Invasive and At-Risk Species

You may have noticed in the past few years that more and more people are talking about invasive species and species-at-risk. What exactly are they and how can they impact you and Loughborough Lake? An invasive species is one that does not naturally occur in an area, and whose presence causes environmental, economic, and/or societal damage. With our ever growing global society, we are more connected than ever, but this also means that invasive species have many pathways to establish in our lakes, forests, and fields. Outdoor appreciation, exploring, birding, hunting, paddling, cottaging, and hiking with our pets are all great ways to fuel our outdoor passions, and enjoy Loughborough Lake, but we need to be responsible, and aware of the impact we have on the sensitive areas around us.

I’m going to describe a few of the invasive species found around Loughborough Lake, the problems they cause, and what you can do to help. Some aquatic invasive plant species to look for this summer are Common Frogbit (Hydrocharis morsus-ranae), and Common Reed (Phragmites australis).

Common Frogbit. Photo by Christian Fisher [1].

Common Frogbit, also called European Frog-bit, is an aquatic invasive plant that has found its way into many of Ontario’s waterways. It is native to Europe, and parts of Asia and Africa, and was possibly brought here to be used as an ornamental plant in the early 1900s. Common Frogbit is usually found in areas of slow moving water and can form dense mats of vegetation that prevent sunlight from penetrating the water. These thick mats reduce biodiversity, prevent recreational use of waterways, and remove oxygen from the water which can impact fish populations. Common Frogbit produces a single white flower with three round petals and a yellow centre. The underside of the leaf is a purple/red colour.

Common Reed.

Common Reed, also known as Phragmites, is regulated as restricted under the Invasive Species Act in the province of Ontario. This means it is against the law to buy, sell, trade, or grow Common Reed. You have probably seen this tall grass in ditches, and in wetlands, even if you haven’t heard of it. It is instantly recognizable by how tall it is – mature stands in the right conditions can be over five metres tall! It is an aggressive perennial grass that spreads rapidly. Common Reed releases toxins into the soil which prevent the growth of surrounding plants. Dense stands of Common Reed establish quickly, and provide poor habitat and food for wildlife, including species at risk like the Blanding’s Turtle (Emydoidea blandingii). It can establish in standing water, but can also survive in relatively dry areas allowing it to take over a variety of habitats. You can often find it in disturbed areas, such as in ditches on the side of the road. If you have been in an area with invasive Common Reed, please inspect, clean, and remove mud, seeds, and plant parts from vehicles, pets, equipment, and yourself.

Buckthorn

Other notable invaders to the Loughborough Lake area include Buckthorn (Rhamnus cathartica) and Garlic Mustard (Alliaria petiolate).

Buckthorn is a small tree that was introduced as an ornamental shrub, and was often planted in agricultural fields as windbreaks and fencerows. It can live in a wide range of soil and light conditions and often grows in dense stands, in open fields, or woodlands. Buckthorn is able to change the soil’s nitrogen levels, making it unfavourable for many other native species to grow. The trees keep their leaves late into the fall and are one of the first to produce leaves in the spring, making them easy to spot during these times of year. They have dark green leaves with fine teeth, with branches that end in a thorn, and produce clusters of black berries. Bird and other wildlife eat the berries and this acts as a dispersal mechanism when seeds are deposited in droppings. The berries act as a laxative, and have little nutritional value. If you have buckthorn on your property, it is recommended that it be cut down and replaced with native species.

Garlic Mustard, second year’s growth.

Garlic Mustard is an invasive forest plant brought to North America as an edible herb. It is found in a range of habitats, including forests, riverbanks, and roadsides. Once Garlic

Mustard establishes, it can outcompete native wildflowers such as trilliums (Trillium sp.) and trout Lily (Erythronium americanum). In its first year (photo left, NCC), the plant produces a rosette of dark green, kidney-shaped leaves with scalloped edges. The second year’s growth (photo right, NCC) is much taller with triangular leaves. The second year plant produces small white flowers and long narrow seed pods that resemble green beans. Seeds of this

(continued) plant can remain viable in soil for up to 30 years. Garlic Mustard has a distinct garlic-smell which can be used to identify the plant when the leaves are crushed. Most small to medium sized patches of garlic mustard can be removed by manually pulling them out and disposing of them in a garbage bag. It’s important to never compost invasive species as you risk introducing them to new areas.

The species outlined above are some of the more aggressive invasive species you might encounter around Loughborough Lake. Unfortunately, they are not the only ones!

Invasive species are especially damaging to species-at-risk, since their survival is already pressured by external factors such as habitat loss or road mortality. By removing and preventing the spread of invasive species around Loughborough Lake, you are helping to improve habitat for many species-at-risk in Eastern Ontario including:

• Eastern Ratsnake (Pantherophis spiloides pop. 1)

• Eastern Ribbonsnake (Thamnophis sauritus)

• Snapping Turtles (Chelydra serpentine)

• Midland Painted Turtles (Chrysemys picta marginata)

• Wood Thrush (Hylocichla mustelina)

• Eastern Wood-Pewee (Contopus virens)

• Bobolink (Dolichonyx oryzivorus)

• Eastern Whip-poor-will (Antrostomus vociferous)

• Common Nighthawk (Chordeiles minor)

This list represents only a small sample of the species that are in decline but there are steps you can take to promote their survival.

Learning how to identify invasive species is the first step towards preventing the spread. It is good practice to stay on trails and keep all pets on a leash when hiking. When travelling by boat, reduce your speed near areas with invasive species as this reduces the risk of accidently spreading them. Clean, drain, and dry your boats, paddles and any other equipment when you move from one body of water to another. Just because you do not see a problem, does not mean it isn’t there. Invasive seeds, or larvae could be hitching a ride to make their next unannounced debut.

At the Nature Conservancy of Canada, we manage over 11,000 ha (over 27,000 acres) of land in Eastern Ontario, with a special focus around Loughborough Lake. NCC has a strong commitment to stewarding this land, and one of the main components is keeping invasive species out of our natural areas. It’s everyone’s duty to recognize when invasive species have made their way into an ecosystem, and actively intervene before more damage is done. Once an invasive species has established, it’s difficult to get rid of it.

The Nature Conservancy of Canada hosts volunteer events where you can get involved in the protection of Loughborough Lake and other important natural areas. If you’re looking for a place to start and are wondering how you can directly have an impact, check out www.conservationvolunteers.ca for details on events happening across the country! You can also report sightings of invasive species to the Invading Species Hotline 1-800-563-7711.

It’s a team effort to ensure the survival of our iconic native plants and animals, but by educating yourself about the invasive, and at-risk species in the Loughborough Lake area, you are helping to keep your lake beautiful, natural, and wild for generations to come.

Resources:

1. Common Frogbit photo by Christian Fischer, CC BY-SA 3.0.

2. Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry. Invasive Species in Ontario. Queen’s Printer for Ontario, 2012.

3. OFAH/OMNRF Invading Species Awareness Program, 2012.

Walk the Fishing Creek Trail

If you’ve never seen Fishing Lake, here’s your chance. Among the Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC) Loughborough Wilderness acquisitions is the Kerr Property, which lies between North Shore Road and the southern end of Fishing Lake. The most recent owner of the property constructed a road between North Shore Road and the lake, and this road has now become the Fishing Creek Trail. NCC organizes volunteer stewardship groups to monitor and help maintain its trails. The group looking after Fishing Creek trail is led by Jim Spencer and includes Clayton Potts, Evonne Potts, Philippa Fugler, and myself. 

 Because it was originally a road, the trail is obstacle free, but there are some hills. It passes through an extensive wetland before entering the forest that surrounds Fishing Lake. The lake itself is almost completely undeveloped, a feature that has made it attractive to NCC, which now owns several other properties fronting on the lake.  

Access to the trail is very easy. There is a gated entrance on the north side of North Shore Road about 0.5 km from the turnaround at the road’s end. Space to park several cars is available in front of the gate. It’s a 0.6 kilometre walk from the gate to the lake. 

Get out your hiking clothes and visit one of the special places around Loughborough Lake!

Johnston Point Update

Despite reports to the contrary, the Johnston Point Plan of Condominium does not have final approval. 

Public misperception surrounding Johnston Point is understandable given the high volume of truck activity, the ongoing construction, blasting, tree cutting, and shoreline vegetation clearing that exists alongside the confusing messages from media and our local and provincial experts and authorities.

BACKGROUND

On April 4, 2016 concerned lake residents requested that the Ontario Municipal Board (OMB) dismiss Magenta Waterfront Development Corporation's (Magenta) Johnston Point appeal. Residents strongly felt that the appeal was aimed at avoiding due process in evaluating the risks that this development posed to the habitat and the species-at-risk that are known to live on Johnston Point. In June 2016 the OMB granted conditional approval of the development with a three-year settlement agreement. The OMB acknowledged the public concern for species-at-risk and stated that Conditions of Draft Plan would “ensure that matters of Provincial interest as well as the public interest is appropriately addressed and duly safeguarded … that the necessary approvals and/or permissions are appropriately obtained.” 

The settlement agreement was set to expire on June 28, 2019 without the developer meeting these environmental conditions. Since Frontenac County (FC) is the final approval authority for development within South Frontenac Township (SFT), a motion was put forward for SFT Council to recommend that FC approve a one-year extension of the agreement.

STATUS

On June 4, 2019 while requesting that Township Council recommend to County approval of an extension to the development agreement, Gavin Marshall, Principal of Magenta, told Council that Magenta was new to the project, had a new project manager in place, and was in a legal dispute with the former project manager which meant that they were unable to sign back the Condominium Agreement and/or provide a copy of the Overall Benefit Permit which had been issued in October 2018.

The Condominium Agreement, once signed back, would have allowed the Township to legally access the property and monitor ongoing activities. The Overall Benefit Permit allows for the killing, harming and harassing of species-at-risk on Johnston Point, and/or allowing for their habitat to be damaged or destroyed. In January 2019, after prompting from the Battersea Loughborough Lake Association (BLLA), the County filed a Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy (FIPPA) request in order to obtain a copy of the permit. At the time of this writing, the County has not received that copy.

Township Councillors strongly challenged the statement that Magenta was new to the project citing evidence that Magenta had been involved from the very beginning. They asked the developer and his project manager about the illegally installed walking bridge on Unit 6, why it has taken over a year to sign back the Condominium Agreement, the lack of cooperation between the developer and the Township, and they questioned Magenta on its poor performance standards to date and the repeated public reports of unauthorized site work over which planning, implementation and enforcement issues remain outstanding. In response, Gavin Marshall agreed and said, “Environmental standards could not be more elevated. It is unfortunate and regrettable and deplorable that the project, and those standards, have not been respected here before.”

Township Council voted 6-2 to firmly defeat the motion. Mayor Vandewal voted in support of the motion even though in February he had “assured Council that he would not support any extension to the Johnston Point agreement at the County”. 

Township Council’s decision was not well received by Frontenac County’s Warden Higgins and he wrote an “abnormal request”to the Councillors claiming that there was “no logical explanation” and asking that the “No” votes explain themselves. In return, he promised to include these explanations in the agenda for the upcoming vote. Two Township councillors, Ross Sutherland and Doug Morey, wrote to the County, but neither letter was included in the agenda package.

Whereas a County almost always defers to a Township for site-specific decisions, on June 19, 2019 Frontenac County Council ignored the recommendation of the Township Council and voted 7-1 to approve the extension. The County’s decision was made without hearing the comments from the Township councillors in response to the June 4, 2019 delegations and despite Mayor Vandewal’s statement that those comments would be forwarded to the County. There was also no consideration of the written submissions from Township Councillors in response to Warden Higgins’ email asking for their rationale and accusing them of “failing to approve an extension.”

The South Frontenac Township Mayor receives two votes on County Council and Mayor Vandewal voted against his Township Council’s decision, casting his two votes to fully endorse the extension at the County meeting. Councillor Alan Revill, the other South Frontenac Township representative, was the only “No” vote cast, and he clearly articulated solid grounds for an extension denial and specifically commented that the public's concern for species-at-risk on Johnston Point had not been addressed. He stated that species-at-risk on Johnston Point have not been protected despite promises and assurances from experts and authorities and reflected that many of the earth’s species are at serious risk due to stress on their habitat as a direct result of development and other human activity. 

Contrary to reassurances of the June 2016 OMB Ruling, when it comes to the Johnston Point development, “the necessary approvals and/or permissions” have not been “appropriately obtained”, and more troublesome is “that matters of Provincial interest as well as the public interest” have not been “appropriately addressed and duly safeguarded”.  It is clear the OMB ruling mandate is now impossible to achieve.

For years the BLLA and concerned residents have steadfastly spent hours researching, writing letters, attending meetings, commissioning expert reports, obtaining legal opinions, and presenting delegations at Township and County in order to advocate for protection of species-at-risk on Johnston Point and raise awareness over the complete lack of enforcement or monitoring of this development. These efforts have repeatedly exposed a flawed developer-driven system which has ignored the attempts by the public, and now the Township, to right the many wrongs that have plagued this development. 

We find this unacceptable and insist that our lake deserves better. 

We welcome your suggestions or feedback.

Loughborough Wilderness Update

During the spring and summer of 2019 the Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC) added 378 acres to the Loughborough Wilderness Reserve, including the 300-acre Jack Allum property on Leland Road on the north side of the lake and the 78-acre Desrochers property along Ramparts Road. These additions bring the protected lands of the Loughborough Wilderness to 4,178 acres.

Loughborough Lake is at the heart of the Frontenac Arch, one of the most important ecological connections in North America and one of the most biologically diverse places in Ontario. The Arch provides an important habitat connection for many species of wildlife. NCC is committed to protecting a collection of properties to ensure that this landscape continues to support migratory species in the future.  

NCC is now working to acquire almost three properties totaling 2,000 acres on Benson Lake, Buck Lake, and Mississagua Creek near Bedford Mills. These acquisitions will include approximately 1,000 acres of land being donated by three separate landowners. These three projects are set to close this fall and NCC is seeking to raise about $500,000 in remaining funding to complete the transactions. Gifts of money or of land to Nature Conservancy of Canada are considered a charitable donation and qualify for a tax deduction. If you are interested in supporting this work or would like more information on NCC’s work at Loughborough Lake you may contact Gary Bell at gary.bell@natureconservancy.ca or at (613) 862-3331.

Conserving Biodiversity in Loughborough Lake

The likelihood of reeling in a lake trout from Loughborough is high. The likelihood of catching a trout whose first home is approximately 70 km from the West Basin is extremely high. This is all due to the dedicated efforts of the White Lake Fish Culture Station, one of ten provincial fish hatcheries, in conjunction with the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry (MNRF) and their mandate to “... conserve and restore biodiversity and to create, enhance and maintain recreational fishing opportunities” (MNRF printing #62879). While MNRF worked with the White Lake hatchery to supply and distribute trout fingerlings over many years, it’s only been the past five years that the Lake Association and many dedicated volunteers have been actively involved in the process.

This year’s trout stocking event was held under wonderfully sunny skies on Friday May 17th. 15,000 fingerlings, the same as the past few years, were placed in the West Basin by a small but mighty crew of volunteers. For a variety of reasons, we were only able to recruit four boats of nine seasoned veterans instead of the optimal number of seven or eight boats. However, we were fortunate to continue the partnership with the Queen’s University Biology Department Freshwater Fisheries Conservation Lab which supplied three large boats with eighteen enthusiastic students and seven instructors and drivers. All of the trout were healthy and happily swimming in the lake in under two hours.

As an added bonus, Darryn Davis a videographer from Global News/CKWS interviewed Bob Fugler, a BLLA director and strong supporter of the event, one of the Queen’s biology students and Matt Mundell, an angler and long-time volunteer. Videos of the process and the interviews were highlighted on the 6:00 news in a 1:48 minute segment (Global News).

As a few BLLA Directors, MNRF staff, Queen’s University coordinators, and George Bluett (the driver from the White Lake Culture Station who runs the show from the truck) were cleaning up, we were the surprised but most grateful recipients of barbequed hamburgers, juice and water given to us by Rick Laroque who lives by the boat launch on Loughborough Drive. He also volunteered the use of his dock to our group and his driveway for MNRF’s truck and trailer – a true community effort!

Many, many thanks to Rick and all of the volunteers who participated in this worthwhile project. We look forward to working with the team next year!

BLLA Survey Results Spring 2019

The Lake Dinosaur

Everyone knows about Nessie, the lake monster of legend purported to inhabit Loch Ness, a lake in Scotland with a topography similar to Loughborough Lake. Over the many decades of sightings, various explanations have been put forth regarding the origin of this mysterious lake monster. The most popular, no doubt, is that Nessie is one of the last remaining Plesiosaurus, a lake dinosaur that was presumed extinct over 66 million years ago.

Nessie is not the only lake dinosaur of yore. Canada has its own monsters, most notoriously Ogopogo, a lake dinosaur first sighted by First Nations in Lake Okanagan in the 1900s. Ogopogo went on to prominently feature on a Canadian postage stamp, as its legend continues to live on. One is of course at liberty to think what one may about myths on surviving dinosaurs and lake monsters. However, about 10 years ago, it was established as scientific fact that dinosaurs, indeed, never went extinct. In fact, scores of lake-dwelling dinosaurs inhabit our very Loughborough, many of them living off of its rich spoils of fish. I am speaking of course of the class of dinosaurs known as Avialae, otherwise known as birds.

The Loon is, in fact, a great example of what I call a modern lake dinosaur. Like the Plesiosaurus, the dinosaur ancestors of Loons - Therapods such as the raptors that wreaked havoc in Jurassic Park - were presumed to have gone extinct some 66 million years ago during an asteroid impact that marked the end of the Cretaceous period. However, it has become apparent that not all dinosaurs were equally affected by this cataclysmic event. Some smaller, feathered Therapods managed to escape the ensuing firestorms and subsequent changes in climate by taking to their wings.

In 2005, it was first reported in the journal Science that proteins sequenced in collagens taken from Tyrannosaurus Rex bone fragments - a Therapod - are nearly identical to those in chicken bones. This means T. Rex likely tasted more like chicken than an Alligator does. Like chickens, Therapods were two-legged, laid eggs and likely brooded their nests. Baby Therapods likely wore down feathers to keep themselves warm. Early winged Therapods featured ultra-light hollow bones that kept them aloft. These dinosaurs were most certainly capable of flight, but were likely not as agile as today's more highly evolved dinosaur raptors, like the Bald Eagles on our lake. The flight of early Avialae probably resembled that of a flying squirrel, swiftly gliding from tree to tree to stay out of reach of predators.

Scientific evidence is now so overwhelming, that we must simply accept that birds are the dinosaurs that did not (yet) go extinct. Feathers, in particular, form a strong line of evidence for this hypothesis. Long before Avialae developed flight, dinosaurs wore pennaceous feathers to stay warm and to impress other dinosaurs with a dazzling array of colours. Most feathers mix colours using pigments that absorb light in all wavelengths but a few. But some evolved in a much more spectacular fashion, developing a reflection known as iridescence. These feathers amplify light not unlike a laser, via quantum interference.

You can see this interference effect in a gas spill on the surface of the lake: light waves reflecting off of the bottom of the thin layer have to travel further than light waves reflecting off of the top of the spill. Like tuning a guitar, when light waves combine at the surface they either synchronize and amplify, or cancel each other out. This effect relies on two things: the distance traveled by the light wave and the size of its wavelength, or in other words, the angle and colour of the light. This is why oil slicks and soap bubbles develop the most delightful rainbow patterns, rapidly shifting colour with even the slightest change in perspective.

Robert Hooke was the first to document this kind of colourization in feathers in his 1665 book Micrographia, noting that unlike oil, feathers lose their iridescence when submerged in water. We now know this is because such feathers employ tiny keratin structures that look like wood stacks with small air gaps. Each gap provides an additional reflection that amplifies only a wavelength that fits. Filling the air gaps with water extinguishes those reflections, rendering the feathers without colour entirely. Unlike the layers in a gas spill, the layers in feathers are arranged in two dimensions, such that a change in angle does not dramatically alter the distance that light has to travel. This narrows the rainbow effect to only a minor shift in hue that, if anything, produces a more vibrant display when the feathers are moved.

Blue feathers, in particular, excel in reflecting only a narrow band of colours. This is because when seen from an angle, their iridescence shifts into wavelengths that are too short for the human eye to perceive. One dinosaur on our lake that demonstrates this effect is the entirely unassuming Barn Swallow, which can be found nesting in local barns, or underneath Perth Road bridge in summer. Their backs, in fact, do not appear to radiate at all and cast but a dark blue shimmer. However, this is deceiving, as their peak iridescence lies in the ultraviolet wavelengths. Dinosaurs evolved a fourth colour cone in their retina that allows them to see this spectrum of colours. In their eyes, swallows produce the most spectacular display of violets imaginable. Our lake dinosaurs use these mesmerizing but, to us, invisible reflections to impress their partners. They show off the health of their genes by advertising their nanoscale perfection.

Clearly, we need to accept that there is a lot more to nature than meets our eye. Dinosaurs may not have become extinct just yet, but they rely, as much as any creature, on an intricate web of intangibles. These being invisible does not imply they do not also require our protection. Maintaining the gaps between the planks of an old wooden barn - allowing swallows to enter and breed there - is just as important to the swallow as it preening the gaps that make its feathers shine. By extension, it is only through gaps in our knowledge that we drive these lake dinosaurs back into extinction. If only we could see.

Loughborough Wilderness Update

In 2018 and early 2019, the Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC) added some 255 acres to the Loughborough Wilderness Reserve. This includes the 161-acre Bill Koen Estate property on North Shore Road, which includes a large area of the Loughborough Lake maple swamp, 80 acres on Ramparts Road on the south side of the lake and a donation of shoreline near the mouth of Fishing Lake Creek by Joe and Beth Pater. These additions, which bring the size of NCC’s protected area to over 4,000 acres, were made possible by the generous support of many contributors from the community including individuals from the Battersea Loughborough Lake Association.

Loughborough Lake is at the heart of the Frontenac Arch, an extension of the Canadian Shield granite connecting Algonquin Park in the north to Adirondack Park in New York State to the south. This is one of the most important ecological connections in North America and one of the most biologically diverse places in Ontario. The Arch provides a vital migratory linkage for birds and other species, including bats, butterflies and wide-ranging mammals. NCC is committed to protecting a collection of properties to ensure this landscape continues to support migratory species in the future.

The coming year promises to be our biggest effort yet. We will be tackling a variety of projects that will add almost a thousand acres to the Loughborough Wilderness Reserve! As is so often the case with acquisitions like this, we have been working on most of these projects for many years and they are just now coming to fruition. In addition to these properties, NCC is also acquiring almost 2,000 acres of land on Benson Lake and Mississagua Creek. These acquisitions will include approximately 1,000 acres of land being donated by three separate landowners. Combined, these new projects will increase the area of protected lands on the Frontenac Arch by almost 2%, helping Canada in its commitment to protect 17% of terrestrial areas and inland waters nationwide through networks of protected areas and other conservation measures by 2020.

Gifts of money or of land to Nature Conservancy of Canada are considered a charitable donation and qualify for a tax deduction. If you are interested in supporting this work or would like more information on NCC’s work at Loughborough Lake you may contact Gary Bell at (613) 862-3331 or at gary.bell@natureconservancy.ca