Scaling-up restoration
Hazel Bird Nature Reserve, ON (Photo Chelsea Marcantonio/NCC Staff)
“We can do something big here.” That was my thought in spring 2011 when I looked across the rolling, sandy hills of what would become the Hazel Bird Nature Reserve in Ontario. At that time, I had been with the Nature Conservancy of...
The buzz about bees: The vital role of Prairie grasslands in bee conservation
Bumble bee on Wood’s rose, SK- Jason Bantle
Bees, like many other pollinators, are a sign of a healthy ecosystem. Unfortunately, these cute critters face numerous threats, including habitat loss, climate change, disease and poisoning. As a result, many bee species, such as western bumble...
Tales of recovery: Small white lady's-slipper
Two small white lady’s-slippers, a threatened species with deceptive flowers (Photo by Steven Anderson/NCC staff)
There is no abrupt line marking the edge of Canada’s prairie region. No sign on the highway saying “thanks for visiting.” In western Canada, grasslands gently rise and merge into the forested foothills of the Rocky Mountains....
Don’t trust lady’s-slippers (if you’re a bee)
This honeybee was tricked into pollinating this yellow lady’s-slipper. (Photo by Steven Anderson/NCC staff)
Before I began working at the Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC), I spent six years studying the pollination of two species of lady’s-slipper orchids in Manitoba and the northern U.S. While I no longer spend all of my time thinking about...
A glimpse of the past: Using historic maps to guide land management
Historic land survey outlining the store house and fort site at NCC’s Fort Ellice property in MB (Photo by Manitoba Archives 2019)
The Prairie provinces, like much of agricultural Canada, look vastly different than they did before European settlement. During the development of Western Canada, forests were cleared, wetlands drained and grasslands plowed in an effort to settle...
Burning for change
Prescribed burn at NCC's Old Man on His Back Prairie and Heritage Conservation Area, SK (Photo by NCC)
The Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC) is committed to conserving nature in all its diversity, to create a legacy for future generations. NCC uses the latest conservation science to safeguard Canada’s lands and waters. As a part of this...
Regeneration ablaze on the Rice Lake Plains
A black oak engulfed in smoke from the prescribed burn at Hazel Bird Nature Reserve. Black oaks are tolerant of low-intensity fires, allowing them to thrive in tall grass prairie ecosystems. (Photo by NCC)
“Why is that on fire?” ― a burning question I have received from many curious folks on my Instagram account after posting videos of a prescribed burn that took place at the Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC) Hazel Bird Nature Reserve...
Searching for worms in Ontario’s restored tall grass prairie
Ontario’s largest exotic earthworm, Lumbricus terrestris. (Photo by Heather Cray)
Looking across a beautiful stretch of native tall grass prairie in its full glory, the first thing that might strike you is, well, the grass; big bluestem, switchgrass, Indian grass, all of them might reach up to or above eye level. Then there are...
The silence of the hillsides
Fort Ellice, Riding Mountain (Photo by NCC)
For the past six months, I’ve worked as an assistant conservation biologist with the Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC) in Riding Mountain Natural Area in western Manitoba. I found that a summer in the area challenged me to reconsider how I...
From prairie to forest: My journey to a new natural area
Tall grass prairie (Photo by Jenna Siu/NCC)
I spent many of my formative years as a field biologist in the Carolinian region of Ontario, which includes Norfolk and the surrounding counties. The fragmented landscape is largely agricultural with bits of restored tallgrass prairie and...
