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Index of Subjects This is a wonderful initiative. I will finally hone some skills with iNaturalist, so it seems. Bev and others will be good teachers. What better use of a naturalist's time than combing our public forests for nature's treasures? Song bird surveys and nest surveys will also be useful. The harvest at Corbett Lake will surely NOT take place during nesting season, yet another assault on a forest with old growth and plenty of nest cavity trees. It is a sad reflection on the lack of good governance over the 'peoples' forests' (public Crown lands), with continued clearcutting, particularly on very sensitive, poor soils in the southwest. And so it comes about that local folks feel the need to provide more oversight; a neighbourhood watch, of sorts, over nature's bounty. Thanks to Bev. Donna Crossland On 2019-02-25 10:24 a.m., Bev Wigney wrote: > Everyone, > > I know there has been very little discussion about harvests of Crown > land forests here on NatureNS, but I'm putting out a somewhat related > request. Here in Annapolis Royal area, we've been organizing a > ground-truthing group to make occasional forays to check out Crown > land forests that have a fair likelihood of being good candidates for > biodiversity - forests that would qualify as ecologically significant > under the Lahey triad model. This group has come about after a couple > of previous forays to inspect forests that were slated for clearcuts > or uniform shelterwood cuts (2-stage clearcutting). In the case of > the hardwood parcel at Corbett-Dalhousie Lake, we were astounded to > find multi-age "old forest" climax hardwood trees -- Yellow Birch that > were 8 feet in circumference, as well as many large Sugar Maple and > Red Spruce. The fate of that forest is still somewhat uncertain - it > will be harvested in some way this spring, but we don't really know to > what extent. In any case, our forays have taught us that there is a > need to know more about the Crown land forests in our region. It is > not enough to wait for them to turn up on the Harvest Plan Map Viewer > (HPMV) list of "parcels" awaiting approval for harvest. With a scant > 40-day comment period, that doesn't give our group much time to get > out to ground-truth a forest, especially if it suddenly appears on the > list in mid-winter -- as was the case with the Corbett-Dalhousie Lake > forest - although 18 of us did go out to walk it on Boxing Day. > Unfortuantely, we still have no true idea of the extent of its > biodiversity and won't have much chance to take a serious look at that > before the harvest equipment moves in -- but we have learned from this > experience. Waiting for forests to show up on the harvest lists is > not the way to go. > > So, to cut to the chase -- what I am asking is that some on this group > may know of ecologically significant Crown land forests that you have > visited in the past. Our Annapolis group is currently putting > together a list of "good candidate" forests to begin surveying over > the coming season - basically doing bioblitz-type visits to see what's > there -- take geo-referenced photos, measure trees, identify trees > species, look for signs of wildlife, breeding bird activity, native > plants, etc... We realize that many of the forests people may suggest > might already be gone -- in fact, there's a pretty good chance that > they've been clearcut as there has been an incredible amount of > harvesting of Crown lands in Annapolis County. If you haven't > actually been out to a favourite forest in recent months, you might be > in for a shock. However, we'll consider any suggestions even if you > are unsure of the state of the forest. We have a couple of ways of > checking to see if a standing forest is still there or if it's already > been clearcut. I should mention that there are some people in the > Kings County area, and some in Digby County, who have also started > or are forming ground-truthing groups, so if you know of forests in > those counties, you can send them along as well and I'll pass on the > prospective locations to them. > > The other thing I should mention - related to the ground-truthing > groups -- is that there is, or will be, a need for good naturalists > who know their flora and fauna. Our Annapolis group is fortunate to > have a good number of naturalists and biologists who are already on > board and keen to ground-truth our forests, but more are always > welcome, especially at the eastern end of the county. That will also > be the case for other groups that are beginning to form around the > province. You need not come out as a group -- you can just do your > own thing as always as you go about birding, herping botanizing, > etc.., but we are asking that people consider posting their > observations on iNaturalist, and make them available to be used in > "projects". If you're already an iNaturalist user, you probably know > what I'm describing, but if not, I will explain briefly. When you > post observations to iNaturalist, you can make them available for use > in projects such as atlases, studies, surveys, etc... For our > Annapolis group, I have already created a project for for Annapolis > County. It currently captures any observations made by anyone who has > made their observations available to projects. You are welcome to > take a look at our project -- I believe even non-members of > iNaturalist should be able to see the project and observations. Just > remember that when you contribute observations, it is wise to obscure > the locations of any sensitive species (there's a simple way of doing > so in the photo upload) - and, in fact, I think iNaturalist does that > automatically for some species, but do check, especially in the case > of herps and plants. By the way, that really goes for anything you > contribute to iNaturalist even if you are not in projects. > https://inaturalist.ca/projects/annapolis-royal-and-area-environment-ecology-and-nature > > If you wish to contact me with suggestions for forests, or to join our > Annapolis ground-truthing group, or to coordinate your own botanizing > or other field forays with the forests we are studying, just email me > off-list. > > regards, > Bev Wigney > Round Hill, NS > --- This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software. https://www.avast.com/antivirus
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