Because of its position within the Carolinian Zone of southwestern
Ontario and because of its relatively large proportion of forest
cover, Norfolk County contains some of Canada's most important and
most threatened ecosystems.
Recently, the Long Point Region Conservation Authority, the largest
single owner of forest lands in the County, decided to designate 25%
of its forest holdings as "natural heritage woodlands."
Within the region, Norfolk County also owns a very significant area of
forested land. Many of these forests are relatively undisturbed, and
some are approaching old growth conditions - one of the rarest
habitats remaining in Canada's Carolinian Zone. There is a local,
provincial and national desire and need to manage Norfolk County's
natural forests for the conservation and enhancement of natural
heritage values.
As part of an effort to evaluate the ecological significance of forest
tracts owned by the County of Norfolk, breeding bird inventories were
conducted in summer 2003 by Bird Studies Canada in 23 forest tracts
managed by the County. A complimentary botanical inventory was also
conducted.
Sites were scored according to six breeding bird attributes: species
richness, number of forest-interior species, a sum of the regional
bird conservation priority scores for Norfolk County, a sum of the
conservation priority scores assigned to Bird Conservation Region-13,
a sum of the BCR-13 scores adjusted for effort, and the number of
federally-listed species at risk. Ten of the 23 sites received above
median values for composite breeding bird scores, and were considered
to have the highest conservation value.
Sites were also scored independently according to a series of
botanical attributes. A preliminary composite score based upon a
combination of the bird and vegetation scores was derived to produce a
provisional composite ranking. Based upon composite bird and botanical
attributes, 11 of the 23 sites were provisionally nominated for
designation as natural heritage woodlands worthy of special protection
for older growth attributes.
To download a copy of the
report (1.9 Mb) click
here.
