Transcript
Hierarchical biogeographical objectives cont...
9 biomes
Olson subdivide to create 14 subdivisions
One of such biomes is the Boreal Forest
Canada's 1/3 is boreal
THe temperature
Boreal Forest
Global Distribution
Large swat of the northern hemisphere
Canada is very beneficial?
Main feature, wetland
Wetland type: peat bogs,
Important for world's heat absorption and carbon cycling, huge Carbon storage
Can also source carbon
Underlain by permafrost, thaws seasonally up to 1m, the top 1m
Due to climate change we got more than seasonal warming
Trees have shallow roots in active soil layer
They lean in all directions, like drunken trees
Dominated by conifers, with some deciduous
They look like little sticks
Very dynamic system because natural disturbances such as wildfires(lightning), windstorms, insect infestations, normally kills stands and then regenerate: ecosystem succession
Almost all provinces have boreals
Only maritime doesn't have it
Plants adapted to living in cold dry conditions
Coniferous trees: shed snow easily, retain their leaves,needles, throughout winter, thick waxy coating of needles minimize waterloss, even when there is water, sometimes frozen
Ex. FIRS, pines, spruces, hemlocks, larch, all hagve cones as their fruits
Some cones, jack pines, will not release seeds until heated in forest fire
Other ground cover plants, moss, and lichen can tolerate desiccation?
Fire in boreal
During droughts, fires natural set burn trees and soils, when firefighting stops, fuel can accumulate and lead to mega fires such as the ones we have seen recently.
We need fires overtime, to dispose of the accumulating fuel
Animals in boreal
Carnivores include: gray wolf(canada), felines like bobcat, lynx, siberian tiger (asia and russia)
Herbivores include elk, wapiti, and moose, wood bison endangered, caribou (too much?)
Small mammals: snowshoe hare, porcupine, adapted to cold dry conditions
Help disperse seeds across the land
Snowshoe hare preyed by lynx
Ecozones
Boreal Shield
Taiga Shield
Hudson plains
Hudson bay complex, etc...
Ecozones are broken down from the biome of boreal forest
Ecozone: Similar to biomes in being extensive in area and mapped based on ecological similarities
Differ in prominent species and enduring attributes relating to bedrock, soil, and landforms, and type of human activities
Ecozones include human activities
Integrate natural features, and influences with human socioeconomic ones
More appropriate for conservation, distinctive terrestrial marine ecozones of Canada
Ecoregions
Are sub of ecozones and have distinctice climatic conditions and landforms
Eco Region
Can divide into ecodistricts
Ecosections
Ecosites
Ecoelements
Carolinian Canada – Carolinian Life Zone
Terrestrial and 5 marine ecozones in Canada
On ontario, three main ecozones: hudson plains, boreal shield mixedwood plains …..
Ecozones: Key abiotic processes operated on order of thousands to millions of years
Ecoregions: similar climatic conditions and landforms that govern vegetation types substrate and biota
Eco districs: regional level for strategic planning
Ecosections: broad habitat trends, forests, land uses; watershed planning
Ecosites: ecosystem mapping and wildlife habitat conservation; sub-watershed planning
Ecoelements: Stand level: environmental assessment habitat evaluation biotic inventories
Ecoregions within central and southern ontario are have the ecozones
EASTERN and northern georgian bay coastal wetlands
Have a land cover: The Canadian Shield, with a very shallow soil
When soil is burned takes long time to regenerate due to canadian shield rock being underneath the surface
Urbanized wetlands of Lake Ontario: Lake Simcoe
South: Agriculturally influenced wetlands of Lake Erie
Mixwood plains occupy 2.2% of Ontario
Climate is mildest in Canada
Cool winters, long hot humid summers
Used to be completely convered by forests and some grasslands
Now cities are built around forest wetlands and grasslands
Mostly flat excpet Niagara escarpment
80% converted to cropland, pasture, and urban land
Vegetation usedto be mostly decisuous forests with tall-grass prairies and savannahs
Few old growth forests- not logged post european
Remnant large coastal marsshes in LOng point, Rondeau, Pelee
Old Growth Forest: non-up and down,
A lot of litter, soft ground, not all decomposed, so ypou could sleep on it
Forest floor is whole ecosystem component
Some birds nest on ground, oven bird need litter on floor to nest
250-300 y old
Various ages of trees, indicated by diameter at breast, with some more than 300-499
Large downed trees; leaning and gnarly trees
Soft thick layer of organic leave litter; undisturbed forests have no earthworms (brought over by Europeans)
If you bring earthworms, you lose softness of the forest, because they eat like crazy
Quiet enough, you can hear earthworms chewing through forests
Earthworms are not all good
Native to north America, but more south
Fat worms, are not native to here
High diversity: multi-layer canopy, subcanopy, herbaceous shrubs and all round ground cover
We want diversity, because they are more able to withstand disturbances
When one dies off, 3-4 others can take its place
Vernal Pools: seasonal pools of water that provide habitat for distinctive plants and animals
New growth: look structured due to plantations
Just the ground, cant sleep on it
40-50 y old
Backue woods
Vernal Pools
Active Decay
Biodiversity in MixWood plains
Longest growing days in canada
Forests in north are mixesd coniferous and deciduous while those in the south are deciduous Carolinian forests
Because of forests and wetlands, biodiversity in region is extremely high, with highest concentration of species at risk (SAR) fond in Ecoregion 7E (1-6). Some SAR occur in remnant Carolinian forests
Forests in the north are a mix of coniferous and deciduous
Forests in the south are deciduous carolinian forests
Carolinian life zone extends from Carolinas to southern Ontario
Carolinana canada occupies less than 1% of cana
but account for more flora and fauna than any other ecosystem in canada, despite great loss in natural core areas
Carolinana Indicator species
Can get research money to try and save them
Indicator species found in carolinana forests but nowhere else in canada
Native species: are evolved in the carolinana life zone but that are found elsewhere in canada
Species at RISK: native species that are endangered or could be extirpated
Extirpated: local extinction
Animals
Oppossom
Spouthern flying squirrel
Red bellied woodpecker
Carolina wren
Eastern hognose snake
Eastern spiny soft shell turtle
Landcover Classification Case Studies
Dr. Chantel Markle:
Gillian Chow-Frazer: Leader of northern alberta caribou program
Morgan piczak: Using spatial approaches to examine threats facing common snapping turtles
There are some at-risk herpetofauna in Ontario
Especially within point pelee
Spotted turtle has disappeared
Some snakes as well
90% species at risk are due to habitat loss
Protected areas serve the purpose of saving these species
IUCN defines this as recognized space dedicated and managed through legal or other means to achieve long term conservation of nature
National park
Provincial park
Wilderness areas
Privately owned pare: royal botanical garden
Land trusts
Aichi Target: By 2020, all countries aim to protect 17% of terrestrial land and 10% marine land
Probably not gonna be met
Protected areas are like islands
Metapopulation ire populations that are of same species but are seperated by space
If the islands of land are too far away, populations can't reach the area and repopulate them
EcoRegion 7E
Has highest species richness in the province
Areas with least protected area have the richest species diversity
Mixwood plain ecozone
There are 6 ecodistricts
7E1: Point Pelee
POint of land called sand spit
formed by erosion by water
Juts out into lake Erie
Because it is erosive and dynamic, the point of the tip is always changing
Subjective to intrusion of lake water, since water can reach very high, and pass barriers
Coastal Wetland complex
Special protection because it has more biodiveristy than normal
Because a lot of species are fish that use it, so you get all the terrestrial species and the aquatic species
Point Pelee long point, all share where migratory birds frequent
Point Pelee is a Lake Erie coastal wetland complex
Essex county (agricultural)
decreased from 83.4% to about 1.6% from 1800 to 2002
Marsh Complex was 3633 ha in 1880
But in mid 1880s europeans migrated and since then it has started to drain and used for agriculture
The tip of Pelee is the southern most point of Canadian mainland within Carolinian Canada
PPNP: Point Pelee National Park
Established in 1918 to provide refugium for species
One of only a few refugia in heavily agricultural region
Despite status of being protected Area, 5 amphibians, 6 snakes, and 1 turtle have dissappeared
Hypothesis: they were approached by the park to figure out why protected area wasn't doing its job
Hypothesis: Island of protected area to far away from other species living areas, thus metapopulation cant help this population
Hypothesis: Habitat in the protected area is too degraded and/or has been transformed from suitable to unsuitable (less suitable)
Quantify the changes to the point Pelee
Study Approach:
1: Use available air photos to determine long term changes within the Point
2:
Image data
spanned 85 years
1931-2004 black and white
2010-2015 true color
Manual digitized habitat classes
Use existing ecological landscape classification Dougan and Associtae
Fins what landcover lclasses are appropriate
2010 LANDCOVER MAp
How to out of 30 classes can be combined to strengthen
how many important for reptile conservation
Preferred habitat: wetlands, meadows, open water, and sandy substrate
Impediment to turtles
Two emergent plants that can be problematic
Phragmites australis haplotype M invade coastal wetlands toward late 1990s
Typh xglauca (hybrid of T.latifolia
And T.angustifolia (non-native)
Both grow into dense dominant patches that are difficult for wildlife, tutles to move through, for ex. from marshes to meadows
Habitat Types
Open water, farb
Nesting habitats: road, sand
Coastal wetlands are very dynamic depending on th esize and water level of the lake
High water:lose the size of the park
Low water, increase the size of the park
Total park area even after water was down, there was a decrease in park size
So gradual decline in park size
Due to erosion of beaches
Lake Erie WL significantly correlated with shoreline & barren/dune area
There is a general increase in cattails beds replacing the graminoid and forb shallow marshes, that are interspersed with water.
These are very important because reptiles require them for overwintering habitat
Forests have taken over meadow and savanna.
Ecosystem start with grasses, then trees establish and expands
Natural colonization
Constructed areas have almost been elminated there are no more cottages allowed in the park
Landscape
Patch size and number
1950: 68 ha and 26 patches
2015:186 ha and 8 patches
Means that lower diversity of different types of habitat
Landscape has overall become less diverse more homogenous
Homo is bad
Replacement of open water by cattails, is bad because prevent movement from habitat patch to patch
Invasive Phagmites australis
They have increased, from 2004 #4 density 0.27, to 166, 11.21 in 2015
Spotted turtle has not been seen in park since 1990
HAbitat require: sandy beaches
We meadows and marshes for foraging and overwintering
Batita quality and quantity have changed since 1930s
Hybrid cattail marshes expand taking meadows and beaches
Phragmites colonized park
Chelydra serpentina
Highly recognizable
Important link between aquatic and terrestrial eosystems
Susceptible to anthopogenic threats due to life history traits
Late secual maturaity
Low reqruitment
Reliance on low adult mortality
Ontario SARA status: special concern, very recent
Major Threats
Loss, alteration and fragmentation of habitat
Harvesting, persecution and poaching
Meso- predators (raccoons)
Phragmites
Sewage effluent, disease and pharmaseuticlas
Road mortality
Degredation of cootes paradise marsh
Historically supported one of the most dense populations of SNTU in southern Ontario
Shoreline modified extensively
Surrounding land uses changed
Increased human population, increased traffic volume
Critical Habitat
Habitat esential for an organism to carry otut necessary life functions
Nesting habitat
To support reqruitment into population
Overwintering habitat
To allow them to survive the winter
habitat suitable for nesting
Loose soil, sand, and gravel, that occur naturally along stream banks
Features created by humans such as road sides, agricultural fields, gardens, or gravel piles
During late spring, after females have mated mulitpl, they migrate from their resident marsh sites in western Cootes Paradise to find suitable nesting sites where they can deposit their eggs
Home range determination
Capture 10 snapping turtles opportunistically
6 male 4 female 2017
Equipped each turtle with radio-tags
Notched shells to identify individuals
Recorded location, weight, sex, size, age, measurements
Based on at least 24 tracked locations over the year, determined home range of the turtle population
Radio – Tracking program
Used movements to figure find interactions with the road
Cootes drive,
Olumpics drive
King street East
Chronological straight lines between relocations
364 points, Core is 45.1 ha and the 100% MCP is 278.1 ha
Use of Geograohic information system(GIS) in landscpape ecology
Both case studies rely on use of GIS to detect habitat changes
Change Detection
Is a standardized method to determine how a given area has changed between two time periods (1934 and 2015)
Importing into GIS, aerial photos or satellite images taken during two time periods at exactly the same location (same seasong if possible)
Transformation from one class to another will reveal:
Change in location, size and number of particular landcover classes