Biological diversity 

The total number and variety of living things, both flora and fauna found in the area

1. Temperature: Very cold up north, much warmer south

2. Precipitation: all kinds - snow, rain, hail

3. Soil Type 

4. Wind: wind moves materials; blowing dirt on top of snow; fuels fires 

5. Fire 

6. Different types of bedrock: made of different minerals; affects which plants and animals live where; minerals affect the nutrient supply and soil chemistry

• Flat and layered; contains calcium
• Example: Limestone 
• cut up into blocks 
• contains a lot of calcium and is relatively soft and basic in pH
• compressed from oceans 
• Sine Limestone is made from animals who's fossils remain, which are full of calcium

• plants who love calcium in the soil 
• Example: Poison ivy loves basic soil and calcium

• rocks are not layered and were formed from molten rock (magma) deep underground
• a lot of silica; hard and acidic; very durable; almost no nutrients released into the soil
• some igneous rocks were formed on top of the earth's surface
• Many rocks are pink such as granite (most common igenous rock)
• Bunchberry (a bush) thrives on acidic soil

• formed from existing rock 
• rock can be transformed by heat and pressure 
• retains the chemical characteristics of its parent rock, but changes in appearance 
• granite becomes gneiss; acidic and lacks calcium still
• limestone becomes marble 

• a change in elevation
• land is no longer flat 
• this provides more or less precipitation and sunlight
• relief creates microclimates 

Glacial Deposits

• lies on top of bedrock 
• the minerals/soil type that is left once the glacier moves on 
• the glacial "gifts" affect drainage and thus the plants that grown in an area 

• one of the most powerful forces in Ontario 
• moves and sorts material by weight 
• you can tell how beaches were formed by the type of water that flowed through the area 
• water can break down rock eventually 
• when water becomes ice, it is larger in volume and breaks apart rock 

Scratches in the rock caused by water flowing across 

Usually from the centre, outwards

1. Biotic Factors:
• any living things affecting other living things
2. Abiotic Factors: 
• non-living things affecting the whole environment 

• a lot of water 
• very flat; poor drainage 
• frozen ground 
• glacial deposits 

• northern diving ducks 
• diver ducks have their legs placed back farther than normal ducks 
• habitat: freshwater tundra pools, ponds and lakes 

• numbers have tripled in the past 20 years 
• arrive in late spring to nest; none stay for the winter
• nesting timing depends on the state of the female when they arrive in the tundra 
• negative effects on the Tundra
• adding an extreme amount of nitrogen
• eating and destroying certain species of plants 

• very few herps live in the Tundra 
• no snakes, turtles or salamanders 
• only 2 types of frogs, both freeze tolerant: 

1. Boreal Chorus Frog 
2. Wood Frog 

• North of the height of land flows into Hudson Bay
• South of the height of land flows into the Atlantic Ocean

• Due to freshwater input, it has 1/3 salinity of oceans
• it freezes in the winter, creating many habitats for animals in the winter 

1. Eiders: sea ducks; nest in the Hudson Bay
2. Loons: have to deal with salt in water

- they have salt glands that remove the salt 

- around the eye area 

All aquatic birds are only present in the summer

• feed mostly on clam-like animals 
• suck them out of their shells 
• use their tusks to dig up the shellfish in the sand 
• no hair on their bodies; very uncommon in marine animals 
• turn pink in the summer because more blood is being pumped to the surface of the skin to lose heat 
• found off Cape Henrietta Maria

• most southern population of polar bears 
• they hunt seals on the ice in Hudson Bay 
• because of global warming, the polar bears are on land longer, and don't get as much food 
• they become weaker in the winter 
• have less babies
• and are travelling to Quebec in search of food, and are being killed 
• Coastal sand deposits form dunes that are important to the bears to give birth in 
• raised beach ridges are also important habitats, creating caverns and lie on the sides to protect from weather 

• plants that deal with salt 
• all halophytic plants have fleshy leaves for storing water and for protection 
• they also have salt glands 
• Example: Seaside Lungwort - Oysterleaf or Bluebells
• Example: Goosegrass

• Caused by isostatic rebound: receding water of the Tyrell Sea 
• very important; they are much drier and can be dug into 
• Example: Arctic Fox - dig dens to have cubs in

• a dozen species of artic-nesting sandpipers/plovers nest in Hudson Bay
• when the tide goes out, vast mudflats provide feeding sites for sandpipers and plovers
• vast majority of birds migrate because of freezing 
• Example: Semipalmated Plover 
• Example: Hudsonian Godwit

• helps keep the ground frozen 
• creates its own habitat called peatland 
• when growth is greater than decomposition, the moss layer gets thicker, creating its own form of "soil" 

• migrate from the boreal forest to the tundra in late spring 
• small tails, short legs, small ears 
• both sexes bear antlers, unusual in the deer family
• biggest herbivore in the tundra 
• predators: 
• timber wolf / gray wolf 
• they couldn't kill a caribou alone, they are pack animals 

• they nest nowhere else in Ontario but the Tundra Zone
• Example: Longspurs - very long toenails for scratching trees and seeds 
• Example: Snow Buntings - most songbirds sing from treetops, but there are no trees in the Tundra; they have to fly around and sing

• Willow Ptarmigan 
• stay year-round 
• in the winter they are pure white 
• feathered feet and toes for warmth 

1. Cold temperatures 
2. Wind 
3. Short growing season - less than 140 days 
4. Not many nutrients in soil/ground
5. Frozen ground
6. Permafrost - the ground never thaws completely

1. Cold hardiness 
2. Dwarfism
1. Genotypic Dwarfism: grows no larger anywhere else - Ex: Dwarf Labrador Tea
2. Phenotypic Dwarfism: can grow larger farther south - Ex: Dwarf Birch
3. Low, creeping, sprawling growth
4. Clump Growth - safety in numbers; dead outer part offers shelter to the rest of the plant - Ex: White Spruce
5. Hair - hairy undersides prevent dessication (loss of water); hair absorbs incoming heat and traps outgoing heat (greenhouse effect); dark colours are prevalent as they absorb warmer wavelengths of light - Ex: Prickly Saxifrage
6. Thickets - develop in sheltered sites - 
1. Ex: White Spruce - use layering (branches touch the ground, the brand gets nutrients and they grow a smaller spruce tree) 
2. Insect gleaners live in thickets - Ex: Yellow Warblers, Blackpoll Warblers, Common redpoll finch, American Tree Sparrow

• almost anything will eat it
• not an indicator species
• small, plump bodies
• short little legs and tails 
• undergo the greatest population cycles of any mammal in the world 
• Arctic Fox and bids of prey benefit when the meadow voles are abundant 
• Example: short-eared owls and northern harriers 

• short growing season 
• discontinuous permafrost - not everywhere like the Tundra
• low elevation 
• sedimentary rock makes the land very flat 
• Sphagnum moss is abundant because of the cold and damp weather conditions of the HBL

• dominant habitat in the HBL 
• formed by sphagnum moss 
• largest continuous expanse in the entire world 
• extremely spongey - can form over many feet of water so you can "walk on water" 

When sphagnum moss gets to 45cm thick or more

Very thick and wet 

1. Bogs 

• only receive water and nutrients by rainfall and are dominated by sphagnum moss 

2. Fens

• receive nutrients from flowing groundwater such as streams and are often sedge-dominated 

• colonize and grow out into the water 
• their rhizomes float near the surface, providing attachment points for other plants such as sphagnum moss 

• Lake-fill
• small holes/ trenches fill with water 
• the edges begin to grow into the trench and begin to fill in with plant life 
• although most of the HBL is not solid plant life, it's just on top of the water 

• modifies the environment making it acidic, nutrient poor and oxygen deprived 
• does not decompose when dead 
• it just keeps growing on top of itself, filling in the lake or pond to the bottom 
• both living and dead cells 
• dead cells being hollow and holding water and releasing into living cells 

1. Lichens - Ex: Reindeer Lichen

2. Heath Plants - Ex: Laurel, Cranberries, Labrador Tea

3. Carnivorous Plants - they eat insects instead of needing nutrients from the ground - Ex: Pitcher plants, bladderworts, sundews

• grow on older mounds and hummocks 
• much drier and older
• they are raised which creates better drainage 
• spread by layering 

1. Spring peepers: Freeze-tolerant frogs are the dominant herps in HBL 

2. Sandhill Cranes: common in wetlands acros Ontario

3. Two Sandpipers: Greater Yellowlegs and Lesser Yellowlegs (latter ones are indicator birds for the HBL)

4. Northern Shrikes: indicator species only in the summer

5. Palm Warblers: nest in peatlands; not an indicator species, also found in Boreal Forest peatlands

Plants that thrive and need cold environments full of calcium 

Ex: Alpine Bistort 

Ex: False/Sticky Asphodel

• in the HBL the continuous forest is mostly confined to river edges 
• offers habitat for many animals: 
• Gray jay - eats insects
• Spruce Grouse - eats needles
• Snowshoe Hares - eats needles and twigs 
• White-Winged Cross-Bills - eats seeds in cones 
• small mammals are food for: 
• Great Gray Owl
• Northern Hawk Owl
• Marten and Fisher
• Wolverine - biggest weasel in North America

• also called the Sutton Ridges 
• Canadian shield rock stuck in the middle of the HBL
• offer the only real source of relief 
• Gold Eagles nest here 
• Only site for Rock Polypody - a lichen

• occupies 25% of Ontario 
• lies on the Canadian shield physiographic region 
• hard, acidic rock instead of calcium
• Dominant trees: Black Spruce, White Spruce and Balsam Fir; only one kind of pine - Jack Pine
• longer growing season than HBL
• more relief; developed mineral/organic soil layer on top of the glacial deposits

1. Northern Boreal - meets up with the HBL 

2. Western "Prairie" Boreal - prairie winds come in from    Manitoba

3. Clay Belt Boreal - cattail marshes are common, but rare everywhere else 

4. Superior Boreal - next to Lake Superior

1. Black Spruce: scaly bark, very spindly looking, round needles 

2. Balsam Fir: pointed top, flat needles, smooth and grey

3. White Spruce: round needles, spindly but with more branches 

4. Tamarack Trees: the only coniferous tree that has its needles fall off

• house seeds that are important food for small mammals 
• Ex: Red Squirrels, Deer Mice  
• these small mammals provide food for predators
• Ex: Marten, Great Gray Owl, Northern Hawk Owl

• nomadic and irruptive 
• always looking for big deposits of seed 
• the females shape determines when breeding occurs 
• I.e., less food means less babies or later in the season

• linked to spruce trees because of food storage
• stay year-round in the Boreal Forest 
• store food under loose bark and lichens on spruce trees 
• stays fresh from late summer to early spring 
• eventually the dominant young kicks its siblings out of the nest 
• the dominant young remains with the parents on their territory all winter

• important food for Moose 
• very long legs - 6ft high at the shoulder 
• because needles are very dry, so are their droppings 
• important source for Snowshoe Hares
• Lynx are their main predator 
• huge hind feet 
• reproduce very quickly; up to 4 litters in a year
• every 10 years, there was a spike in population
• Starvation, disease, predation, food supply, stress-induced hormonal changes all effect this population drop and spike 

• hugely influential in their environment 
• after an outbreak, there are more spruce trees than balsam fir trees - the caterpillars can almost destroy the balsam fir population in an area 
• they affect the survival of 3 main warbler birds:
• Tennessee Warbler 
• Cape may Warbler 
• Bay-Breasted Warbler 
• they nest twice in a season with an outbreak

• 2 Colour morphs: 
• White-Striped Heads - far more aggressive in their territory
• Tan-Striped Heads - far better at feeding and nurturing their young
• there is always one of each in a pair of birds to accomodate strengths and weaknesses of each bird

• beneficial to many animals 
• Bark Beetles: leave beautiful patterns in the wood 
• Longhorn Beetles: eat deeper into the wood 
• Beetles are eaten by: 
• Northern Strippers (woodpeckers)
• Black-Back Woodpecker: long bills to dig out Longhorn Beetle grubs
• American Three-Toed Woodpecker: mostly feeds on Bark Beetles

• Porcupines: eat the bark and twigs 
• Beavers: cut down the trees instead of climbing them 
• Leaf Miners: live inside the leaves 
• Ex: Serpentine Miners 
• Luna Moth Caterpillars eat their leaves 
• Canadian Tiger Swallowtail

• very common after outbreaks 
• plants that thrive in recently burnt areas: 
• Fireweed - seeds dispersed by wind
• Elderberry 
• Blueberries - seeds arrive inside animals 
• within a few years, an entirely new forest begins to grow 
• older poplar stands in the Boreal Forest are almost always growing in what was a burn site 

• animals who take over vacant holes in dead trees
• Ex: Tree Swallows, Squirrels (mainly Flying Squirrels), Eastern Bluebirds and Boreal Owls 

• Most Boreal Forest ducks are cavity adopters
• Ex: Common Goldeneye, Hooded Mersangers
• Fire helps ducks in an indirect way:
• Poplars grow
• Beavers cut them down 
• Beavers make dams
• Create streams and ponds for ducks 

1. To eat in safety 

2. Safe access to resources 

3. To have water deep enough to not freeze to the bottom in the winter 

• beaver ponds collect nutrients - "nutrient sinks"
• support a diverse array of aquatic plants 
• water plants are rich in sodium, that moose require
• far less moose would exist without beavers 
• important breeding sites for amphibians
• Ex: American Toad, Wood Frog
• imporant growth sites for insects 
• Ex: Dragonfly Nymphs, Skimmers
• imporant feeding sites for birds 
• Ex: Great Blue Heron, Northern Flicker

• when the glaciers melted and moved past, they filled huge craters in the earth 
• much richer water than in the HBL 
• warmer, more developed soil on land - nutrients wash into the water 
• more fish, especially trout

• many streams and rivers which flow into Hudson Bay (Arctic Watershed)
• good habitats for filter feeders 
• Ex: Net-Spinning Caddisflies - build nets in the stream and wait for food to float into them
• Ex: Black Fly Larvae - hang onto rocks and fan out their feeders

• the driest and warmest part of the Boreal 
• lowest amount of precipitation 
• growing season is relatively long 
• low elevation 
• bare rock is visbile everywhere
• glaciers scraped away most of the soil

• coniferous woods harbor boreal birds 
• Ex: Boreal Chickadee, Spruce Grouse, Boreal Owl, White-Winged Crossbills 
• more species of warblers nest in the Boreal Forest than anywhere else in North America 
• Ex: Bay-Breasted Warbler, Gray Jay 

• sit on branch and visually search for insects and then fly out and get them 
• dominant ground cover is peat, which they blend into well 
• tend to live in Black Spruce trees

• Snowshoe Hares 
• Both Moose and Woodland Caribou
• Gray Wolves and Cougars 
• from the South American line of cougars which came from zoos and have escpaed and bred
• Wolverines and Weasels 
• Chipmunks are Boreal Forest squirrels 

• very common in Western Boreal 
• habitats for: 
• Spruce Grouse - love the needles 
• Conifer seeds are food for: 
• Cross-Bills and Red Squirrels 
• extremely hard and scaled are cemented shut
• cones stay closed for years 
• only 50°C or hotter will open them
• eventually the resin breaks down and they open up naturally 

• burns off the duff layer and exposes the mineral soil
• major ecological force 
• on average fires occur every 50-100 years 

1. Low amount of annual precipitation 

2. high number of lightning storms in Western Ontario

3. Relatively flat land winds from the Prairies 

4. Conifers are full of resin and burn well 

• Mosquitoes 
• Emerald Dragonflies - dominant group throughout the Boreal Forest 
• Leopard Frods - not freeze-tolerant
• Garter Snakes - spend the winter in hibernacula 

Painted Turtle - the markings on the bottom of the plastron identify the types of painted turtles 

• Western Variety - markings are large and cover the entire plastron 
• Eastern Variety - smaller and only in the very centre of the plastron

Gail-force winds blow trees over 

Hot, dry prairie winds dry the Western Boreal Forest, fan fires and create blowdowns 

1. Fires open the cones of jack pines and black spruce, letting their seeds disperse 

2. Fires burn off the duff layer of soil to reveal the mineral soil

3. Fires leave many standing dead trees, which attract more insects, woodpeckers and cavity adopters

4. Fire leaves a lot of organic materal to be recycled 

• 82,000 km²
• it has great effects on the shore:
• moderates winter temperatures - makes it warmer around the lake (lake heats up and holds its heat)
• in the summer, it depresses summer temperatures giving coastal summers 
• altitude brings a decrease in temperate 
• the north shore of Lake Superior has the highest elevations in Ontario

• huge biodiversity 
• great variety of igneous and metamorphic rock types
• due to colder conditions, subarctic flora grow along Superior's north shore and on islands

• cobblestone beaches & sand beaches along the shore
• there are also some sand dunes along the lake 

• grows along the Hudson Bay coast on dunes as well as at the Superior coast 
• a glacial relict & disjunct population

• a species left behind in an unsual place by glaciers 
• Ex: Sparrow's Egg Lady's Slipper on the Superior Coast 

• provide great variation in relief and microclimates
• south-facing cliff gets more sun
• north-facing cliff gets barely any sun
• Cold winds off the lake create subarctic conditions, ideal for: 
• Alpine Woodsia (Fern) 

• nest on cliff ledges
• a lot of white from a great distance on a cliff, most likely bird droppings under a nest - called whitewash

• can dive down roughly 300 mph
• rip their prey open with talons 
• because of bioaccumulation of pesticides, their egg shells were softer (lack of calcium)
• they ended up sitting on and crushing their babies
• almost extinct
• scientists tried to breed more, but used the wrong genetic line in the species from the states and now they are mixed species 

• nest on cliff ledges 
• good vantage point for hunting 
• use air currents (thermals) for flying 
• used by migrating hawks 
• they fly along the shore when migrating, and use almsot no energy 

• gentle rolling hills 
• balsam fir is very common 
• more moisture 
• Clay contains a lot of calcium and affects the pH in the soil 
• a lot of fens (type of peatland)

• very common in the Clay Belt Boreal 
• home to: 
• Puddle ducks (dabblers) who filter feed 
• American Bittern 
• Virginia Rail - long toes, thin bodies 
• Skimmers are common 
• Mink Frogs 

• Divers
• Feed on aquatic insects 
• Lobe toes - to help them swim through plants and not get caught 
• they can lower their density and sink themselves to catch insects 

• no permafrost at all 
• very rich soils 
• White and Red Pines are common 
• mixture of Boreal and Carolinian flora and fauna 
• hardwood trees - Sugar Maple Tree 
• species reach their range limits in the GLSL - both northern and southern limits 

1. Lowlands - Eastern (St. Lawrence Lowland)

                  - Western (Great Lakes Lowland)

2. Shield - Frontenac Axis (Frontenac Arch) 

              - The Superior GLSL

              - The Western or Prairie GLSL 

3. The Algonquin Highlands (Algonquin Dome)

• Algonquin park is the oldest park in Ontario 
• lies atop the roots of an ancient mountain range 
• used to be 20-30km higher than it is today 
• hard, acidic rock 
• elevations on the wets side of Algonquin reach 600m above sea level 
• east side is only around 200m above sea level
• 7 major rivers, more than 1,000 lakes