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© Lora Denis
April 21, 2016–Smera Sukumar (On maternity leave)
Community Science•Nature Reserves•Reptiles and Amphibians•Wetlands
Red-backed salamander © Joe Crowley
After a warm winter and chilly start to spring, I joined my Ontario Nature co-workers at Altberg Wildlife Sanctuary Nature Reserve for a good old-fashioned salamander sleuthing event, our first of the season. The Altberg reserve is a tranquil property that has great trails and several vernal pools that are home to a variety of ...
I received a call yesterday from an elderly gentleman living near Sault Ste. Marie. A life-long resident of northern Ontario and former hunter and prospector, he called to express his disapproval of Ontario’s proposal to address the decline of moose populations by killing more wolves and coyotes.
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).
Laurel Creek Conservation Area © Carl Hiebert / Grand River Conservation Authority