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© Lora Denis
Pickerel weed in wetland © Rusty Clark CC BY 2.0
Since I began volunteering for Ontario Nature last year, I have learned a lot about Ontario’s species at risk. Recently, I discovered that more than 20 percent rely on wetlands for survival. Habitat loss is the key driver of species decline, and wetlands have been hammered by development over the last century. In fact, southern Ontario has ...
For decades, biologists across Ontario have been collecting data on amphibians and reptiles, collectively referred to as herpetofauna. Today these records are included in the Ontario Reptile and Amphibian Atlas (ORAA).
Summer evenings used to be filled with the acrobatic flitting of bats chasing their next insect meal. Unfortunately, bats have vacated the night sky over much of eastern North America due to an invasive fungal disease that is decimating populations.
Imagine you are relaxing in your beautiful garden, enjoying the natural beauty, the sounds, the colors, the scents. Now imagine you could do all of this and contribute to the protection of native biodiversity at the same time. You can make this happen by adding native plants to your garden.
There are 1,000s of wild pollinators in Ontario. Bees and flies are most significant, but butterflies, beetles, wasps, ants, moths and hummingbirds also pollinate plants. It is important to keep this in mind when reading about pollinator decline, which has been a hot news topic for many years.
Laurel Creek Conservation Area © Carl Hiebert / Grand River Conservation Authority