Carolinian Canada 2014 Ecosystem Recovery Forum Presentations

Farming With Biodiversity

David Ainsle, Essex County Farmer / Canada South Land Trust

From starting to farm in early 80's and recognizing that I could not farm in Essex County without biology alongside, I began the yearly addition of landscape features (i.e protection of forest, tree lines to hedgerows, wetlands, pollinator park, prairie grasslands, hibernacula, no-till farming, cover crops, the identification of existing species at risk, etc.). All these events occurred in the context of farm economics, farm norms and peer attitudes. The most demanding project has been the restoration of a rich Carolinian Forest greatly disturbed in the ash cut of 2004 leaving extensive rutting and invasive plants. Since the fall of 2011 to the present, significant labour, time and material has been spent and finally this year positive results have been realized. In the process much has been learned about the richness of our biological past. I am 70 years of age and I am leaving the monoculture behind and embracing complexity and resilience. I look forward to the next 20 years, initiating projects that I can learn from and share with others.

Implementing the Western Lake Erie Islands Natural Area Conservation Plan

Kristen Bernard, Program Manager - Southwestern Ontario, The Nature Conservancy of Canada

Pelee Island is the largest of the Canadian islands in the Western Lake Erie Islands (WLEI) archipelago, and is the most southerly inhabited part of Canada. The Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC) has protected over 1,000 acres (390 hectares) on Pelee Island. NCC manages these lands to ensure that the natural habitat is protected and is properly maintained or restored. Rare communities within the WLEI include globally rare shoreline and alvar habitats, as well as savannah and forest communities, all of which provide critical stopover habitat for migratory birds and insects, and serve as nesting sites for colonial waterbirds. Conservation actions taken to conserve some of the best examples of Pelee's important habitats including invasive species removal, habitat restoration and education and outreach.

Why don't ecologists get more respect?

Dr. Dawn Bazely, Professor of Biology, York University

Scientists, including ecologists, are increasingly frustrated that their research is not heard and acted upon by policy makers, politicians and members of the public. I will discuss the communication challenges that exist at the science-policy-politics interface, and explore some solutions. The Human Security framework of Political Science may be useful for scientists for more effective mobilization of science research into policy. In this space, ecology can contribute to the interdisciplinary and collaborative sustainability research table in many ways. For example, I developed the concept of knowledge as a nutrient, for framing the field of adaptation and resilience in the face of climate change. The knowledge-flow cycle concept is rooted in ecosystem studies and can help to clarify the relationship between knowledge, eco-justice and human adaptive capacity. Illustrated by an ecosystem ecology approach, this framework draws analogies between the knowledge that circulates among communities at the local and global levels and energy and ecosystem nutrient cycles. By recognizing and modifying knowledge flows, through the Open Access movement of our university’s Institutional Repository, I propose that we can increase the adaptive capacity of disenfranchised peoples faced with climate change, and increase the voice of science and ecology at the policy and public tables.

Canadian Wildlife Service Landscape Assessment and Planning in 2014 and Beyond

Graham Bryan, Biodiversity Coordinator, Canadian Wildlife Service, Environment Canada

This presentation will focus on:

1) Environment Canada’s coarse and fine scale landscape assessments of the Mixedwood Plains ecoregion in Ontario, including mapping of Canadian Wildlife Service areas of program interest in southern Ontario.

2) Grasslands thus far – what we have learned from trying to identify existing and potential grassland landscapes and the elusive and changing nature of grassland habitat.

3) New programs of potential interest under the new national Conservation Plan.

Landowner Leaders, EcoTrails and the Elgin Natural Heritage Inventory Program

Kelly Johnson, Habitat Stewardship Specialist, Bronwen Buck, Outreach Coordinator, and Sara Howe, Elgin Natural Heritage Inventory Assistant, Carolinian Canada

Carolinian Canada's Landowner Leader program assists private landowners with development of Carolinian Habitat Action plans for wildlife habitat creation, restoration and management. Through this program we aim to highlight the good work being done on the landscape and recognize individuals for their contributions to conservation.

EcoTrails can revitalize a local pathway, showcase a restoration area and highlight the importance of place. Explore how Carolinian Canada is working with our partners to engage trail visitors and empower them to care for local habitats. If you enjoy hiking, the outdoors, or even telling your own nature stories, consider joining us on our journey.

Carolinian Canada is bringing together private landowners, novice and professional volunteers, and CAP partners to update Elgin County's Species at Risk and natural heritage data through the Elgin Natural Heritage Inventory.

Lake Ontario Integrated Shoreline Restoration: Making the Connections

Karen Chisholme, Program Coordinator - Special Projects, Credit Valley Conservation

Credit Valley Conservation's (CVC’s) Lake Ontario Integrated Shoreline Strategy is a multi-year, multi-discipline study aimed at understanding the biophysical and chemical characteristics of the Lake Ontario shoreline within CVC's jurisdiction. The baseline information is being used to help inform priority areas and disciplines for restoration.

A Provincial Perspective on Natural Heritage System Planning

Victor Doyle, RCP MCIP, Ontario Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing

Recognizing their importance, Ontario has a rich legacy of promoting and planning natural heritage systems at a landscape or bioregional level. This is accompanied by an increased focus on the need for regional/local/municipal scale systems, including new requirements in the Provincial Policy Statement 2014. This policy framework is supported by a suite of planning tools and guidance materials to assist practitioners and stakeholders in implementation efforts. This session will provide an overview of this multi-pronged provincial approach.

Conservation Halton's Long-term Monitoring in the 7E-3 CAP Area

Andrea Dunn, Monitoring Ecologist, Conservation Halton and Julia Marko Dunn, Natural Heratige Ecologist, Conservation Halton

As part of our Long-term Monitoring Program, Conservation Halton undertakes ecological monitoring across our watershed, including in the Hamilton Burlington 7E-3 CAP area. The program includes monitoring of forest health parameters at Waterdown Woods; marsh monitoring at Kerncliff Park; water quality, benthic macroinvertebrate and fish monitoring in Grindstone Creek, the North Shore of Cootes Paradise, and urban creeks in Burlington; and inventories and monitoring of populations of various species at risk. Results are used to produce Watershed Report Cards, inform stewardship and restoration activities, plan review and land management decisions. Our presentation will give an overview of our monitoring activities and results.

The Matrix, Too: Enhancing the Impact of Corporate Habitat Stewardship

Martha Gruelle, Director, Huron to Erie Waterways for Wildlife Project, Wildlife Habitat Council

Natural heritage systems reasonably focus on core habitats and connecting corridors, but the matrix in which they’re embedded is also crucial. As Environment Canada notes (How Much Habitat Is Enough? 2013), in highly developed landscapes such as “… much of the Mixedwood Plains Ecozone, the attributes of the matrix can be as important in influencing species composition and abundance as the attributes of the natural habitat patches themselves.” In Carolinian Canada, much of the landscape is owned and managed by companies. Wildlife Habitat Council engages corporations in maintaining portions of their land as habitat. To encourage documented habitat stewardship, WHC offers an independent certification. These certified corporate wildlife programs improve the quality of the landscape matrix for native species, while offering employees and community members the health benefits of increased contact with nature. Currently, WHC is enhancing its certification program, with updates to be launched in November 2015. The new certification will involve a menu of conservation and education actions, with assigned points. The new points-value system will be aligned with existing conservation goals of agencies and NGOs, working at multiple scales. To set up the points system, WHC is consulting with a set of broadly representative advisory committees in multiple topic areas, including habitat types, management techniques, and education themes.  This presentation will share what WHC has learned about benchmarking conservation actions. In addition, participants will be invited to comment on metrics being developed for corporate wildlife habitat-making.

Ontario Nature’s Greenway: Conservation approaches in southern Ontario

Sarah Hedges, Conservation and Education Coordinator, Ontario Nature and Joshua Wise, Greenway Coordinator, Ontario Nature

This session will highlight Ontario Nature’s Greenway program, which aims to establish an interconnected web of core natural areas and natural corridors throughout southern and eastern Ontario. The Greenway Program’s work focuses on three key areas:

1. Strengthen land-use policy to promote systems approaches to planning;

2. Promote private land owner stewardship; and

3. Protect the province’s best remaining examples of imperiled and vulnerable habitats.

The session will focus on:

1) How community groups can become active partners in growing municipal natural heritage systems and helping create more resilient communities. We will take a look through Ontario Nature’s new Best Practices Guide to Natural Heritage Systems Planning.

2) Important insights on opportunities and risks around the future of biodiversity offsetting in Ontario.

Big Picture Monitoring with Miradi

Sarah Hodgkiss, Program Manager, Carolinian Canada

Since 2008, Carolinian Canada has worked with over 100 partner groups to develop Conservation Action Plans in 13 biodiversity hotspots across the Carolinian Life Zone. The Conservation Action Planning approach is an internationally proven method that can be applied at any scale in any place. Its methods are science-based, focused, and efficient, and have evolved over three decades of trial and error in an array of landscapes, cultures and political environments. The CAPs are clear, achievable, measureable and can easily be monitored. The Carolinian Canada facilitated CAPs, along with The Nature Conservancy of Canada’s Natural Area Conservation Plans, cover most of the Carolinian Life Zone. Using the data from these plans, and other sources, we aim to create our Big Picture Report Card to assess the state of the Carolinian Life Zone. Moving forward, how can we continue to monitor all of these plans and measure success? One tool to help us monitor our Big Picture Vision is Miradi, a computer program designed specifically for the CAP process. Learn about how Miradi can help us to prioritize threats, develop objectives and actions, and select monitoring indicators to assess the effectiveness of strategies.

Carolinian Canada’s Big Picture Vision After 15 Years

Jarmo Jalava, Director of Ecosystem Recovery, Carolinian Canada

Jarmo will provide a brief overview of the history of “Big Picture” natural heritage planning and implementation in southern Ontario, with an emphasis on the Carolinian life zone. Past and ongoing efforts include the establishment of parks and protected areas systems, land trusts, watershed plans, greenbelts and greenways, stewardship programs, tree planting and habitat restoration programs, evolving policies and incentives for land and water conservation (ESAs, ANSIs, PSWs, etc.), species at risk legislation and recovery planning, citizen science and monitoring initiatives, academic research, outreach, and education. But the perennial questions remain. Are we gaining or losing ground?

Aliens: The Big Picture

Brendon M.H. Larson, Ph.D. Associate Professor, Environment and Resource Studies, Faculty of Environment, University of Waterloo

As conservationists, we tend to focus on the dramatic effects of alien and invasive species at relatively small scales, in front of our eyes. In this presentation, I’ll zoom out to contextualize their place in much larger and more encompassing forms of global change, including social trends. If the Carolinian Canada Coalition seeks to adequately revise its vision for Carolinian ecosystems in the 21st century, I’ll suggest that it needs to both hold true to past values while wrestling with how they must change in light of this big picture.

Chatham-Kent Natural Heritage Implementation Strategy

Jennifer Lawrence, BES, MCIP, RPP, President, Jennifer Lawrence and Associates

The municipality of Chatham-Kent has a rich history in agricultural production. Fertile soils and excellent growing conditions have made this part of Ontario extremely desirable for intense agricultural production. Over the decades, wetlands have been converted to farm fields and prairie and woodland habitat have been removed. With less than 6% natural cover in the municipality (4% forest cover in woodlands greater than 4ha and 2% forest cover in smaller woodlands and other habitats), many residents are speaking up and asking for Council to protect the remaining natural cover and to come up with a plan to enhance the current system for the benefit of future generations. A request by Council for staff to prepare a tree cutting by-law for their consideration appears to have triggered the removal of over 1500 acres (607 ha) of woodlands over the span of 1 1/2 years. Municipal staff, cognizant of the concerns expressed by the agricultural community, looked for an alternate, non-regulatory, approach to try and stop the loss of natural cover. The outcome is a Natural Heritage Implementation Strategy that has been supported by municipal Council, Carolinian Canada and the Lower Thames Valley Conservation Authority. The Strategy identifies 29 Implementation Actions that involve collaboration and cooperation between Chatham-Kent, the Lower Thames Valley and St. Clair Region Conservation Authorities, Carolinian Canada, agricultural federations, non-profit organizations and the general public in order to not only protect the natural heritage that currently exists but to also enhance the natural heritage in order to improve resilience and to enhance the health and well-being of the natural environment as well as the social and economic environment in Chatham-Kent.

Community Action to Reduce the Negative Impacts of Roads on Ecosystems

Rick Levick, LCPIP Coordinator, Long Point World Biosphere Reserve

This presentation will describe the community-based effort to restore historic hydraulic connections between the Big Creek Marsh National Wildlife Area and Long Point Bay and reduce wildlife road mortality, especially of Species at Risk reptiles, along the 3.6 km causeway that connects the Long Point sand spit with the mainland. The Causeway is regarded locally as the “entrance” to the Long Point World Biosphere Reserve. Ironically, the road was also known as the fourth deadliest road for turtles in North America. To date, the project has raised more than $1.4 million and installed more than 4.5 km of exclusion fencing and three wildlife culverts along the Causeway. Three more culverts will be installed in October 2014. As well, six more culverts are planned for installation, subject to funding availability. The project has carried out an annual monitoring program that has found a 50% reduction in reptile road mortality since work began in 2008. For the past two years, the monitoring program has used remote cameras to record wildlife using the culverts installed in 2012. The project is managed and administered by the Long Point World Biosphere Reserve Foundation on behalf of the consortium of local organizations committed to improving the Causeway. The work is carried out in cooperation with Norfolk County because the Causeway is a municipal road, and with the Canadian Wildlife Service which manages the Big Creek National Wildlife Area.

Natural Heritage Systems (NHS) and Forests as Climate Adaptation Tools

Gary Nielson, Climate Change Coordinator, Science and Research Branch, Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry and Danijela Puric-Mladenovic, Senior Analyst - Settled Landscapes, and Research Branch, Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry

The fragmented landscape of southern Ontario is more vulnerable to the effects of Climate Change than it should be. As climate change impacts range from global to local scale, it is necessary to build regional scale Natural Heritage Systems (NHS) that will serve as a backbone of healthy, resilient and functional working landscapes. Natural Heritage Systems need to nest into each other so that local enhances regional and regional enhances provincial and so on up to continental and global. Forests, as the predominant NHS component both spatially and structurally, are the main building block of green systems. Therefore as a means to minimize landscape and forest vulnerability to climate change and build NHS, it is necessary to enhance forest diversity, improve forest age structure, minimize fragmentation, improve and build forest connectivity. It is not the job of any single agency but the efforts of every single agency could be rendered more effective if hierarchical nested Natural Heritage Systems exist as aspirational blueprints. As a result, Natural Heritage System planning needs to move to the next level of integrated and strategic landscape planning where emerging needs are accounted for and where the system is not only defined to capture present day conservation values, but also be carefully planned to include possible climate impacts. This presentation will give an overview of a number of science and implementation initiatives that have been undertaken by MNRF and partners to define and develop forest dominated Natural Heritage Systems. It will profile new technology and tools which practitioners can use to better understand what is likely to happen to forest and tree species, where knowledge and information gaps exist and what future steps are needed.

Conservation of Aerial Insectivores

Kristyn Richardson, Stewardship Biologist, Bird Studies Canada

Chimney Swifts, Barn Swallows, and Bank Swallows once inhabited most chimneys, barns, and river banks throughout the Carolinian region of Ontario, but are now disappearing at an alarming rate. These species of birds are aerial insectivores, which specialize in eating flying insects, and they have undergone steeper declines than any other group of birds in Canada over the past 40 years. These birds will only recover if they are seen as an integral part of our neighbourhoods and ecosystems. As such, Bird Studies Canada is dedicated to the conservation of this group of birds and their habitats by building on the enthusiastic contributions and efforts of hundreds of citizen scientists. Across the Carolinian, we are engaging communities in monitoring, stewardship, and conservation for aerial insectivores in order to fill critical knowledge gaps and address key threats affecting this group of birds in Southern Ontario. Activities include taking steps to uncap suitable chimneys to restore access to swifts and researching ways to create nesting habitat for Barn and Bank Swallows. With these efforts we hope to see a reversal in the steep declines of these species throughout the Carolinian of Ontario.

Tools for Monitoring Agricultural Best Management Practice Effectiveness

Brynn Upsdell-Wright, Water Quality Technician, Ausable Bayfield Conservation Authority

Rural non-point sources of nutrients (particularly phosphorus) and suspended solids can limit both the human uses and the ecological integrity of the nearshore area of Lake Huron. To address these concerns, agricultural producers in the Gully Creek watershed (15 km²) of Huron County have been encouraged to adopt Best Management Practices (BMPs). A study was then undertaken to evaluate the environmental effectiveness of four BMPs – conservation tillage, cover crops, nutrient management, and Water and Sediment Control Basins (WASCoBs) – through land use and management data collection, water quality monitoring, and watershed modelling with the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT). Water quality monitoring results indicated that storm events were key periods for the transport of phosphorus and suspended solids from the landscape to the stream. The effectiveness of conservation tillage, cover crops, and nutrient management was difficult to measure through water quality monitoring at the field scale, but the SWAT estimated reductions in total phosphorus and suspended solids as a result of implementing these practices. Field-scale monitoring of a WASCoB showed a reduction in peak flow and the SWAT predicted reductions in suspended solids and total phosphorus with the addition of multiple WASCoBs to the watershed. The successful evaluation of these BMPs would not have been possible without the collection of land use and management data and modeling of the watershed, in addition to monitoring of water quality under both baseflow and storm conditions.

Ontario's Greenbelt at 10 Years

Felix Whitton, Program Officer, Friends of the Greenbelt Foundation

The Greenbelt was created in 2005 by the province of Ontario to safeguard vulnerable environmental and agricultural lands. At almost 2 million acres, it is the world's largest permanent greenbelt, and it is vital to the future sustainability of the Greater Golden Horseshoe Region. This talk will give an update on the Greenbelt, the upcoming 10-year review in 2015, and the work of the Friends of the Greenbelt Foundation.