A Significant Decision to be made regarding Rondeau Provincial Park

It is no secret that Rondeau Provincial Park is one of my favourite places. It is a favourite place of a lot of people, and for many reasons.

Rondeau has been a provincial park since 1894 and in fact is the oldest park to have that designation. While Algonquin lays claim to that title, for its first few years it was legislatively identified as a national park, as per the Algonquin National Park Act of 1893.

Rondeau hosts a huge biodiversity, and has the greatest number of Species At Risk of any Ontario provincial park. The diversity of habitat, including beach dune, oak savanna, pine-oak forest, beech-maple forest, slough, cattail marsh and the bay is nothing short of amazing, and they all contribute immensely to the park's biodiversity. Some of the main habitats themselves are provincially significant, especially the oak savanna and Great Lakes beach dune. It is one of the best examples of a cuspate sand spit in the world, according to my geomorphology professor. Add the old growth forest and there truly is no other place remotely like it in all of Canada.

Here are just a few representative photos as well as some of the species at risk.

Carolinian hardwood forest

 The cuspate sand spit is formed by wave action, bringing currents together.

Oak Savanna

Oak Savanna

Rich hardwood forest

400 ha marsh

Birds are a well-known feature at Rondeau, with over 360 species recorded for the area, and more than a few species at risk (SAR) that breed here.

The Prothonotary Warbler is Rondeau's flagship bird, as it has been the stronghold for the species in Ontario since it was first discovered nesting here in the early 1930s.

 More breeding SAR include the following.

Red-headed Woodpecker

King Rail

Bald Eagle

Hooded Warbler.....maybe has nested

Wood Thrush

Lots of non-SAR species occur as well. During the first Ontario Breeding Bird Atlas, Rondeau had the highest number of species recorded with at least some breeding evidence.

Scarlet Tanager

Pileated Woodpecker

Orchard Oriole

Eastern Bluebird

American Redstart

Gray Catbird

Great Egret; not nesting but regularly seen feeding

 Numerous species migrate through, or spend a lot of time in the area in both spring and fall, but have never been found nesting.

Blackburnian Warbler

 

Golden-winged Warbler

 

 

 

The ground cover is rich and luxuriant, with many ferns, indicating a high quality forest.

Cinnamon Fern

 Red Mulberry is an endangered species, and Rondeau has one of the highest quality populations in Ontario. Hybridization with the non-native White Mulberry is rampant in some of the other populations.

 Tuliptree, the unofficial flagship tree of Rondeau and indeed, the Carolinian Forest Zone.

Old growth forest is currently very difficult to find anywhere in Ontario due to the impact of harvesting in so many forests, not to mention outright clearing. Rondeau has some good examples of old growth forest.

158cm diameter Eastern Cottonwood

135 cm diameter Red Oak

Three-bird's Orchid is endangered, and is the only place in Canada where it has been confirmed in the last 25+ years. The only other location where it has been found has not been seen since the late 1980s.

Showy Orchid...has been considered as a SAR but not formally designated yet

Ragged-fringed Orchid

There are many other SAR, including several species of reptiles (e.g. Eastern Fox Snake, Ribbon Snake, Eastern Spiny Softshell Turtle, Spotted Turtle) and amphibians (e. g. Fowler's Toad).

There are countless invertebrates. For example it is quite likely that 1500-2000 species of moths occur here, as much smaller sites elsewhere and with considerably less diversity have documented over 1000 species.

Chestnut-marked Pondweed Moth

One would think that with the provincial, even national, significance that Rondeau has, the provincial government would give the park the highest level of protection. And while it does to some extent, the bigger picture shows that there is clearly an attempt to ignore this responsibility, at least in part.

Today I received an email message that explains this concern, and you can read about it at this link.

Read it, if you will, and make your thoughts known to the provincial government. The deadline for comment is December 18, so there is no time to waste!