula papyrifera). Many of the spruce exhibit layering, a method of vegetative reproduction where the lower branches grow into the moss, take root, and eventually form clone trees.
Shrub species present include Labrador Tea (Ledum groenlandicum) and Myrtle-leaved Willow (Salix myrtillifolia). Among the herbaceous species, Arctic Pyrola (Pyrola grandiflora), Alpine Bistort (Polygonum viviparum), and Nahanni Oak Fern (Gymnocarpium jessoense ssp. parvulum, S3) are common.
Numerous species which may be characterized as arctic-alpine occur here, including vascular plants such as Stiff Mountain Clubmoss (Huperzia selago, S3), Fragrant Fern (Dryopteris fragrans), Smooth Woodsia (Woodsia glabella, S3), Black Sedge (Carex atratiformis , S2), Myrtle-leaved Willow, Alpine Bistort, Low Sandwort (Arenaria humifusa, S2S3), Encrusted Saxifrage (Saxifraga aizoon) and Snowy Arnica (Arnica lonchophylla ssp. chionopappa, S1).
Also found in a low marshy section dominated by Bluejoint Grass (Calamagrostis canadensis) [which had barely started to grow by June 29]
 Northern Marsh Violet (Viola epipsila ssp. repens), Cavern Lake Canyon |
Nearby on cliffs along Cavern Lake are Northern Hedysarum (Hedysarum alpinum), and the Western Cordilleran disjunct Western Rock Cress (rabis hoelboellii), as well as additional populations of Snowy Arnica. The western Ross's Sedge (Carex rossii, S2) occurs near the cliff base.
The glacière talus at Cavern Lake canyon and Ouimet Canyon also support a small host of rare mosses, liverworts, and lichens. Arctic-alpine mosses collected from these sites include Aulacomnium acuminatum (G2G3, S2), A. turgidum (S2), Dicranum acutifolium (G?S2) and Tetraplodon mnioides (S2). The northern moss Isopterygiopsis pulchella (S3) is also present (E. North, 1996 pers. comm.), as is the boreal species Myurella sibirica (L. Ley, 1996 pers. comm.). Additional rare species have been tentatively identified from collections made by NHIC Botanist Michael Oldham, but are awaiting verification against reference collections (L. Ley 1996, pers. comm.).
Arctic-alpine liverworts that occur only at these sites in Thunder Bay District include Arnellia fennica, Tritomaria scitula and Tetralophozia (Chandonanthus) setiformis. Another such species, Anastrophyllum saxicola, is also found along the cold Lake Superior shoreline (Crowe 1975).
Cavern Lake is also known for its cave (Cavern Lake, get it?),which supports a well-known bat hibernaculum. Cold producing glacière ice also occurs deep within the cave. The only Ontario record for the liverwort Athalamia (Clevea) hyalina comes from here (Crowe 1975).
Although these two glacière talus sites have never been systematically surveyed for lichens, a total of 77 species have been collected from here, which represents almost 18% of the lichen flora of Thunder Bay
 Myrtle-leaved Willow (Salix Myrtillifolia), Cavern Lake |
To date, the author is unaware of any faunal studies from the site. Studies of other cold-producing habitats have revealed extremely interesting faunal assemblages with major disjunctions, especially in groups such as the molluscs where recently a species formerly known only from the fossil record, Succinea bakeri, was found to be still extant in Wisconsin (Nekola, Smith and Frest 1996).
Both Cavern Lake and Ouimet Canyons are protected natural areas in Ontario. Both are designated as Provincial Nature Reserves, and largely zoned as Nature Reserve Zone, in which no recreation or tourist facilities are developed, and direct public access is discouraged. The exception is that a portion of Ouimet Canyon is zoned as Access Zone. This is along the road leading to a viewing platform at the edge of the gorge, the area of the platform itself, and a picnic area beside a nearby lake.
Acknowledgments
The author would like to thank Joan Crowe, Linda Ley and Erika North for providing key information on bryophytes and lichens from Cavern Lake and Ouimet Canyons. Terry J. Frest identified the habitat as glacière talus.
References
Ballard, H.E , Jr. 1985. Viola epipsila new to Michigan and the eastern United States. The Michigan Botanist 24:131-134. Barclay, P., R. Herrick, C. Herrick, and C. Garton 1971. International Biological Programme, Ouimet Canyon Checksheet. Crowe, J. 1975. An hepatic flora of southwest Thunder Bay District, Ontario. M.Sc. thesis. University of Manitoba. Crowe, J. 1994. The lichens of Thunder Bay District. Evansia 11(2):62-75. Frest, T.J. 1996. Personal communication, identifying glacière talus. Given, D.R. and J.H. Soper. 1981. The arctic-alpine element of the vascular flora at Lake Superior. National Museums of Canada, Publications in Botany, No. 10. Ottawa. 70 pp. Ley, L. 1996. Personal communication, moss species determinations. Nekola, J.C., T.A. Smith, and T.J. Frest. 1996. Land snails of Door Peninsula Natural Habitats. Report prepared for Wisconsin Chapter, The Nature Conservancy, USA. North, E. 1996. Personal communication, list of Ouimet Canyon and Cavern Lake Canyon mosses at Lakehead University Herbarium (LKHD). Oldham, M.J. 1994. Natural Heritage Resources of Ontario: Mosses (Draft). Natural Heritage Information Centre, Peterborough, Ontario. Oldham, M.J. 1994. Natural Heritage Resources of Ontario: Rare Vascular Plants. Natural Heritage Information Centre, Peterborough, Ontario. k
The NHIC is presently mapping the original extent of a number of rare community types in southern Ontario, based on the written survey notes of Crown surveyors from the period of the first surveys, which began in the late 18th century. In particular, open communities such as tallgrass prairie and savannah, and alvar are being mapped.
Lisa Bloomer and Helen Godschalk have assisted the NHIC by mapping the vegetation onto township maps from the early survey records housed in the Natural Resource Information Management Branch, Survey Records Office, in Peterborough, Ontario.
Tallgrass prairies are open grassland communities dominated by various tall grasses and herbs. They were originally most extensive in the American midwest, but also extensive in local portions of southern Ontario. They often graded into semi-treed vegetation, known as tallgrass savannah, which consisted of the tallgrass prairie grassland interspersed with open-grown trees, including oak, pine and chestnut. In the survey notes, prairie was usually referred to as plains', open plains', or sandy plains'. Savannahs were usually described as oak plains' or white oak plains'.
To date, tallgrass prairie and savannah have been mapped for the following areas:
The NHIC is a partner in the International Alvar Initiative, a collaborative effort involving both American and Canadian heritage programs, conservation groups such as the Federation of Ontario Naturalists, The Nature Conservancy, The Couchiching Conservancy, and academic researchers. It is directed toward the rangewide identification and conservation of globally-rare alvar vegetation, which in North America is found only in the Great Lakes region.
Alvars are areas of thin, discontinuous soil which overlay limestone or dolostone bedrock pavement, and which support a characteristic flora, fauna and vegetation. Early surveyors described such areas variously as level plains', spruce plains', plains' and prairie'.
As part of this effort, the NHIC is trying to determine the original extent of this vegetation
prior to European settlement. Currently, alvar vegetation has been mapped for the following areas:
Additionally, Judith Jones, an alvar researcher in Manitowaning on Manitoulin Island, has been provided with the original survey notes for Dawson Township at the west end of Manitoulin Island, and has mapped the original vegetation, including alvars.
The original extent of these rare vegetation communities is useful for a number of reasons. It
provides baseline estimates of the original area these communities occupied in Ontario, which can
be compared to the present-day extent to more accurately determine the° to which they have
declined in the province. By examining these historical areas and their distribution, and comparing
them to the physical environment such as soils, landscape position, aboriginal features (such as
land uses, villages and travel routes), one can better understand the nature of these rare
communities, and the processes and features which maintained them on the landscape. Additionally,
areas originally mapped as prairie, savannah, alvar, etc. can be targeted for fieldwork in the hope
of finding existing remnant communities, flora and fauna.
Wasyl D. Bakowsky
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The community catalogue for southern Ontario (Site Regions 6 and 7) is being updated by Lisa Bloomer, under the direction of Wasyl Bakowsky. The catalogue lists species associations for community types listed in the Ecological Land Classification (ELC) for southern Ontario, which has been developed jointly by Harold Lee of the Science and Technology Transfer Unit of the old' Southern Region, and Wasyl Bakowsky of the NHIC. These associations have been taken from a variety of sources, including MNR reports, International Biological Programme site inventories, published articles and theses.
The MNR has been collecting quantitative information on the composition and environmental variables of vegetation in Site Regions 6 and 7, but a complete ELC based on quantitative analysis and descriptions is still a few years away. In the meantime, the qualitatively-derived ELC and community catalogue will be the standard source for land classification in southern Ontario.
The catalogue is being updated to correspond to the community types listed in the ELC, and will be an invaluable document in understanding and applying the ELC ecosites and community types to planning and environmental projects. The documented associations under each community type listed provide detailed information on the composition of the community types. Also listed with each association will be information on the soils and site moisture of the association.
The community catalogue has been converted into a database format, which will allow for future
sorting of the catalogue to match any changes made in the ELC for southern Ontario based on
quantitative analysis and classification. Lisa Bloomer is presently populating many of the fields,
including soils, site moisture and additional environmental variables, as well as georeferences
and areal extent for each community. When this work is completed, it will provide the NHIC with
over 3,000 community records to add to the central database.
Wasyl D. Bakowsky
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As mentioned in an earlier issue of the NHIC Newsletter (Vol. 2, No. 1), the NHIC has been developing a database of Ontario dragonfly and damselfly records, the ultimate intent of which is to establish basic element occurrence information and an historical occurrence record for the rarer taxa. This database now contains approximately 4000 records gleaned from the published literature. Primary sources for this database have been Distribution of the Odonata of Ontario (Walker 1941) and The Odonata of Canada and Alaska (Walker 1953, 1958; Walker and Corbet 1975); however, records have also been obtained from a variety of other published sources, including articles and notes published in such journals as Canadian Entomologist and Canadian Field-Naturalist.
Recognizing that a wealth of unpublished and largely inaccessible information resides in various institutional collections and in the private collections and notebooks of a number of Ontario naturalists, the NHIC is endeavouring to gather together as much of this information as possible. The NHIC is soliciting records not only for the known' globally and/or provincially rare species, but for all taxa known to occur in the province. Gathering together records for all species will make it possible: to establish an informed basis for assigned rarity ranks; to identify patterns in species distribution, which may help either to identify areas with high species diversity, or gaps in our knowledge and, therefore, areas potentially in need of inventory; and to document declines in species distribution and/or relative abundance.
Matt Holder, author of the recently published Dragonflies and Damselflies of Algonquin Provincial Park', is assisting the NHIC in compiling records from naturalists and museum collections and ensuring that these data are adequately georeferenced. An ultimate product of this compilation will be a preliminary atlas, consisting of a series of coded dot-distribution maps for each Ontario species.
The NHIC would welcome contributions of any collection and/or sight records of Ontario Odonata.
Preferably, submitted records should include a UTM grid reference and/or 10km map square
designation (e.g., 17NT52), and the number and year of the 1:50,000 NTS map sheet used to
calculate the grid reference. At a minimum, in addition to the collector's name, submitted
records should include: species name, date, county, and a locality name and directions (e.g.,
Oak Ck. at Hastings Rd. 12, 7km NW of Havelock P.O.), such that the observation point may be
easily re-located on a topographic map. Enquiries and/or contributions of data should be directed
to Matt Holder, c/o D.A. Sutherland at the NHIC. All contributors will be acknowledged and will
receive a copy of the completed atlas.
References
Walker, E.M. 1941. List of the Odonata of Ontario with distributional and seasonal data. Trans. Roy. Can. Inst., 23:201-265. Walker, E.M. 1953. The Odonata of Canada and Alaska. Volume I. University of Toronto Press, Toronto. Walker, E.M. 1958. The Odonata of Canada and Alaska. Volume II. University of Toronto Press, Toronto. Walker, E.M. and P.S. Corbet. 1975. The Odonata of Canada and Alaska. Volume III. University of Toronto Press, Toronto. k
Donald A. Sutherland
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Under the Recovery of Nationally Endangered Wildlife (RENEW) program, the recovery planning process has been initiated for four nationally endangered bird species: Prothonotary Warbler, Hooded Warbler, Acadian Flycatcher, and King Rail. Long Point Bird Observatory, with funding from Environment Canada's Action 21 program, has taken responsibility for the development of recovery plans for Prothonotary Warbler and Acadian Flycatcher, while the Canadian Wildlife Service (Ontario Region) will take responsibility for both Hooded Warbler and King Rail.
Recovery actions are perhaps most imperative for the Prothonotary Warbler. Since the Ontario Breeding Birds Atlas, when the provincial population of this species was estimated to consist of fewer than 80 pairs (McCracken 1987), the species has declined drastically. Surveys conducted in 1996 indicate that the provincial population may now consist of no more than 14 breeding pairs. Although possible reasons for this decline are many, habitat degradation and loss and the shortage of suitable nest cavities are thought to be important factors.
The King Rail has similarly declined in southwestern Ontario. Although the historical record is incomplete and the extent to which the species has declined is consequently imperfectly known, it is known that the King Rail was formerly more widespread, particularly in the marshes bordering the lower Great Lakes. King Rails have apparently disappeared from many or most of the historical sites, and viable populations may now exist only in the Lake St. Clair Marshes.
Both Hooded Warbler and Acadian Flycatcher present slightly different problems. While our knowledge of their true historical abundance is imprecise, the documented loss of deciduous forest habitat in southern Ontario would certainly suggest that a decline is probable. Both are inhabitants of larger tracts of Carolinian forest, suggesting that a plan simply to conserve large forest blocks might suffice. However, each species is known to have quite specific habitat requirements, and the challenge will be to develop successful recovery strategies for both species incorporating forest management prescriptions which accommodate the specific requirements of each.
The NHIC is actively participating in the development of these recovery plans, both by supplying
historic and current occurrence records and by contributing expertise with respect to the specific
habitat requirements of these species.
References
McCracken, J.D. 1987. Prothonotary Warbler (Protonotaria citrea), page 402 In M.D. Cadman, P.F.J. Eagles, and F.M. Helleiner (eds.). Atlas of the Breeding Birds of Ontario. Federation of Ontario Naturalists and Long Point Bird Observatory. University of Waterloo Press, Waterloo. xx + 617 pp.
Donald A. Sutherland
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We haven't heard of any native plants being added to the Ontario flora in 1996, although there were a number of exciting rediscoveries and range extensions. While leading a Field Botanists of Ontario (FBO) outing in May, NHIC Community Ecologist, Wasyl Bakowsky, found a small population of Prairie Violet (Viola pedatifida, G5S1). The only previous Ontario record was a collection made by John Macoun in 1907 from Brantford, the same area where Wasyl made his find. On a later FBO outing the second eastern Ontario site for Yellow Star-grass (Hypoxis hirsuta, G5S3) was found, at Massasauga Point, Prince Edward County. Also at Massasauga Point, Sean Blaney found Ontario's 5th Mouse-tail (Myosurus minimus, G5S1) population, and Mike Oldham found the province's 3rd Short-pedicelled Chickweed (Cerastium brachypodum, G?S1) population.
This August Mike Oldham made a brief visit to the small town of Ingolf in northwestern Ontario only a few kilometers from the Manitoba border. Ingolf is one of very few locations in the province where several western plant species such as Prairie Sand Reed Grass (Calamovilfa longifolia var. longifolia, G5T5SH), Leadplant (Amorpha canescens, G5SH), White Prairie-clover (Dalea candida, G5SH), and Purple Prairie-clover (Dalea purpurea, G5S1) have been found; in some cases, it is the only provincial location. These species were collected from Ingolf in the 1930's and 1940's; none have been recorded since in Ontario. Although unable to relocate any of the above plants, Mike did find some interesting western plant species at Ingolf such as Dryland Blunt-sedge (Carex obtusata, G5S1), Rough Fescue (Festuca hallii, G3S1), Needle-and-thread Grass (Stipa spartea, G5S3), Slender Beard-tongue (Penstemon gracilis, G5S1), Vasey's Rush (Juncus vaseyi, G3G5S3), and Muhly (Muhlenbergia racemosa, G5S1), all of which are species tracked by the NHIC. Nearby in Ontario a population of Purple Prairie-clover was located. The new Purple Prairie-clover site was along a railway, but in a relatively natural community with other native species, including other prairie species. Since Ingolf is also on the same railway line and since the only habitat information on earlier Ingolf collection of Purple Prairie-clover was railway, there is the possibility that this species was inadvertently introduced from the west by trains. Near Kenora area a population of Dense Spike-moss (Selaginella densaa, G5S2) was found, previously known in Ontario only from Woodland Caribou Provincial Park.
In southwestern Ontario near Tupperville, Ross Brown and Al Woodliffe found a population of Low Prairie Rose (Rosa arkansana, G5SE1?). The only previous Ontario report is from the Bruce Peninsula; however, no specimen has been found to substantiate this record. The Tupperville site was near a railway so the population might be adventive from further west.
Wasyl Bakowsky and Mike Oldham continued their exploration of cliffs and dry bluffs in the Thunder Bay area (see NHIC Newsletter 3(1):1-2) by visiting several new locations. New populations of rare species, such as Dryland Sedge (Carex xerantica, G?S1), Baldwin's Panic Grass (Panicum leibergii var. baldwinii, G?T?S1), Muhly (Muhlenbergia racemosa, G5S1), Ross' Sedge (Carex rossii, G5S1), Small-flowered Collinsia (Collinsia parviflora, G5S2), Alpine Woodsia (Woodsia alpina, G5S2), and Rocky Mountain Woodsia (Woodsia scopulina, G5S3) were discovered.
A joint fieldtrip to southwestern Ontario and northwestern Ohio by Ohio Department of Natural
Resources Chief Botanist, Allison Cusick, and NHIC Botanist, Mike Oldham, resulted in the
discovery of a second extant Ontario population of the Spike-rush Eleocharis geniculata (G4G5S1),
and the first native Ontario mainland population of Leucospora (Leucospora multifida, G5S1).
Both were found in an abandoned sandpit near Erieau in Kent County. Conobea was previously
known in Canada only from Pelee Island and two small adventive populations along railways in
southwestern Ontario, while Eleocharis geniculata (G4G5S1) was previously known from Long Point
and a historic record from Rondeau.
Michael J. Oldham
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The lists of Ontario plants and animals and their conservation ranks, maintained by the NHIC,
are continually being updated as newly found species are added to lists and ranks are revised
based on better information. In 1996 new printed versions of the amphibian and reptile and rare
vascular plant lists were produced. Because both groups are relatively small, amphibians and
reptiles are combined in the 1996 list, while they were in separate lists when last issued in
1994. The 1996 rare vascular plant list contains a feature not present in the earlier 1994 list,
a column indicating counties of occurrence in Ontario. This should enable the user to determine
which species are found in their particular part of the province. If you would like a copy of
either list, please contact the NHIC.
During the summer of 1996, three Environmental Youth Corps (EYC) and Summer Experience Program
(SEP) students, Rebecca Martin, Elaine Mathews, and Lori Reker, worked on the NHIC and Trent
University herbaria. Thanks to Roger Jones and the Trent University Biology Department, a lab
at Trent University was made available for the summer. Over 3,000 plant specimens were mounted
and accessioned into the NHIC herbarium (see NHIC Newsletter 2(3):6-7), and a computer catalogue
of the herbarium was assembled. Over 5,000 plant specimens in the Trent University herbarium were
entered into a computer database to facilitate the searching and retrieval of information about
the collection. We would like to thank Becky, Elaine, and Lori for their excellent work this
summer. For further information on this project contact NHIC Botanist, Mike Oldham.
In July 1996, John Riley, Don Cuddy, Bill Crins and Jarmo Jalava met to refine and revise the site
district boundaries in southern Ontario. The task primarily involved refinement of existing lines
to better follow the Chapman and Putnam (1972-1974, 1984) mapping of the physiography of southern
Ontario, which was not available to Angus Hills when he drew the original site district lines back
in the late 1950s and early 1960s. More major changes involved the creation of one new site
district (Site District 7E-5) and the elimination of one (Site District 6E-3).
The new site district, 7E-5, consists primarily of the Haldimand Clay Plain, which was formerly
the eastern portion of Site District 7E-2. The Haldimand Clay Plain was treated as a distinct
biophysical unit as early as 1980 (Macdonald 1980) in a report that was a precursor of site district
reports that appeared later that decade. The Macdonald report's recommendations were relied on to
designate ANSIs in the Haldimand Clay Plain unit.
Site district 6E-3 was dissolved into surrounding site districts, primarily site district 6E-4.
There was consensus among the group that most of site district 6E-3 (the Niagara Escarpment and
adjacent lands in northern Grey and southern Bruce counties) was not geologically, climatically
and biologically distinct enough from the adjacent site district 6E-4 (the Niagara Escarpment in
southern Grey County) to warrant being a separate site district. The expanded site district 6E-4
accords with the Grey Section biophysical unit described in Riley et al. (1996). A distinct
biophysical transition occurs near Lion's Head on the Bruce Peninsula (around the boundary with
site district 6E-14), where very shallow soils, a cooler climate and vegetation with more northern
affinities begin to predominate. It is interesting to note that as a result of the site district
revision, nearly all of the globe's population of the North American variety of Hart's-tongue Fern
(Asplenium scolopendrium var. americanum) (G4T3S3) occurs in the revised site district 6E-4.
Other more substantial changes included the refinement of site region boundaries. The boundary
between site regions 6 and 5 was refined to more closely follow the southern edge of the Canadian
Shield, as mapped in Chapman and Putnam (1972-1974, 1984). Because of ecological similarities with
site region 5E-11, northern parts of site district 6E-10 (which consists of the Frontenac Axis,
the tongue of the Canadian Shield that extends south into New York state east of Kingston) were
removed from site region 6 and added to site region 5. The boundary between site regions 6 and 7
was modified to dip farther south in southwestern Ontario instead of following an almost straight
east-west line in that region. The new boundary is more in accordance with Hills' original site
region boundary (Hills 1959) and with climatic analysis of Hills' site regions (Mackey et al. 1996).
Other significant changes include the modification of site district 6E-6 to better encompass the
Simcoe Lowlands physiographic region, and site district 7E-3 to better encompass the Niagara
Escarpment and Iroquois Plain in site region 7.
A more detailed summary of the boundary revisions and refinements is in preparation
(Jalava et al., in prep.). This report includes breakdowns of the percentages of landform features
in each of the revised site districts, as well as maps showing the new site district boundaries,
and lists of Areas of Natural and Scientific Interest affected by the site district boundary
changes. A small-scale map showing the new site district boundaries is presently available in
the NHIC publication, Jalava (1996).
References
Jarmo Jalava
In October, NHIC Stewardship Ecologist Jarmo Jalava attended the International Union for the
Conservation of Nature's (IUCN) World Conservation Congress in Montreal, the largest meeting
of its kind since the Rio Summit' in 1992. The congress was attended by more than 3,000
delegates from more than 130 countries. Workshops focused on the following themes: enhancing
sustainability, conserving vitality and diversity, adapting protected areas management to new
challenges, sharing nature's bounty and implementing strategies for sustainability. General
impressions of the congress included: an appreciation of the commonality of environmental
issues and problems around the world; the almost universal agreement among delegates of the
need for involvement of local and indigenous peoples in conservation planning; the need to
consider local socioeconomic factors in the management of ecosystems and protected areas; a
subtle global shift in emphasis of ecological research from basic science toward research
that is directed towards on-the-ground conservation applications; the need for the conservation
community to build relationships with the business community; and the need to better understand
and communicate the social and economic benefits of biodiversity conservation.
The NHIC hosted two separate international delegations in the month of October. Many
international representatives were in Canada to participate in the World Conservation
Congress Conference held by the IUCN in Montreal the week of October 13th, providing these
delegates the opportunity to fill their agendas with other related visits. The visitors to
the Centre were groups and individuals from Zimbabwe, Uganda, and one U.N. representative from
Norway. All of these individuals are involved in information management and the preservation of
biodiversity. The purpose of their visit was to learn about the Centre's operations, information
management systems and tools, and about local and international partnerships. in which the Centre
is involved.
David Balsillie, Assistant Deputy Minister, Science and Information Resources Division (SIRD),
MNR, made a presentation entitled the Context and Strategies of Natural Resources Information
Management in Ontario, followed by Glenn Holder, Director Natural Resources Information Management
Branch, who spoke about Natural Resources Information Management in MNR and where the NHIC is
positioned within the Branch . Other presentations were conducted by Paul Gray and Sheila Boyd
regarding the Ecological Land Classification system that Paul developed while in Zimbabwe.
Larry Bradt gave a demonstration of an information access system developed as a result of a
partnership between Natural Resources Canada and MNR, Rob Parry, Michael Oldham, Wasyl Bakowsky,
Jarmo Jalava, Pete Sorrill and George Van Drunen presented general information about the NHIC
(who we are and what we do), NHIC partnerships and initiatives with government and non-government
organizations, NHIC products (such as newsletters, lists and map products), and a demonstration of
the NHIC Natural Areas Database.
Our thanks to all of the visitors and guests:
Our thanks, also, to all who took time from their Thanksgiving Weekend to participate in the
tour.
Karen L. Ness
NHIC Stewardship Ecologist Jarmo Jalava also attended the 1996 A.D. Latornell Conservation
Symposium in Alliston, Ontario. The annual symposium is a partnership initiative of the
Association of Conservation Authorities of Ontario and the Centre for Land and Water Stewardship,
University of Guelph. A considerable portion of the symposium was devoted to discussions of the
implications of the recent and ongoing public funding cutbacks, and of creative and entrepreneurial
means for agencies such as conservation authorities to ensure their own survival and that the
important conservation work they do is maintained at adequate levels. The well-attended symposium
included workshops on: land donations, easements and taxes; new partnerships for conservation with
the private sector, NGOs, media and other public agencies; new environmental planning and municipal
planning initiatives; a natural heritage strategy for Carolinian Canada; ecotourism, community
development and global connections; and the successes of new community stewardship councils.
The Ministry of Natural Resources has recently issued a comprehensive list of species at risk
in Ontario. Species included on the list have been designated in various "risk" categories
(i.e., Endangered, Threatened, Vulnerable) by the Ministry of Natural Resources and its new
committee, called the Committee on the Status of Species at Risk in Ontario (COSSARO), and/or
by the national Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC). To obtain
a copy of the list please write to the Natural Resources Information Centre at P.O. Box 7000,
Peterborough, K9J 8M5, or call (416) 314-2000, or (705) 755-2000.
The Federation of Ontario Naturalists' (FON) nature and environment magazine, Seasons, features
alvars in their Autumn 1996 issue. The NHIC is working closely with FON, The Nature Conservancy,
and several other agencies and individuals in a detailed study of alvars in the Great Lakes basin
(see NHIC Newsletter 2(3):5-6).
On 31 October 1996 the Federal Government tabled Canada's first ever endangered species legislation,
the Canada Endangered Species Protection Act. The Act provides for the early identification,
protection, and recovery of species at risk. It applies to migratory birds, fish and marine
mammals, species that range across international boundaries and all species on federal lands.
For further information contact Roger White, Environment Canada, (819) 997-1441.
Thanks to Tanya Pulfer, who has undertaken a variety of tasks for the centre initially, as
part of an Environmental Youth Corps (EYC) contract over the summer, and later on contract to
the centre. She has assisted with verification of locational information for 2900 vascular plant
records, digitized revised site district boundaries for site regions 6 and 7, and is currently
inputting digital boundaries for community element occurrences to the centre's GIS. Her hard work,
patient attention to detail, and infectious enthusiasm are greatly appreciated.
During the latter half of 1996, the NHIC stewardship/natural areas component has benefited
greatly from the skilled assistance of staff originally hired under the Environmental Youth Corps
(EYC) program and Summer Experience Program (SEP), namely, Tina Bailey (EYC/SEP), Tayarna King
(EYC) and Helen Godschalk; Tayarna and Helen are continuing to work with the NHIC. Major jobs
undertaken include: extensive data entry on ANSIs, ESAs and other sites of documented biological
significance into the NHIC's Natural Areas Database; data entry of bibliographic information into
the NHIC's References database; organisation of the NHIC's resource centre and its manual areas
files; landowner contact for the International Alvar Conservation Initiative (Tina Bailey and
Tayarna King) and the design of a computer program to track the landowner contact (Helen Godschalk);
data compilation and data entry on evaluated wetlands (Tayarna King); data compilation and data
entry on sentinel sites of the Great Lakes Wetlands Conservation Action Plan (Tayarna King);
assistance with the completion of a final draft of a bibliography for ANSIs in site regions 6
and7 (Helen Godschalk); and digitization of regional ANSI boundaries (Helen Godschalk).
Additionally, Tanya Pulfer digitized the revised site district boundary lines for site regions
6 and 7. The NHIC thanks these enthusiastic, diligent and meticulous workers for their past
and continued assistance.
Thanks for the following people and organizations for their contributions:
Heretofore, those adventuresome naturalists intent on learning the province's odonata have had
to rely either on more technical treatments, such as Edmund Walker's three-volume work on the
Odonata of Canada and Alaska' or on the very few popular guides for other regions (such as
Virginia Carpenter's guide for Cape Cod or Sydney Dunkle's photographic guides for Florida,
Bermuda, and the Bahamas, both of which include a number of widespread Ontario' species).
This small booklet includes a general introduction to dragonfly and damselfly biology, accounts
for 36 species, a checklist of the park's 85 known' species, and a list of an additional 20
species expected to occur in the park. An excellent feature of this booklet are the superb colour
plates by Peter Burke and Andrea Kingsley which accompany the species accounts. Copies are
available for $2.95 from: The Friends of Algonquin Park, P.O. Box 248, Whitney, Ontario, K0J 2M0.
Eleven years in the making, the long awaited Quebec Breeding Bird Atlas' is a monumental treatise
which establishes a new standard in regional breeding bird atlases. Representing the work of some
932 individual volunteers and 70,000 field hours over six field seasons (1984-89), this large
format work is more than the standard breeding bird atlas'. In addition to the 292 species
accounts with accompanying distribution maps, the book includes chapters on the history of
ornithology in Quebec, human impacts on the landscape, a biophysical description of the province,
and the biodiversity of the province's birds. In addition, the book is profusely illustrated with
line drawings for each species and over 1400 black and white and colour photographs, including
Landsat, infrared, colour and black and white aerial imagery. Copies are available for $167.00
(plus shipping and taxes) from: ƒditions MultiMondes, 930 rue Pouliot, Sainte-Foy, Quebec, G1V 3N9
Volume 3 of Michigan Flora Now in Print
The long awaited third and final volume of Ed Voss' Michigan Flora is now in print.
This is an indispensible flora for people wishing to identify Ontario plants. Copies are
available for U.S. $18.50 from the University of Michigan Herbarium, North University Building,
Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109-1057, U.S.A.(313-764-2407).
Mike Oldham, NHIC's Botanist/Herpetologist, has
worked as an ecologist with MNR for the past 11 years, at offices in
London, Aylmer, and now Peterborough. Prior to that Mike was staff
biologist for the Essex Region Conservation Authority for 5 years.
Mike has diverse interests in natural history and conservation biology,
but particularly vascular plants, amphibians, reptiles, and molluscs.
His passion for fieldwork and exploring new areas has led to the
discovery of several new plant and animal species for the province,
plus numerous new sites for rare species. Mike sits on a number of
provincial and national committees, such as COSSARO (Committee on the
Status of Species at Risk in Ontario), COSEWIC (Committee on the Status
of Endangered Wildlife in Canada) Plants Subcommittee, and DAPCAN
(Declining Amphibian Populations Canada), as well as on two RENEW
(Recovery of Nationally Endangered Wildlife) recovery teams for
Blanchard's Cricket Frog and Eastern Spiny Softshell Turtle. Mike
resides in Peterborough with his wife Mireille and children Veronique
and Robert.
NHIC and Trent University Herbaria
Stewardship
Site District Boundary Refinement and Revision in Site Regions 6 and 7
Chapman, L.J. and D.F. Putnam. 1972-1974. Maps 2224, 2226, 2228, Ontario Department of Mines and
Northern Affairs, Ontario Research Foundation, in, The Physiography of Southern Ontario (Second
Edition), University of Toronto Press. Toronto.
Chapman, L.J. and D.F. Putnam. 1984. The Physiography of Southern Ontario (Third Edition). Ontario
Geological Survey, Special Volume 2. Toronto. 270 pp.
Hills, G.A. 1959. A Ready Reference to the Description of the Land of Ontario and Its Productivity
(A compendium of maps, charts, tables and brief comments). Division of Research, Ontario
Department of Lands and Forests. Maple, ON. 142 pp.
Jalava, J.V. 1996. Provincial Life Science Areas of Natural and Scientific Interest in Ecological
Site Regions 6 and 7: Summary of Locations, Sizes and Evaluation Reports. Natural Heritage
Information Centre, Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources, Peterborough, ON. iv + 41 pp.
Jalava, J.V., J.L. Riley, D.G. Cuddy and W.J. Crins. in prep. Natural Heritage Resources of
Ontario: Revised Site Districts in Ecological Site Regions 6 and 7. Natural Heritage Information
Centre, Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources, Peterborough, ON.
Mackey, B.G., D.W. McKenney, Y.Q. Yang, J.P. McMahon and M.F. Hutchinson. 1996. Site regions
revisited: a climatic analysis of Hills' site regions for the province of Ontario using a
parametric method. Canadian Journal of Forest Research 26:333-354.
Macdonald, I.D. 1980. Life Science Features of the Haldimand Clay Plain Physiographic Region.
Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources, Parks and Recreation Section, Central Region, Richmond
Hill, ON. 266 pp. + maps.
Riley, J.L., J.V. Jalava and S. Varga. 1996 (draft). Ecological Survey of the Niagara Escarpment
Biosphere Reserve. Volume I. Significant Natural Areas. Volume II. Technical Appendices. Ontario
Ministry of Natural Resources, South Central Region, Peterborough, ON. Open File Site Report SR
9601. v + 629 pp., vii + 310 pp.
Return to table of contents
The IUCN World Conservation Congress in Montreal
International Visitors at the NHIC
Return to table of contents
The 1996 A.D. Latornell Conservation Symposium
New MNR Vulnerable, Threatened and Endangered Species List Produced
Alvars Featured in Most Recent Issue of Seasons
Federal Endangered Species Legislation
GIS Contract Staff
Thanks to Contract Stewardship Staff
Donations to NHIC Library
Publications
Rationale For The Site District Boundary Revision
Focus on....Mike Oldham
© Ministry of Natural Resources, 1996