{"id":4392,"date":"2023-03-16T20:59:26","date_gmt":"2023-03-16T20:59:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/nebn.davidbeyer.ca\/?p=4392"},"modified":"2023-03-17T16:28:24","modified_gmt":"2023-03-17T16:28:24","slug":"biodiversity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nebnetwork.org\/fr\/biodiversity\/","title":{"rendered":"Biodiversity"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Northern Bruce Peninsula has a rich mosaic of landforms creating a variety of habitats. The result: a <\/span>b<\/span>iodiversity hotspot<\/span> recognized for its abundance of rare and endangered species and natural communities.<\/span> It has the largest tract of connected forest in Southern Ontario, Great Lakes shorelines<\/span>,<\/span> and <\/span>an archipelago of <\/span>islands, wetlands, inland lakes<\/span>, <\/span>rivers, fields<\/span>,<\/span> and alvars<\/span>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Our majestic cliffs are home to <\/span>an <\/span>ancient vertical forest with <\/span>1200<\/span> year old <\/span>trees.<\/span> D<\/span>iverse coastal ecosystems <\/span>include<\/span> talus slopes<\/span>,<\/span> cobble, boulder<\/span>s, <\/span>bedrock shorelines<\/span>,<\/span> and<\/span> sand beaches and dunes. The surrounding waters <\/span>host<\/span> aquatic systems from the depths to the nearshore reefs, shoals<\/span>,<\/span> and productive coastal wetlands.<\/span> Intricate <\/span>f<\/span>lowerpot <\/span>formations were <\/span>sculpted <\/span>by <\/span>millennia <\/span>of<\/span> relentless <\/span>natural <\/span>forces.<\/span> Bat c<\/span>aves<\/span>, including Ontario\u2019s third largest, <\/span>provide critical habitat. <\/span>T<\/span>hreatened birds such as <\/span>(Niagara Escarpment:<\/span>obolink and the Eastern Meadowlark <\/span>live in our grasslands.<\/span><\/p>\n

P<\/span>lant life includ<\/span>es<\/span> over <\/span>forty<\/span> orchid<\/span> species<\/span>, which is next to Florida for such diversity in <\/span>North America<\/span>. <\/span>Alvars <\/span>boast<\/span> forty-seven<\/span> globally or provincially rare <\/span>species, <\/span>and many are endemic. <\/span>Eighteen<\/span> species <\/span>are <\/span>at risk. <\/span>We have<\/span> some of the darkest skies in Southern Ontario which <\/span>are increasingly<\/span> recognized<\/span> as <\/span>importan<\/span>t<\/span> for ecological health.<\/span><\/p>\n

All this<\/span>,<\/span> but NO CONSERVATION AUTHORITY. <\/span>For over <\/span>twenty<\/span> years t<\/span>he Bruce Peninsula Biosphere Association <\/span>has<\/span> take<\/span>n<\/span> the lead <\/span>in <\/span>protect<\/span>ing<\/span> this ecological treasure chest<\/span>.<\/span> T<\/span>he Association has <\/span>led many <\/span>projects to build community commitment and capacity for conservation and sustainable development.<\/span><\/p>\n

Recent highlights include:<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 \u00a0<\/span>Facilitated <\/span>the <\/span>creation of <\/span>a <\/span>Community Climate Plan<\/span>, installed <\/span>fifty<\/span> Level Two EV chargers, developed <\/span>a <\/span>Climate Hub website<\/span>, promoted heat<\/span> pump<\/span>s, produced<\/span> videos,<\/span> and <\/span>organized a <\/span>Climate Family Fun Fest<\/span>.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 \u00a0<\/span>I<\/span>mprov<\/span>e<\/span>et dirig\u00e9<\/span> the water quality of our streams by creating alternate watering systems powered by solar energy for over 5<\/span>,<\/span>000 cattle and installing over <\/span>twenty-two<\/span> km of fencing to keep them out of the streams<\/span> (water quality is foundational to ecological health)<\/span>.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 \u00a0<\/span>Facilitat<\/span>ed <\/span>the replacement of over <\/span>fifty<\/span> septic systems polluting our <\/span>watercourses by <\/span>providing $<\/span>200,000 <\/span>in grants<\/span> and <\/span>offering <\/span>workshops<\/span> on <\/span>good<\/span> septic system practices. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 \u00a0<\/span>Commission<\/span>ed<\/span> r<\/span>esearch to better understand the critical importance and threats <\/span>to karst springs<\/span>, the source waters for our creeks<\/span>.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 \u00a0<\/span>Work<\/span>ed<\/span> with several university professors to <\/span>demonstrate best management practices to control soil erosion such as <\/span>\u201c<\/span>no till<\/span>,\u201d<\/span> cover crops and<\/span> Water and Sediment Control Basins<\/span>(<\/span>WASCoBs<\/span>)<\/span>.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 \u00a0<\/span>Conducted r<\/span>esearch <\/span>on <\/span>how to reduce <\/span>phosphorus<\/span>, notably <\/span>a recent<\/span> field-based<\/span> project to create the next<\/span>–<\/span>generation controlled tile drain which bio remediates<\/span>\u00a0phosphorus <\/span>by<\/span> automat<\/span>ically <\/span>opening and closing drains<\/span>,<\/span> using<\/span> field<\/span>–<\/span>specific <\/span>soil hydrology model<\/span>s<\/span>.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 \u00a0<\/span>Buil<\/span>t<\/span> public awareness of threats to wetlands posed by invasive species such as <\/span>phragmites<\/span>, mapping over 1<\/span>,<\/span>100 locations and mobilizing the public to remove <\/span>literally<\/span> tons of it. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 \u00a0<\/span>E<\/span>ducat<\/span>ed<\/span> over 12,000 people <\/span>attending our Bayside Astronomy Program <\/span>on the importance of Dark Skies <\/span>for<\/span> ecological health<\/span>,<\/span> and how to protect the<\/span> skies<\/span> with <\/span>D<\/span>ark <\/span>S<\/span>ky lighting practices. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 \u00a0<\/span>Conduct<\/span>ed<\/span> a major research project on the endangered Red-headed Woodpecker<\/span>,<\/span> and promot<\/span>ed <\/span>public awareness<\/span>.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 \u00a0<\/span>I<\/span>ncrease<\/span>et dirig\u00e9<\/span> the public\u2019s understanding of <\/span>the ecolog<\/span>y<\/span> and generate<\/span>et dirig\u00e9<\/span> funds for conservation <\/span>through <\/span>a social enterprise: <\/span>EcoAdventures<\/span> guided tours.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2014 <\/span>Elizabeth Thorn<\/span> is v<\/span>olunteer <\/span>c<\/span>hair<\/span> of the <\/span>Bruce Peninsula Biosphere Association<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

www.bpba.ca<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

info@bpba.ca<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

ethorn124@gmail.com<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

Cell (519) 377-5166<\/span> \u00a0<\/span><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Northern Bruce Peninsula has a rich mosaic of landforms creating a variety of habitats. The result: a biodiversity hotspot recognized for its abundance of rare and endangered species and natural communities. It has the largest tract of connected forest in Southern Ontario, Great Lakes shorelines, and an archipelago of islands, wetlands, inland lakes, rivers, […]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":4393,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4392","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nebnetwork.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4392","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nebnetwork.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nebnetwork.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nebnetwork.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nebnetwork.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4392"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/nebnetwork.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4392\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4454,"href":"https:\/\/nebnetwork.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4392\/revisions\/4454"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nebnetwork.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4393"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nebnetwork.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4392"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nebnetwork.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4392"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nebnetwork.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4392"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}