recovery of kirtland’s warbler · warbler in simcoe county. recovery plan: determining suitable...
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Re-establishing a Lost Ecosystem of Southern Ontario
Recovery of Kirtland’s Warbler
NOVEMBER 14, 2018
Photo By: Lev Frid
2018 LATORNELL CONSERVATION SYMPOSIUM
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Restoration for a single species is more meaningful when it is completed at the
community level.
DATE
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History and Habitat of the Kirtland’s WarblerWhy are they considered one of the most endangered birds in Canada, and what contributed to their decline?
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• Ontario is composed of 4 major life zones
• Also part of Great Lakes Basin shared with 8 US states
• Tremendous diversity in Great Lakes Basin; endemism
• Shoreline meadows to upland forest to fens to talus slopes
• Many rare habitats are associated with GL shorelines
Project Landscape / Context
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Sand Barrens or Pine-Oak Savanna?
OCTOBER 12, 2017
• Recognized as G2, a globally threatened community type
• Dominated by sandy soils
• Patchy to closed tree cover <60%
• Pine species (Jack, Red or White) and Oak (Red, White, Black) dominate
• ground cover represented by various tallgrass and meadow species
• Fire-based system
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How common was the community?
OCTOBER 12, 2017
John Goldie , 1819: Toronto Sand Plain, Pine Barrens
Catherine Traill, 1832; Rice Lake Plain
Samuel Thompson, 1833; Nottawasaga Pine Plain
Kathleen Lizars , 1913; Humber Plain
From Riley (2013) The Once and Future Great Lakes
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Where is the potential area where it occurred?
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Floristic Indicators
• Over 100 species representing the pine-oak savanna community
• Many rely on disturbance (fire, gaps, human-caused)
• Persist on sandy sites, often with multiple members present
• Bird community assemblages also can be helpful
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What do former barrens currently
have on them?
• Agriculture eg. Potatoes, Xmas tree farms
• Urbanization eg. parts of Toronto and GTA
• Erosion stabilization Plantations
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Conifer Plantations
• Ongoing study by Savanta on landscape potential
• Monocultures
• Many composed of non-native species
• Often plagued with problems like poor productivity, invasive species, disease
• Potential source of revenue and funding to help restore
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Why don’t we (intentionally) manage for early succession?
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Benefits of restoring Pine-Oak Savanna
• Replacing virtually disappeared habitat• Effective means vs. invasive/alien
problems• Increase rare/uncommon species• Improve conditions for forestry• Aesthetics• Recreational/Tourism
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Species Biology ContextKirtland’s Warbler
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Pine-Oak Savanna or Barrens specialist
• Barrens of Great Lakes ecosystem.
• Fire important. Only uses stands <25 years old.
• Species was widespread.• Structure more important than
one tree species (Jack vs. Red Pine)
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Management saved species from extinction
• Listed by US as Endangered in 1973
• Population never high; hovered around 300-500.
• Management provided habitat on State and Federal lands.
• Mimic fire through forestry and prescribed burns to create habitat.
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Removal from Endangered Species List 2015
• Population has recovered to over 5000
• Expansion of habitat preference and to new (former?) areas
• Utilizing species compositions different from Michigan (same structure)
• Two known Ontario breeding sites since 2006.
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Species Recovery in Canada
• S1 G1 ranked COSEWIC, COSSARO• Recovery Strategy 2006, Search Protocol
2012, Action Plan 2014• Recovery Goal: manage habitat at select
habitats in Canada to encourage recovery of the species (Environment Canada 2006)
• Critical Habitat ???• Population and Distribution objectives ???
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So, what’s next?
• Thinking outside the box about species range
• Pilot project ? – outreach
• Simcoe County 2015
• Coordination of Pilot Project beginning in 2017
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Re-establishment and RestorationLet’s look at the criteria and the steps to get there.
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SAVANTA.CA
Support of Action Plan for the Re-establishment of the Kirtland’s
Warbler in Simcoe County.
Recovery Plan: Determining suitable areas where habitat could be created through collaborative stewardship efforts.
Objectives: To create a habitat that has become rare on the landscape, to facilitate research and act as a reference ecosystem for new Kirtland’s Warbler recovery initiatives.
Opportunities: Additional habitat creation efforts.
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WARBLER
• New breeding evidence discovered on a third site in southern Ontario
• Survey efforts focused in on early successional habitats (> 15 ha)
Finding the Habitat: Simcoe County Museum
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Restoration Timeline
2015: Discussions Began
2016: Ground Truthing & Project Coordination
2017: Beginning of Seed Collection Efforts
2018: Site Preparation & Continued Seed Collection
2019: Seeding, Planting & Site Management
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The Stakeholders:
The Project was started through discussions between:
Simcoe County Forester, Environment and Climate Change Canada and Canadian Wildlife Services who partnered with Savanta Inc.
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The Funders:Habitat Stewardship Program &
American Forests
Grants and other Funding Opportunities
SAR Stewardship Fund (OMNRF),US Fish and Wildlife &
American Bird Conservancy
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Introduction to the Restoration Site and Restoration Team
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Springwater Provincial
Park 433C B&S10
211A, 211B210A, 210B
MNRF Owned 38.7 ha Pr plantations
¯ 0 100 Meters
Path: S:\9169 - SAV 8070 Simcoe County Museum\gis\mxd\2018 03 20 report figures\Figure 1 Simcoe Museum Site.mxd Date Saved: April 4, 2018
Figure 1 Simcoe Museum Site
Air photo:Google Earth July 2016
Participating LandMNRFSimcoe CountySpringwater Provincial Park
Project AreaPit AreaPlateau AreaWindrows
Midhurst Museum KIWA Project
Sources: Esri, HERE,DeLorme, Intermap,increment P Corp., GEBCO,USGS, FAO, NPS, NRCAN,GeoBase, IGN, Kadaster NL,Ordnance Survey, Esri Japan,
Restoration SiteHabitat types comparable to those in Michigan's breeding grounds.
• Aprox. 50 ha of Simcoe County Museum managed lands proposed for restoration efforts.
• Land was once a CNR railway bed, with re-established characteristics
• Invasive species were/are characterizing feature of the site.
• Site contains indictor species of the Pine-Oak habitat that was once present.
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Restoration TeamSimcoe County Canadian Wildlife ServiceSavanta
Mary Gartshore
This restoration effort is largely based on the volunteer efforts from interested people in the environmental sector.
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Seed Collection is Based On:• Reference Ecosystems
• The species list built from reference ecosystems
Seed Cleaning and Processing:
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Seed Collection EffortsThe location and species present on the landscape, means we won’t be
starting from scratch!
To date:
• Over 75 native species have been collected.
• A transplant of Sweet Fern was just implemented on the site.
• 90% of our target seed amounts have been collected.
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Seed GuidelinesSeeding Goals:
• 50-100 Vegetation Species• Large Seeds sowed at 1 kg/ha
• Fruit Seeds sowed at 0.8-1.0 kg/ha• Wildflower Seeds sowed at 0.7-1.0 kg/ha• Grass Seeds sowed at 1.0-2.0 kg/ha
• Mix of White Millet with smaller seeds at sowing
Diversity > Quantity
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Fighting Against Invasive Species
Restoration Sites are highly susceptible to invasive species.
Methods being employed:• Prescribed Burn
(increase Carbon in the soil). • Herbicide Spraying• Cover Crops (Millet)• Natural Diversity
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Prescribed Burn (September 2018)
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Pre Harvest and Before Burn:
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During:
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After:
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“It is estimated that the site will be suitable for occupancy by Kirtland’s Warbler by May of 2023. However, many other species, including various
species at risk, will potentially be attracted back to the site before then.”
RESTORATION TIMELINE
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Ways to connect with the project:Facebook Group: Habitat Restoration for
Kirtland’s Warbler in OntarioSimcoe County Website
Announcements
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Thank you
Peter BurkeSAVANTA, SENIOR ECOLOGIST
Laura Williamson
[email protected], JUNIOR ECOLOGIST
Thank You!