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Cottage Life

Biodiversity loss is threatening Canada’s wetlands; here’s why it matters

The swamps of the Minesing Wetlands, a 15,000-acre area about 15 kilometres west of Barrie, Ont., are not the most immediately welcoming of places. Convincing someone to spend a day exploring the thick, forested marshes—with clouds of mosquitoes in the air and bloodsucking leeches in the water—isn’t easy. I should know. I’ve been trying to convince friends to join me on a trip there for years. Again and again, my attempts are met with two questions: why would I visit, and why should I care?

Answering the first question is easy. Despite seeming unappealing, the Minesing Wetlands (sometimes called the “Everglades of the North”), are one of our country’s most significant wetland systems. As a conservation biologist helping to map out some of Canada’s most important places for nature, I’m excited to see some of the dozens of rare and endangered species that still call the Minesing Wetlands home. One species here has piqued my interest above all others—a jewel in this swampy rough. It’s called Hine’s emerald, a large dragonfly with a metallic green body and brilliant emerald eyes.

It’s an incredibly rare species; it requires a very specific type of wetland environment, and—unlike most dragonflies, which go from egg to adult in less than a year—the aquatic larvae of this species take three to five years to grow into adulthood, relying on crawfish burrows for shelter during winter and through any dry spells in summer. The Minesing Wetlands are the only place in Canada where this dragonfly is found, so as a nature lover, the slimmest chance to see this beautiful and unique piece of Canadian biodiversity is more than enough reason to visit.

Answering the second question—why should I care—takes longer to answer. I get asked similar things quite often: why care about this one rare species, no matter how beautiful it is? Why should I care about these wetlands or any other seemingly random place? Ultimately, it comes down to understanding why conservation and nature are important at all. Sure, nature is a nice-to-have, but is it really a must-have?

Why does biodiversity matter?

Most people are aware that across Canada and the world, we’re losing more and more wild biodiversity every year. From looking at around 25,000 Canadian species that scientists have some basic understanding of (a fraction of the estimated 80,000 species in Canada), we know that about one in five species in Canada are imperilled to some degree.

These bits of Canadian biodiversity are significant internationally too. More than 300 species in Canada are found nowhere else in the world. From the adorable Vancouver Island marmot to Algonquin Provincial Park’s Eastern wolf, the planetary survival of these species depends entirely on our conservation decisions here in Canada. When it’s gone here, it’s gone everywhere.

But, sometimes when I talk to landowners and land-users—farmers, cottagers, hunters, and ATV-ers—who hear me say we need to protect species or habitat, they get on the defensive. They don’t want to be told how to use their land, or be limited in what they do on it because of some obscure plant or insect. They want to know what purpose these species serve, and if their function really outweighs the inconvenience, annoyance, or danger that these animals pose to us. They want to know, if it’s gone, does it really matter?

The answer is, yes. Many of the natural processes that humans rely on depend on biodiverse ecosystems. Consider pollination, where a huge variety of wild bees, flies, and other insects—including mosquitoes—play a crucial role in ensuring the growth and yields of the fruits, veggies, and nuts that our diets rely on. Or consider decomposition, where species of ants, termites, mushrooms, worms, and more work together to break down and recycle dead plant and animal matter, clearing the way for new life. Gardeners will be familiar with these decomposers and detritivores as some of the main players in creating compost, but without them in the wild, we would quickly be buried under piles of dead plant and animal material.

Species including rattlesnakes and black widow spiders and plants such as American ginseng might hold the cure to helping treat different diseases and conditions. Even those “annoying” species are fundamental pieces of biodiversity. Throughout their life cycle, mosquitoes help to move nutrients between aquatic and terrestrial systems. They also form a key link between phytoplankton and micro-organisms—favoured prey of filter-feeding aquatic mosquito larvae—and larger animals, from bats to frogs, fish to birds. Mosquitoes are a central component of the food web in wetlands. Losing these pesky critters could compromise the function of the wetland, an ecosystem that helps us by filtering water, acting as a buffer to hold water and prevent destructive flooding during storms and winter thaws, and fighting climate change by removing carbon from the atmosphere. These are ecosystem services that would be massively expensive to replace.

Having a variety of species participating in these functions matters as well. For example, pollination is more effective when done not just by a single species (such as honeybees), but instead by a diverse set of wild pollinators. And more biodiverse ecosystems may also be more resilient to change.

While many species might seem similar on the surface, we still lack so much understanding about the basic biology of most species and the complex interactions that they participate in within ecosystems. It’s rarely clear what effect losing a species might have. To paraphrase biologists Paul and Anne Ehrlich, early pioneers in the fields of conservation biology and environmental advocacy, losing species in an ecosystem is like blindly popping rivets off a plane while it’s flying. Some rivets might be redundant, and the plane can probably keep flying for a short while even with some structurally important rivets removed. But it’s silly to risk popping off any rivets when you don’t need to.

What can we do to help biodiversity?

We have a big (but not impossible) task ahead of us to make sure that we keep all of our rivets on the metaphorical plane (or threads in the tapestry of life, if you prefer a less utilitarian analogy). Preventing further loss and recovering biodiversity to what it was—think of it as restoring rivets that have been damaged on a plane—goes together with addressing the climate crisis. The good news is that nations are taking steps towards this.

Just this past December, 188 countries from across the world agreed to a new global framework for addressing biodiversity loss. While not perfect, the agreement contains some ambitious goals, including protecting 30 per cent of lands and waters by 2030, restoring and stopping the loss of areas important to biodiversity and of high ecological integrity, and addressing key drivers of biodiversity loss. Importantly, this agreement highlights the need for conservation to be led by (or at least happen in collaboration with) Indigenous peoples and local communities—something that is especially important here in Canada.

And it’s not just at the Minesing Wetland. Wherever you are—at the side of a lake, on the banks of a river, on the edge of a field, or deep in the woods—there are many things that you can do to help biodiversity around you. It can start as simple as creating a pollinator garden of native wildflowers (or encouraging the wildflowers that are already growing), setting aside parts of lawn or lands to stay “wild” (such as by leaving leaf litter or wetlands alone for the year), or building and properly maintaining nest boxes for species such as bats or bees.

Or you can participate in community science through apps such as iNaturalist or eBird. Local land trusts, conservation authorities, and nature groups can give you advice on the best actions to protect and steward lands you own and connect you to like-minded networks of people. Conservation doesn’t need to be hard, and doesn’t always need to be opposed to other ways of enjoying lands. By engaging with the conservation network and community around you, you can find new creative ways to take care of the land and appreciate nature.

Ultimately, stopping biodiversity loss requires action at both the local level and globally. As important as it is to protect and steward biodiversity near you, it’s also important to vote for leaders who will take conservation seriously and work to meet global commitments.

I’m looking forward to my trip to the Minesing Wetlands in search of the Hine’s emerald. I’ll keep asking people to risk the marshes and mosquitoes to join me, and along the way, start down the path of appreciating biodiversity in all its forms. Like the gears in a watch, every bit of biodiversity—whether it’s an emerald-eyed dragonfly, or a bloodsucking leech—plays some sort of role in the bigger picture and has intrinsic value of its very own. With hope and hard work—and an appreciation for the importance of all the pieces of our planet—I’m optimistic that creatures like Hine’s emerald and other rare species will be a little less rare by the time I get a chance to see them.

Peter Soroye is the Key Biodiversity Areas assessment and outreach coordinator with Wildlife Conservation Society Canada. As you read this, he’s likely on a hike that’s taking 200 per cent longer than necessary as he stops to photograph every bug, bird, and flower he sees along the way.

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Cottage Life

Federal government pledges $11.7 million to Ontario wetland, grassland, and forest conservation

Ontario’s conservation efforts are getting a major boost from the federal government.

Earlier this month, Canada’s Minister of Environment and Climate Change, Steven Guilbeault, announced that his ministry would be providing more than $11.7 million to support the Ontario Land Trust Alliance’s (OLTA) efforts to conserve the province’s wetlands, grasslands, and forests.

“Canada—and Ontario—matter in the global fight to conserve and protect biodiversity. Our country is home to 24 per cent of the world’s wetlands, 25 per cent of temperate rainforest areas, and 28 per cent of remaining boreal forests. These ecosystems are globally significant as they absorb carbon, mitigate against the impacts of climate change, and protect biodiversity,” Guilbeault said in a statement.

The funding is provided through the ministry’s Nature Smart Climate Solutions Fund (NSCSF). The goal of the fund is to reduce two to four megatons of greenhouse gas emissions per year by supporting projects that conserve, restore, and enhance wetlands, peatlands, and grasslands to store and capture carbon. The fund stands at $1.4 billion and will be doled out by Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) over the next 10 years.

The ministry selected the OLTA as a funding recipient because of its advocacy work for groups committed to the long-term protection and conservation of natural and cultural heritage sites across the province. “We are really grateful to Environment and Climate Change Canada for this significant support. It’s the biggest funding program that we’ve received in our lifetime,” said Alison Howson, the executive director of the OLTA.

The alliance coordinates, educates, and provides grants to land trusts around Ontario. Land trusts are charitable groups that act as custodians of significant plots of land. The OLTA works with over 33 land trust members, including the Haliburton Highlands Land Trust, Couchiching Conservancy, and the Muskoka Conservancy.

The OLTA trains members on topics such as habitat restoration, species-at-risk conservation, and climate solutions. “We don’t have any land that we hold ourselves, but we provide a whole suite of different supports to the other organizations to do the activities on the ground,” Howson said.

The funding provided by the ECCC will go towards a new program that the OLTA has started. It’s working with 10 land trust members to secure high carbon lands across the province. “The key focus is on securing lands that have good carbon sequestration and storage,” Howson said, such as wetlands, peatlands, and grasslands. “But the lands will have other benefits as well. They will have high biodiversity value. And we’re focusing on restoration of habitat, so conserving land that can be restored for particular species at risk.”

Land trusts tend to be more flexible than the federal or provincial government and are better equipped to protect small parcels of significant land, especially in southern Ontario where the land tends to be fragmented. “The federal or provincial governments aren’t necessarily interested in or are able to leverage protection of smaller parcels for a protected area,” Howson said. “But we’re able to do that through working with private landowners who are interested in donating, or in some cases, selling their properties to land trust charities, and then the charities will hold those lands.”

Already the OLTA has secured parcels of significant land near the Ganaraska Forest, northwest of Oshawa, and Thunder Bay. “We’re protecting those types of projects from other use, such as logging operations,” Howson said. “They’re really significant wetland and forested swamp areas.”

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Cottage Life

The (sometimes controversial) reintroduction of 8 Canadian wildlife species

Some wildlife species do best when left alone. Others need a helping hand, usually because their environment has changed too rapidly for them to keep up—thanks most often to extreme weather, predation, and human changes to their habitat. Even worse, some species, such as the Vancouver Island marmot, are endemic, or only found in specific spots, so extinction in that area means extinction from the planet. Check out eight current and past (and some controversial) programs helping Canadian wildlife thrive against their existential challenges.

 

Vancouver Island marmot
Controversy rating: low

The Vancouver Island marmot is critically endangered and only found on Vancouver Island in subalpine and alpine meadows, usually 1,000 metres above sea level with their family groups. It is one of the largest members of the squirrel family, and is about the size of a house cat. During the summer, the marmot’s favourite activity is lounging on a rock in the sun. They build colonies that range in size and purpose—from small burrows for a quick escape from predators, and larger burrows for hibernation. 

Threats
There are many obstacles facing its survival, including predators (wolves, cougars, and golden eagles), extreme weather in alpine and subalpine meadows, and avalanches that crush the marmot’s colonies (yikes!).

Reintroduction plan
In 2003, the Marmot Recovery Foundation started working on a captive breeding program. “Releasing species born in captivity back to the wild means the best chance of survival,” says Adam Taylor, Executive Director of the Marmot Recovery Foundation of Wildlife Preservation Canada (WPC). Captive breeding and release, feeding programs, and habitat restoration are the best protection strategies. WPC  and partner facilities build artificial habitats, which helps marmots adapt back to the wild and go about their natural behaviours including nesting, digging, gnawing, and watching for predators. Maintaining the use of these will help marmots build colonies for hibernation and preservation against predators. 

What’s the upshot?
Reintroduction efforts have been “successful and relatively non-controversial,” says Taylor. “There is a severe population decline and biologists agree that without dramatic intervention, the species will go extinct,” he says. Some biologists are concerned that the population is too small, and that captive populations won’t be able to live in the wild again.  “It’s tricky because we want to keep the marmots alive, healthy, and breeding,” says Taylor. “At one point, caring for one marmot was caring for 10 percent of the captive population.” 

Despite the challenges, the program continues to be successful. “There were less than 30 marmots and now the population has risen to 250. We have been able to reestablish a fairly large wild population. We had five colonies in 2003, which has now grown to 25 natural colonies,” says Taylor. 

 

Taylor’s checkerspot butterflies
Controversy rating: high

The Taylor’s checkerspot butterflies are rare, with only three known wild populations in Canada. They are a keystone species, an indicator for a healthy ecosystem, according to WPC. They live in Garry oak ecosystems and meadows on Denman Island, Hornby Island, and near Campbell River in British Columbia. 

Threats
Agricultural and urban development, invasive trees and plants, fire suppression, and drought are all threats to this butterfly, says Andrea Gielens, MSc, RPBio, Wildlife Biologist with WPC. Historically, meadow areas would face small, regular, and localized fires, leading to a steady supply of regrowth in the early stages of forest regeneration. The butterflies seek open meadows when their current one regrows into a forest. “This species would normally live in a habitat that’s regularly cleared by fire. Without this process, the meadows regrow and succeed back into the forest, leaving the butterflies to find another open meadow,” says Gielens. 

Reintroduction plan
To reintroduce this species, biologists focus on breeding larva, raising them into adult butterflies, and then using the butterflies to produce the next generation of larva. WPC only takes minimal larva from the wild population for the captive breeding program. “New generations are released into the wild, after larvae grow into full butterflies,” says Gielens. 

What’s the upshot?
Reintroduction efforts are controversial. Forest fires are necessary for this species’ habitat, but the public still remains concerned about urban development and tree removal. “Part of our job is education. We want to highlight the benefit of tree removal for this species’ survival,” says Gielens. “We must maintain the natural ecosystem’s balance and the natural landscape,” says Gielens.

It is important to preserve this butterfly because they are a “historical species on the landscape,” according to Gielens. “They do not migrate, like Monarchs, but live in one area for their entire lives,” she says. To date, WPC’s conservation program has produced 3,364 Taylor’s checkerspot caterpillars and butterflies for release back into the wild.

 

Western painted turtle
Controversy rating: low

The Western painted turtle is the only native turtle species to British Columbia. It can live up to 50-years-old and is the largest painted turtle subspecies, with a shell reaching 25 cm in length. 

They live in the shallow waters of lakes, marshes, slow-moving streams, and ponds. Female turtles sometimes lay their eggs on beaches in loose, warm, and well-drained soils.

Threats
This turtle faces many threats including development, water pollution, erosion, and infilling. They are killed by cars, captured, or even poached for food. Non-human threats include raccoons, skunks, coyotes, parasites, and diseases.  

Reintroduction plan
WPC is working to educate the public on this species’ needs. “Since turtles nest in the night, it is important for people to not disrupt them,” says Gielens. People should know that, “taking turtles as pets is illegal and can harm a population for decades because taking a female turtle could risk removing hundreds of eggs. Every turtle is important for the growth of the population,” she says.

What’s the upshot?
Education has been one of the most effective tools. Once people know more about the challenges facing turtles they are more willing to take action and protect the species. For example, pet owners, who understand how they are affecting the species, are less likely to let their dogs off leash. “Being able to rely on the public reduces individual damage, creates awareness in the community, and makes it a lot easier to preserve this species,” she says. 

Not only is the Western painted turtle the only native turtle species to British Columbia, these turtles are especially important for nutrient cycling because they eat dead fish and plants, according to WPC. 

How to identify Ontario’s 8 species of turtles

 

Oregon spotted frog 

The Oregon spotted frog only lives in the floodplain wetlands, side channels, and swamps, wetland grasses, and bushes of British Columbia’s Lower Fraser Valley. It’s an excellent swimmer and great at hide-and-seek.

Threats
Loss of habitat due to development, agriculture land conversion, and resource extraction have threatened this frog species. They also face challenges with invasive species and pollution.

Reintroduction plan
Captive breeding is the most effective tool for protecting these frogs. WPC uses “headstarting,” and cares for young frogs until they are grown. They also use conservation breeding by raising frogs in controlled environments, such as zoos. Furthermore, there are efforts to create dikes and water control structures, to maintain what is left of their habitat. “We need to find a way to make two systems work together,” says Gielens. For example, humans “must ensure that when maintaining and cleaning drainage ditches, they are doing so in a way that benefits humans and frogs,” says Gielens. 

What’s the upshot?
Efforts continue to develop in order to preserve this species. With only a few hundred Oregon spotted frogs left, it is critical for conservation action to continue.  

WPC’s conservation breeding program has pioneered breeding techniques that are now producing a record number of young for release each year. Without the thousands of tadpoles and froglets that WPC has reintroduced back to the wild since 2010, this species would be that much closer to extinction in Canada.

 

Eastern Massasauga rattlesnake
Controversy rating: high

The Eastern Massasauga rattlesnake is Ontario’s only remaining venomous snake, and poses a very small threat to the public. It’s “the medicine keeper” of the land, according to First Nations’ traditions, and cannot be confused with other snakes because of its rattle that has a distinct high-pitched buzzing noise. The snake is shy and avoids humans. They live in meadows, peat lands, shoreline habitats, wetlands, bedrock barrens, and coniferous forests. They often hang out by the water (they are generally found within 50 km of the Great Lakes) and thrive in sunny open patches of land.

Threats
This snake faces many threats including habitat loss, being hit by cars, intentional killing, and illegal collection for pet trade. 

Reintroduction plan
Reintroduction for snakes is fairly new, but necessary, says Jonathan D. Choquette, Lead Biologist at the Ojibway Prairie Reptile Recovery at the WPC. The reintroduction efforts were first introduced in 2006, where a group of snakes were rescued from a development site. No snakes survived the winter trial, leading to a further population decline.

What’s the upshot?
Choquette and his team are delving into understanding why the first winter trial failed, and will integrate their findings in the long-term reintroduction program. New efforts include, “mapping suitable winter hibernation habitats, designing a novel artificial hibernation feature, testing these with a surrogate species, for the the first time last fall, artificially hibernating Massasauga at planned reintroduction at Ojibway Prairie,” says Choquette.  

This snake is important for our ecosystems, but has very small populations of only one to three dozen adults in the Carolinian Region.

Wild Turkey
Controversy rating: low

The eastern wild turkey spends its days foraging for leaf litter, chasing bugs, and milling for seeds and is a great flyer (in short distances).This species is important to Ontario ecosystems and is native to southern Ontario forests. Prior to 1909, the wild turkey lived north of Lake Simcoe and eastward between Toronto and Trenton. It was extirpated—extinct in a local area but present in other locations—from Ontario for 80 years. Reintroduction efforts have successfully brought the eastern wild turkey back to southwestern Ontario. 

Threats
“The eastern wild turkey was extirpated from Ontario by the early 1900’s due to unregulated harvest and rapid loss of forest habitat for agriculture within their historic range,” according to Patrick Hubert, Senior Wildlife Biologist–Policy Advisor with the Ministry of Northern Development, Mines, Natural Resources & Forestry. These threats led to the emergence of wildlife management. “This set the stage for successful eastern wild turkey restoration in Ontario,” says Hubert.

Reintroduction plan
Reintroduction began in the 1980’s, in collaboration between the ministry and stakeholders like Ontario Federation of Anglers and Hunters and Federation of Ontario Naturalists. The American government and the National Wild Turkey Federation from the United States also supported the project. Restoration of the eastern wild turkey to the province was supported for the ecological, social and economic benefits. 

What’s the upshot?
Reintroduction efforts have been successful. These efforts led to 4,400 turkeys being released to over 275 sites. The turkey population grew to 70,000 in 2007. “From an ecological perspective, the re-introduction was necessary,” says Hubert. “The wild turkey is an important prey species for predators like coyote, red fox, and bobcat (where their ranges overlap). The role of the wild turkey in renewing forest understory has been discussed and debated, but since the eastern wild turkey is well adapted to deciduous forest we can assume there are mutual benefits for turkeys and other species in this ecosystem,” he says. 

The American Elk
Controversy rating: medium

The American elk is the largest member of the deer family and is only one of four members who lives in Ontario. They are social creatures and are rarely seen alone. They can live in many different areas, and thrive in open country, parks, and forest regions. 

Threats
According to Biologist Bruce Ranta, “they were extirpated from the province in the late 1800s due to pressures from human settlement, excessive agriculture, and shifts in climate.”

Reintroduction plan
Ranta was part of the Ministry of Natural Resources team that started to reintroduce these elk in the late 1990’s. Elk were reintroduced in Lake of the Woods, Lake Huron North Shore, the Nipissing and French River area, and around Bancroft and North Hastings.

What’s the upshot?
Despite successful efforts, there was controversy around reintroduction because of agricultural development and traffic concerns. “It actually may get the Ministry of Transportation to do some forward thinking that seems to be lacking in Ontario. We are lacking in comparison to some jurisdictions who use fencing, overpasses, and underpasses to facilitate the movement of animals across natural barriers,” says Ranta. 

There are many reasons why elk are crucial to Ontario wildlife populations, but Ranta emphasizes that “elk are important for enhancing biodiversity.” They also support the hunting and viewing industries, and provide economic benefits through tourism.

 

Eastern Loggerhead Shrike
Controversy rating: medium

The Eastern Loggerhead Shrike is one of the most imperilled birds in Canada, with a small Ontario population of 24 breeding partners last year. They live in small pockets of grassland in Ontario, Quebec, and Manitoba, the persistence of habitat loss has restricted its areas. In Ontario, you can only find the shrike near the greater Toronto area, in the plains of Carden and Napanee.

Threats
Since this songbird thrives in grasslands, its main threats are residential and agricultural developers, and solar farms (because solar panels can look like a smooth body of water, resulting in a collision when the shrike attempts to land. This is known as the “lake effect.”). Predators include black-billed magpies, crows, bull snakes, feral cats, and prairie long-tailed weasels. Motor vehicles also do a number on the birds, which perch on fences and utility lines, and sometimes collide with passing cars. 

Reintroduction Plan
Efforts to preserve this species of shrike started in 1991, in response to a rapidly declining population. Since 2003, WPC has been monitoring the existing eastern loggerhead shrike population and created a captive breeding program to bolster the existing wild population. “We are trying to keep them as wild as possible,” says Hazel Wheeler, Lead Biologist of Eastern Loggerhead Shrike Recovery program. Although they are in zoos, the shrikes are not an exhibition. “We don’t want them to be acclimated to humans,” she says. To maintain a natural-like environment, the team developed a set of standards to maintain similarity to its natural environment, including cages large enough for the birds to fly around in. The enclosures also include “tools”’ that the shrikes can use to mimic their wild habits: nicknamed “the butcher bird” for a reason, they “impale their prey from perches, or barbed wire, and use their talons to rip bite-sized pieces off their prey,” says Wheeler. 

What’s the upshot?
Reintroduction efforts continue, but not without controversy. Since the population in Ontario is so small, some have questioned the importance of the conservation efforts. “I find this question interesting: what can they do for us? Yes, you can make the argument that they are a predatory songbird who helps to maintain certain populations such as mice, which has an overall impact on biodiversity—but, I like to push back. Why does any animal need to have direct value to us? I would argue that shrikes have just as much right to exist as we do.” Wheeler continues, “if we lose a shrike, then we lose something else. Then we lose something else,” she says. “And the cycle just keeps continuing.” 

Since 2003, WPC has been breeding and reintroducing loggerhead shrikes back to alvar grasslands in Ontario to bolster dwindling wild populations. The eastern loggerhead shrike is WPC’s longest running conservation breeding program, demonstrating the time and effort required to save a species from extinction. 

Bill 108 could threaten cottage-country at-risk species

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Cottage Life

Threatened Western chorus frogs getting a boost (and how you can help)

In November 2021, Canadian Minister of Environment and Climate Change Steven Guilbeault declared an emergency order that put an immediate halt on a residential development in Longueuil, Que., to protect the critical habitat of one of Canada’s threatened amphibian species—the western chorus frog.

While this was one of the few cases where the federal government applied the Species at Risk Act to cease development on private land, the Canadian Shield’s population of western chorus frog—in addition to many other closely related species—has declined over the past 60 years and continues to be an issue in Canada.

It was recently announced that the proposed route of Highway 413 in Ontario will impact the habitat of 11 species at risk, including the western chorus frog. The recent disappearance of this frog and its habitat—specially in portions of Ontario and Québec—has caused substantial concern and controversy.

Meet the chorus frog

As a behavioural ecologist specializing in acoustics and a reproductive endocrinologist who invented an injectable hormone mixture that induces frog breeding, we believe hope still exists. Habitat protection and restoration, advanced reproductive technologies and reintroduction procedures are all at our fingertips. This multifaceted approach could help slow further declines of chorus frogs and other amphibians.

Global and local threats

Despite its small size—measuring only two to three centimetres in length and often weighing less than two grams—the western chorus frog produces a loud, clear trill that is reminiscent of running a thumb across a plastic comb.

Historically, it was one of the most abundant amphibians in eastern Ontario and Québec. Now, it is found in only 10 per cent of their original range.

A dark brown frog with light brown markings
An adult female western chorus frog (Pseudacris triseriata).
(Chris Callaghan), Author provided

Amphibians, including the western chorus frog and other frogs, toads and salamanders, play critical ecological roles in the environment. They are vital pieces in the local food chain. They are also economically important, as they provide free pest control in residential areas by consuming insect species, such as mosquitoes and blackflies, without the need of pesticides that are potentially harmful to wildlife.

Across the world, these amphibian species are rapidly disappearing due to habitat loss, disease, pollution, harvesting, invasive species and climate change. Over 40 per cent of species are threatened with extinction. Amphibian declines are part of the sixth mass extinction event on Earth, on a scale that is approaching the loss of dinosaurs.

Captive breeding can aid reintroduction of frogs

One strategy for conserving declining species is to collect individuals from the wild and breed them in laboratory or captive settings.

This allows the offspring to grow without being threatened by predators, contaminants or other disturbances. The healthy offspring can then be released to boost numbers in the natural environment.

Along with Marc Mazerolle’s team at Laval University, we implemented this strategy through a recent collaborative effort with the Montreal Biodome and Sépaq (Société des établissements de plein air du Québec), with the goal of increasing the number of healthy individuals that can be released into appropriate restored natural sites to the benefit of all.

Two years into the project, adult chorus frogs have been successfully bred in captivity. Hundreds of tadpoles have been reared to froglets and released in constructed wetlands for the species. Some of the introduced individuals survived their first winter and adult males could be heard calling for females this past spring. These methods can be applied to species around the world.

The critical role of awareness and conservation

The first step is to spread awareness to emphasize the importance of amphibians and the speed at which species are declining. There are several resources and citizen science projects dedicate to the protection of amphibians, such as Partners in Amphibian and Reptile Conservation and Amphibian Survival Alliance.

Protection of wetlands from destruction and pollution is one of the best ways to help. Wetlands are critical to the survival of amphibians. During the construction of housing developments and infrastructure—such as the proposed Highway 413—wetlands are often drained or filled in. Wetlands host many beautiful bird and plant species, not only amphibians, and they act as the earth’s filter to increase water quality.

A wetland
Wetlands act as typical habitats for western chorus frogs and other amphibians.
(Jeffrey P. Ethier), Author provided

Being careful while walking or driving near wetlands is another way to help on an individual level. Avoid disturbing breeding amphibians. Leave the tadpoles in the water. Observe and enjoy watching them grow legs and climb out of the water for the first time! Protecting the local ponds near your home can also contribute to this conservation.

You can also participate in public forums and let your community know that you support sustainable and responsible land use that keeps wetland habitats connected and protects critical areas for threatened species. Form volunteer groups to help protect frogs as they migrate over roads in the spring breeding season, as seen in other countries. We all have the power to make a positive difference in the protection of amphibians.The Conversation

Jeffrey P. Ethier, PhD candidate, Department of Biology, L’Université d’Ottawa/University of Ottawa and Vance L Trudeau, Professor, Department of Biology, L’Université d’Ottawa/University of Ottawa

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

If looks could kill these frogs would stop bugs in their tracks

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Cottage Life

Connecting fragmented habitat is essential for wolverine conservation

Present day wolverines, which emerged during the ice age, have been declining globally despite their many adaptions to live in challenging, rugged environments.

These large land-dwelling weasels evolved to scramble up trees and climb steep, snowy mountains. Wolverines’ snowshoe-like paws, heavy frost-resistant fur and powerful muscles let them thrive in some of the coldest places on Earth. Their sharp claws and strong jaws allow them to feast on carcasses and hunt species of all sizes from ground squirrels to elk.

While wolverines have been filmed hunting caribou in Norway and observed battling black bears over food in Yellowstone, they are extremely vulnerable, rarely seen and hard to study. Wolverine numbers are declining globally due to heavy trapping and predator killing by humans as well as habitat loss, climate change and various other factors. Scientists estimate there are more than 10,000 wolverines in Canada, but population densities vary a lot and numbers are difficult to estimate.

Our 20 years of synthesized research about wolverines shows that the best ways to protect remaining wolverine populations are to reduce trapping, minimize predator control pressures, and connect the large blocks of intact habitat they need to survive.

Not as resilient as you might think

Wolverines are private, generally solitary, species. They are slow to reproduce and have an average of two cubs, or kits, every two to three years.

They are naturally low in number and defend territories as large as 500-1,000 square kilometres, or sometimes more. These traits make them vulnerable to human impacts around the world.

Since the Europeans colonized North America, fur trapping and landscape development shrank the wolverine range drastically. South of the wide Arctic range, wolverines can be found only in the western boreal forest and mountains. But they used to live from coast to coast and as far south as New Mexico.

Today, in the United States, only around 300 remain in the lower 48 states — mainly in the snowy strongholds and high elevations of the mountain ranges. Wolverines are restricted to northern countries in Eurasia and are killed as predators of reindeer herds in Fennoscandia.

A map of the wolverine distribution in North America.
Wolverine distribution in North America.
(Environment Canada)

As tough as they are, wolverines are sometimes eaten by other big predators. As scavengers, taking food from a hungry bear or pack of wolves is a risky lifestyle. Their habitat is degraded by resource development, including forestry, oil and gas, and roads. People still trap wolverines in Canada, often far too heavily. They can also be sensitive to recreation.

All this human activity makes life better for wolverines’ competitors—coyotes. Where coyotes exploit developed landscapes, they come into conflict with wolverines, and in these fights, wolverines lose.

Piled on those problems is the impact of climate change on wolverine habitat. The cold, snowy refuges that wolverines have sought south of the Arctic are now thawing. Wolverines need snow to cache food, to raise their vulnerable kits safely and to keep lowland competitors away. The one-two punch of landscape change and climate change are making matters worse for wolverines.

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Building blocks for wolverine conservation

Wolverines need large, connected blocks of intact habitat to survive. The only way to protect them in the long run is to help protect and connect their fragmented blocks of habitat.

A scenic mountainous green landscape
Prime wolverine habitat near Revelstoke, B.C. in summer. Wolverines need large areas of intact, connected habitat to survive.
(Mirjam Barrueto/WolverineWatch.org), Author provided

Creating more protected areas and managing human activity within and next to them will help. Protecting “climate refugia”—the last bastions of cold wolverine habitat—is an important priority. Landscape planning to connect mountain refuges across busy degraded valley bottoms is sorely needed, especially in southern Canada and the United States

Work to maintain or improve ecological connectivity is happening in some places, such as from Yellowstone to Yukon and other areas in the world.

Roads and industrial development cut up major sections of prime habitat. We can fight habitat fragmentation by making better decisions about road-building, including when to decommission roads built for resource extraction and mitigating the effects of traffic on wolverines and other wildlife. Habitat protection, connectivity, and restoration are critical for wolverines.

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We also need transboundary co-ordination. We need to think across larger landscapes, especially regions that still support wolverines on both sides of a border—like between Canada and the United States or between Norway and Sweden.

No longer ignorant nor blissful

Globally, governments have insufficiently protected wolverines.

Sweden’s predator stewardship program is an exception and British Columbia has stopped wolverine trapping in small locales.

Otherwise, large-scale wolverine conservation has been on the back burner. In the U.S., a petition to list wolverines on the federal Endangered Species Act was thwarted. Canada lacks a federal management plan and British Columbia’s most recent wolverine plan is from 1989, while Alberta lists the species in the “data deficient” category.

A wolverine in a camera trap surrounded by trees and a snow covered ground.
A wolverine at a research station in southeastern British Columbia. We know a lot about wolverines. All we have to do is use the knowledge and act fast.
(Mirjam Barrueto/WolverineWatch.org), Author provided

For years it seemed like not much was known about wolverines, and policymakers have rested on wolverines’ mystery to excuse inaction.

The truth is, science knows a lot about wolverines. Research from around the world clearly shows what we need to do.

Wolverines may have evolved in the cold but the heat is on us to act now. We must use the research compiled over the past two decades to make the changes needed to conserve wolverines.The Conversation

Jason T Fisher is an adjunct professor and head of the Applied Conservation Macro Ecology Lab, at the University of Victoria. Aerin Jacob is an adjunct professor in the Department of Ecosystem Science and Management at the University of Northern British Columbia.

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

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Cottage Life

The battle against invasive sea lamprey in the Great Lakes rages on

For the past two years, COVID-19 impeded conservation operations in the Great Lakes. Now, the Great Lakes Fishery Commission is ramping up efforts to contain invasive sea lampreys that threaten the wellness of the ecosystem.

Sea lamprey management is a fickle but important part of Great Lakes conservation. Since the 1950s, Canada and the U. S. have been working in tandem to keep the invasive species in check and preserve the $7 billion Great Lakes fishing industry. However, in 2020 and 2021, pandemic restrictions prevented conservation workers from undertaking their usual ecosystem management efforts in the Great Lakes.

In the past, when control was eased, lamprey populations grew relatively quickly. However, Marc Gaden of the Great Lakes Fishery Commission, which is in charge of sea lamprey management, says the organization is hopeful that renewed containment efforts will keep the population in check this time around. “We’re cautiously optimistic that we can weather this,” says Gaden.

What’s happening right now?

The pandemic limited the Commission’s capacity to work in the field and manage lamprey populations. The Fishery Commission’s lamprey management operations were only able to run at roughly 25 per cent capacity in 2020, and 75 per cent in 2021. “COVID set us back a bit, the past two seasons have been highly curtailed because the crews couldn’t get out there,” Gaden explains.

The lampreys that are spawning now, are survivors from the 2020 season. This means the Commission won’t know until the fall, once they’ve fully analyzed all the available data, how significantly the population has changed.

Still, Gaden is cautiously optimistic about the situation. The Commission had been aggressively controlling the sea lamprey population in the decade leading up to COVID-19, which happened to set them up well for the pandemic, says Gaden. “We went into COVID as well-positioned as you can be for a disruption of that size.”

Both the Canadian and American governments have provided the Great Lakes Fishery Commission with additional resources, allowing them to step up the battle against the sea lampreys, says Gaden. Now, the Commission is working at maximum capacity to apply the lampricide treatments. “We’re well-positioned from a resource position to really take this battle to the lamprey and to continue to suppress the populations to the target level we’ve set.”

What are sea lampreys?

Sea lampreys have been a thorn in the side of Great Lakes conservationists for a century. They’re ancient blood-sucking creatures with eel-like bodies and rows of concentric teeth. While the creatures are healthy contributors to their natural environment off the Atlantic coast, they’re devastating to the fish of the Great Lakes. 

From a scientific point of view, even though sea lamprey are a huge pest in the Great Lakes, lampreys as a whole are evolutionarily pretty fascinating,” says Margaret Docker, a professor at the University of Manitoba who studies lamprey biology and freshwater fish conservation. Sea lampreys began to evolve half a billion years ago. The ancient sea creatures are often mistakenly referred to as eels thanks to their long and skinny bodies, but they’re actually considered jawless fish. “Almost all the lineages of jawless fish went extinct, and lampreys are one of the few survivors from that time, 400 million years ago,” says Docker.

Parasitic sea lampreys use their jawless but teeth-lined mouths to suction onto a host fish. Then, they use their tongue—which also has its own set of teeth—to chisel away at the flesh of their prey to suck up its blood. For those who are now scared to dip their toes into the Great Lakes, have no fear, sea lampreys only go after cold-blooded prey.

Docker says the larger fish of the Atlantic are able to handle the sea lamprey’s bite, which makes them little more than a nuisance (like a very large mosquito) in their native habitat. But for the smaller freshwater fish of the Great Lakes, the sea lamprey’s bite is often fatal.

Sea lamprey attached to a salmon
Photo by M. Gaden/Great Lakes Fishery Commission

Why are sea lamprey harmful to the Great Lakes?

The vampire-like fish was first seen in Lake Ontario in the mid-1800s, but it wasn’t until the 1930s that sea lampreys were documented in all five lakes. Gaden says sea lampreys entered the Great Lakes through man-made canals, and the Great Lakes happened to serve as the perfect habitat for the invasive creatures. It provided them with optimal spawning grounds, a plethora of tasty fish, and most importantly, a lack of natural predators. “That’s kind of the best recipe you could possibly have if you’re an invasive species,” says Gaden. “Those are the best conditions for an invasion.”

Gaden says prior to the late 1950s, sea lampreys inflicted enormous damage to the ecosystem of the Great Lakes. Individual sea lampreys are capable of killing 20 kilograms of fish and each female can lay 100,000 eggs. After their invasion, sea lampreys quickly decimated the fish populations of the Great Lakes. “They put some commercial fishers out of business,” says Gaden. “In some cases, they were eating more fish than humans were catching.”

In 1954, Canada and the U.S. joined forces to create the Great Lakes Fishery Commission, which they tasked with managing the Great Lakes ecosystem and containing sea lamprey populations. Gaden says the creation of this bi-national organization is a testament to how destructive the sea lamprey is. While the commission has had success and setbacks over the past half a century, today, lamprey numbers are only at a small fraction of what they were prior to control efforts, he says. 

The secret weapon in the fight against lampreys? Lampricide. Lampricide is a pesticide discovered by the Commission that kills lampreys while leaving other wildlife in the Great Lakes unharmed. “It’s a wild success story in terms of taking a species that essentially posed an existential threat to the Great Lakes, and bringing it under control using mechanisms that are safe for the environment and harmful to lampreys,” Gaden says.

It’s crucial that conservation efforts continue to ensure sea lampreys don’t expand beyond the Great Lakes, says Docker. 

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Cottage Life

NCC receives historic donation of island near Montreal

Waterfront property near an urban center may be highly coveted, but for years, Thor Vikström refused offer after offer for his island near the Montreal suburb of Laval. The desire to protect it has now paid off in a historic donation of an island that Vikström, 93, made to the Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC) in December.

Situated in a region known as the Rivière des Prairies, the three-hectare Île Ronde was a piece of paradise for Vikström and his family, who used it as a nature escape and at times kept animals like sheep, according to the NCC. Vikström immigrated to Canada from Sweden in the 1960s and became a successful entrepreneur, purchasing Île Ronde shortly after he bought his home in Laval, just across the small waterway from the island.  

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Annie Ferland, a project manager at the NCC, said the land was very well cared for. “Mr. Vikström was always preoccupied with preserving this little paradise,” Ferland said, “and nature was more important than money.” Part of that is reflected in the presence of a tree species rarely found in Southern Quebec, the shagbark hickory. “It’s a tree that was heavily cut… so it’s a very exceptional thing to find them there,” Ferland said.

The land will be designated as a private nature reserve with no immediate plans to allow public access, which Ferland said will provide an important conservation opportunity. The map turtle, for example—a species listed as being of “special concern” by the government—can use the shore to lay eggs, and waterfowl and amphibians can continue their natural reproduction, protected from any threats. 

While land donations aren’t entirely uncommon for the NCC, Vikström’s is historic in that it’s the Conservancy’s first acquisition in the Rivière des Prairies, according to Ferland. What makes it even more crucial, she said, is that only about 20 per cent of Montreal’s natural habitats remain; of those, only ten per cent are formally protected. She said the NCC is working towards raising that percentage to at least 17, but there’s still a long way to go. 

Donations like Vikström’s can play a big role in land restoration, and in the overall conservation of natural areas. “Around a third of the land value the NCC has are private gifts of land or money,” Ferland explained, “so it’s very substantial.” Any landowners interested in donating or better protecting their land can contact the NCC for help, Ferland said. Even if they’re unable to take on or manage the land, the Conservancy can provide information and advice on how best to protect natural habitats.

In a video accompanying the donation announcement, Vikström reminisced about the many times he got to witness birds and ducks raise their young around the island. “I thought, ‘This is unbelievable, I have this opportunity to see nature the way it is,’” he said. He was always concerned with what would happen to Île Ronde in the future. “It’s a dream for me now that it’s preserved, forever.”

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Potins

Leonardo DiCaprio gives 7m for conservation

Leonardo DiCaprio has pledged $7 million for ocean conservation.

The ‘Wolf of Wall Street’ actor spoke at the State Department’s Our Ocean Conference in Washington yesterday (06.17.14), to decry ”the Wild West on the high seas” and called for moves to curb ”plundering the ocean and its vital resources” as he vowed to make a hefty donation from his self-titled foundation for ”meaningful conservation projects” over the next two years.

He said: ”[I’m] here as a concerned citizen of this planet who believes this is the most important issue of our time.

”What we need is sustained activism and courageous political leadership. We cannot afford to be bystanders in this pre-apocalyptic scenario.”

The 39-year-old actor went on to speak of his sadness in the changes he has seen to Australia’s Great Barrier Reef in recent years.

He said: ”Since my very first dive in the Great Barrier Reef in Australia 20 years ago to the dive I got to do in the very same location just two years ago, I’ve witnessed environmental devastation firsthand.

”What once had looked like an endless underwater utopia is now riddled with bleached coral reefs and massive dead zones.”