Habitat management protects, inspires
Witnessing a controlled burn at one of our provincial or national parks is a surprising thing.
It’s not often flames and billowing smoke are welcomed in a natural area.
Controlled burns, however, are one of the many methods that conservationists employ to enhance habitat.
Point Pelee National Park has done controlled outdoors or “prescribed” burns to re-establish savannah habitat that would otherwise have been overgrown, choking out species such as brown thrashers. Rondeau and Pinery Provincial Parks have also done controlled burns.
Other dry land habitat management techniques include creating brush piles, retaining snags for cavity-nesting birds, and enhancing forest edge habitat.
Birds such as hooded warblers and indigo buntings prefer the forest edge. Typically, a managed forest edge widens the edge habitat with a gradual transition between field and forest environments.
Dry land habitat management also includes the eradication of invasive species. Examples of this are the buckthorn abatement program at Westminster Ponds in south London and the buckthorn work co-ordinated by the Thames Valley Trail Association.
Wetland habitat management is also important and often more difficult. Invasive species such as phragmites or common reed perplex conservationists. Many parks have active programs that burn or poison this plant.
In a report released earlier this year, Ontario’s Environmental Commissioner Dianne Saxe characterized the spread of invasive species including phragmites as “one of the biggest threats to biodiversity globally.” At the same time she applauded the work of the Lambton Shores Phragmites Community Group, an organization led by Nancy Vidler.
I chatted with Vidler last week about the restoration work she and a core of committed volunteers have undertaken since 2009. She described the importance of strong partnerships with Conservation Authorities, volunteer groups, municipalities and landowners.
Phragmites awareness has increased but Vidler knows better than most that invasive plants don’t wait for people to learn about the monoculture dead zones that they create. “Early detection and rapid response are so important. It comes down to taking action.”
“For small cells of phragmites we can plan a weekend ‘spading project.’ At the Wood Drive location however — part of the Kettle Point marsh system — we have faced 60 hectares of phragmites and that’s called for solutions of a different scale and type.” These can range from Truxor amphibious weed cutters to herbicides and prescribed burns. Vidler can now point to a return of bitterns and rails, a hard-fought triumph.
Management of invasive wetland plants is just one aspect of wetland restoration. Other initiatives include wetland reclamation.
Erosion of shoreline is another relatively common type of habitat management. Dune systems along Lake Huron near Port Franks and Pinery Provincial Park were at risk. Deliberate management plans such as the planting of stabilizing dune grasses have arrested the erosion here. As a result, birds and other fauna in this dune ecosystem have benefitted. This is quite literally an effective grassroots initiative.
Sometimes significant unplanned habitat change occurs. Forest fires give way to habitat that black-backed woodpeckers need so that they can thrive. London’s broken Springbank dam has improved riparian habitats along the Thames River, benefitting kingfishers and other bird species. An unplanned 125-hectare marsh fire earlier this year at Point Pelee had some regenerative value.
Bird conservation is linked directly to habitat management. Specific bird species depend on specific habitats. Without it, whether it’s grassland, hardwood forest, swamp, or shoreline, many species would fail, leaving us with a monoculture featuring house sparrows, starlings and red-winged blackbirds.
We should be inspired by the Lambton Shores Phragmites Community Group and other habitat management successes. The North American Bird Conservation Initiative, an international coalition of 28 agencies including Nature Canada and Environment and Climate Change Canada, recently released a report that shows an increase in wetland birds of 51 per cent since 1990. This good news is a result of habitat management initiatives across the continent.
Nature notes
• The eBird website has published excellent tips about bird counting. Search on “bird counting 101” to learn more.
• I’ve had success viewing waders this month at the Coves in London. In one evening last week I saw great blue heron, black-crowned night-heron, green heron and great egret as well as wood ducks and kingfisher.