Tag: ecological integrity

Why do we leave dead trees in the forest?

Today’s post comes from Sheila Wiebe, a marketing and development specialist at Bronte Creek Provincial Park.

Provincial parks are all about protection.

We protect significant natural ecosystems and habitats while offering many outstanding and sustainable recreational opportunities for the people of Ontario.

This isn’t always an easy task. Invasive species have challenged our ecosystem management, knowledge, and skills. Keeping an area safe for park visitors while allowing natural processes to happen can be challenging.

This is especially true for managing our forests. We are often asked by our visitors: why do you leave fallen, dead trees in the forest?

Continue reading Why do we leave dead trees in the forest?

Your purchase helps parks: revitalizing Killarney’s aquatic ecosystems

Did you buy something from our online holiday store last year? In today’s post, Ontario Parks staff talk about some of the vital protection work your purchase helped fund!

Ontario Parks — as part of a bigger provincial effort — has been working hard to assess and repair ecological integrity in many of our inland lake habitats, protecting different species throughout Killarney and other provincial parks.

Continue reading Your purchase helps parks: revitalizing Killarney’s aquatic ecosystems

Enhancing biodiversity in Killarney’s tree plantations

This article was written by Connor Oke, a marketing intern at Ontario Parks, using information provided by Ed Morris, Ontario Parks’ northeast zone ecologist. 

When Killarney Provincial Park was established in 1964, park managers faced a problem: what to do with old fields belonging to former homesteads within the park’s boundaries.

To prevent the spread of weedy species, they decided to plant trees, including White Spruce and Red Pine, and regrow the forests.

Continue reading Enhancing biodiversity in Killarney’s tree plantations

Join our community of science

We’re making the switch from citizen science to community science.

Here at Ontario Parks, we love it when our visitors can get involved in science.

From iNaturalist to Bumblebee Watch, eBird, bioblitzes, and more, volunteers help us to collect important information about our parks.

These efforts help us to understand how plant and animal populations are changing over time, and help us to discover previously unknown populations of rare species. They also allow us to react quickly if someone discovers an invasive species in a new area.

Continue reading Join our community of science

The dos and don’ts of using live bait in provincial parks

Ontario is home to more than 250,000 lakes, thousands of kilometres of streams and rivers, and more than 150 species of fish.

There are endless fishing opportunities at Ontario Parks, and dropping a line is a great way to connect with and learn about nature.

From Lake Trout to Brook Trout, Walleye to Northern Pike, we’ve got some of the best recreational fishing opportunities in the world!

But before you head out to hook a big one, let’s talk about some of the dos and don’ts of using live bait in Ontario Parks:

Continue reading The dos and don’ts of using live bait in provincial parks

F.B.I.: the not-so-Secret Service of Ontario Parks

Today’s blog was written by Jessica Stillman, school outreach coordinator at Bronte Creek Provincial Park.

When you visit a provincial park, you will likely interact with staff from several departments.

From the gate staff who greet you to the maintenance crew that keep facilities clean, the park operates smoothly because everyone has a role to play in keeping the machine operational.

But there is one team who works so quietly that many of us don’t realize we are witnessing their efforts every day.

That team is the Ontario Parks F.B.I. unit, otherwise known as fungi, bacteria, and invertebrates.

Continue reading F.B.I.: the not-so-Secret Service of Ontario Parks

Your purchase helps parks: Preserving Darlington’s habitat

Did you buy something from our online holiday store last year? In today’s post, Monica Fromberger, an ecologist at Darlington Provincial Park, talks about some of the vital protection work your purchase helped fund!

Darlington is hard at work this fall with some ecological integrity projects to preserve habitats for different species throughout the park.

Continue reading Your purchase helps parks: Preserving Darlington’s habitat

Uncovering the “birdiest” trail at Pinery

Today’s post comes from Habitat Stewardship Technician Justin Johnson from Pinery Provincial Park. Justin has a M.Sc. in biology with a focus on bird acoustics. 

Birders are an interesting breed of people. Sometimes everything they do seems to subvert the norms of society.

Sleeping in? Rather not. Too much coffee? No such thing. $4500 binoculars? Yeah, I’ve seen it.

Birders’ bread and butter is local natural spaces and their trails. They can be very particular about which trails they walk. Seasoned birders often only use trails they perceive as “birdy,” neglecting those off their sacred path.

But how do we really know which trails are the “birdiest?”

Continue reading Uncovering the “birdiest” trail at Pinery

Hands off park wildlife!

Protected areas are fascinating places.

If you’re lucky, during your visit you may spot a wide variety of wildlife who call these parks home.

However, you may not always see healthy animals.

In these natural spaces, you could see animals that look sick, injured, or orphaned. We know you want to help wildlife, but helping wildlife means keeping your hands off! Continue reading Hands off park wildlife!

An iNaturalist milestone: 500,000 observations!

In today’s post, Algonquin Provincial Park‘s Assistant Superintendent David LeGros helps us celebrate a big milestone for community scientists around the province!

For over five years now, Ontario Parks has been encouraging park visitors to submit their observations of nature — everything from plants, animals, and fungi — to our community science project in iNaturalist.

Over the Thanksgiving weekend, we surpassed 500,000 observations of 10,325 species by 11,688 observers — a fantastic feat!

Our visitors really like submitting observations.

I tip my Tilley hat to you all.

Continue reading An iNaturalist milestone: 500,000 observations!