Guest speaker at our December 2, 2004 fund raising event for the Canada South Land Trust was Allen Woodliffe, Chief Ecologist with Chatham office of the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources. Allen stated that in the past, before European settlement, our wetlands were horizon to horizon and our woodlands were forests. Agricultural activities and urban sprawl in Southwestern Ontario have reduced our natural heritage to the point where little is left, as illustrated by an aerial view of the Swanson woodland on Highway 42, in the Town of Lakeshore, where the woodland is completely surrounded by agricultural lands.
Allen has examined the journals of Anna Jamieson, a resident of Upper Canada during the 1830's, who recorded her impressions of Southwestern Ontario's natural heritage at that time. Allen has collected a number of Anna Jamieson statements, linking her observations with the natural heritage we know today.
Anna Jamieson would have been familiar with the beech and maple forests of Southwestern Ontario as well as Basswoods, Oaks, Tulip Trees, Shagbark Hickories, and Sassafras. The ground layer of plants that Anna Jamieson saw would have included a profusion of flowering plants including Red Trillium, Purple Flowering Raspberry, Wild Mandarin, Running Strawberry Bush, Indian Cucumber and Poke Milkweed.
In Southwestern Ontario's forests, Anna Jamieson would have seen Rose-breasted Grosbeak (the slide Allen showed was that of an individual photographed in the Balkwill Woods), Yellow-billed Cuckoo and Indio Bunting. Anna Jamieson commented on open grassy/oak openings which she encountered. Here she may have seen Flowering Dogwood (now a species of concern), and Wild Columbine. Wildlife seen by Anna Jamieson would have included Fox. Insects that left an impression upon Anna Jamieson included hordes of mosquitoes. Anna Jamieson encountered Poison Ivy, describing its effects, although not knowing the precise plant that caused an uncomfortable rash. Wetlands covered a large area of the historical landscape. Cadillac commented on local wetlands in 1701 as did deLery in 1749 who recognized the productive nature of wetland soils. James Macoun in 1893 remarked on the Sandwich woodlands/wetlands and the many species found there. Robert Stevenson in 1843 commented on the wetlands of the Chatham area.
In our area, typical plants to be found would have included Stiff Goldenrod, Butterflyweed, Black-eyed Susan, Interrupted Fern, Michigan Lily, and Wandlike Bush Clover.
Today we have high quality remnants, including tidbits of old growth forest such as Skunks Misery. There are lots of rareties including approximately 300 species in the Essex region. Sweet Chestnut can be found in the sucker form. Butternut Hickory is present but is now endangered due to disease. Red Mulberry and PawPaw are present.
In the rich woodlands of Fish Point on Pelee Island, Appendaged Waterleaf (classified as S2 - see the explanation of Subnational Ranks (SRanks) at the end of this article) grows in profusion, although it is not likely that Anna Jamieson saw this spectacular display. American Ginseng is known from today's Southwestern Ontario woodlands as well as 1,000 plants of the Heart-leaved Plantain.
Other plants of interest are Dropping Trillium known from 3 or 4 sites, Nodding Pagonia which flowers for a day after the season's second frost (it has been found in Rondeau Provincial Park but the population may now be gone), Goldenseal which is highly sought after although now in decline, Puttyroot Orchid (classified as S2), Beebalm at Rondeau Provincial Park and Walpole Island (classified as S3), Leafy-blue Flag (known from two locations on Pelee Island), Lizard's-tail of river edges (classified as S2 or S3), Green Dragon of rich floodplains (classified as S3) and Purple-scented Joe Pye Weed.
Southwestern Ontario wetlands are habitat to the Prothonotary Warbler (16 to 17 pairs in 2004), Louisiana Waterthrush, Blanding's Turtle (S3 status), American Lotus, and Swamp Rose Mallow, a species of concern as it competes with invasive Phragmites. A Recovery Plan is being written for the Least Bittern. Forster's Tern, King Rail and Black Tern are inhabitants of our wetlands. The slide Allen showed us of the King Rail is a rare photograph of this species photographed at McGeachy's Pond in the 1970s.
Southwestern Ontario has significant prairies with outstanding plant communities containing such prairie species as Dense Blazing Star (classified as S2), tens of thousands of Small White Lady's Slippers on Walpole Island, Prairie Cinquefoil (more common to our east), Gray-headed Coneflower (classified as S2), Southern Slender Lady's Tresses (classified S1), Eastern Prairie White Fringed Orchid, Missouri Ironweed (a rare species of wetter prairies), Purple Milkweed (classified as S2 and found on good quality savannas), Two-flowered Cynthia (found on Walpole and at Windsor's Ojibway Prairie), Snakeroot and Climbing Prairie Rose.
The Wild Lupine, food source of the extirpated Blue Karner butterfly, is found at several sites. Purple Twayblade has been upgraded to an endangered status. Along sandy shorelines, Hairy Puccoon can be found. At Rondeau Provincial Park, Green Milkweed is found which is currently classified as S2 and is slated for a vote on its status by COSEWIC. Eastern Prickly Pear Cactus is an inhabitant of Lake Erie sand spit habitats.
Eastern Spiny Soft Shelled Turtles are found in Southwestern Ontario as are Fowler's Toads.
On Pelee Island's Stone Road Alvar, Miami Mist (classified as S2) is found in profusion. Whorled Milkweed produces a spectacular display of blooms on the Stone Road Alvar Complex.
Allen concluded his slide presentation with a look at the "nooks and cranies" of natural habitat that are protected throughout Southwestern Ontario such as Sinclair's Woods in the Municipality of Chatham/Kent.
The SRank indicates the relative abundance of a species on a state or provincial scale. It is used by natural heritage programs to set protection priorities for rare species and natural communities. These ranks are not legal designations.