Significant Wildlife Habitat Technical Guide 2000 Fish and Wildlife Branch Wildlife Section Science Development and Transfer Branch Southcentral Sciences Section © 2000, Queen’s printer for Ontario Printed in Ontario, Canada MNR #51438 (.5k P.R. 00 10 16) ISBN# 0-7794-0262-6-6 (Internet) This publication should be cited as: OMNR. 2000. Significant wildlife habitat technical guide. 151p. Copies of this publication are available from: Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources Fish and Wildlife Branch - Wildlife Section 300 Water Street P.O. Box 7000 Peterborough, K9J 8M5 Cette publication scientifique n’est disponible qu’en anglais. Significant Wildlife Habitat Technical Guide Acknowledgements This document has undergone numerous reviews. We would like to thank all those who reviewed this document and contributed comments. Main contributors to the technical guide include: Kerry Coleman – Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources Al Sandilands – Biological Consultant Tim Haxton – Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources Dave Bland – Biological Consultant Vivian Brownell – Biological Consultant Richard Rowe – Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources Main contributors to the appendices include: Ruth Grant – Biological Consultant Don Cuddy – Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources Mike Oldham – Natural Heritage Information Centre i Significant Wildlife Habitat Technical Guide ii Significant Wildlife Habitat Technical Guide Table of Contents Acknowledgements .................................................................................................................... i List of Tables............................................................................................................................ vi List of Figures ......................................................................................................................... vii List of Appendices .................................................................................................................viii 1 Introduction ...................................................................................................................... 1 2 A Landscape Approach to Conserving Significant Wildlife Habitat.............................. 3 2.1 Gap analysis – A critical tool in landscape analysis........................................................... 6 3 Preparing to Identify Significant Wildlife Habitat.......................................................... 8 3.1 Significant wildlife habitat................................................................................................ 8 3.2 Available information ...................................................................................................... 8 3.3 Other information.......................................................................................................... 12 3.4 The conservation advisory committee ............................................................................ 13 3.5 Finding potentially significant wildlife habitat................................................................. 14 3.5.1 Wetlands ............................................................................................................... 16 3.5.2 Woodlands ............................................................................................................ 17 3.6 Mapping significant wildlife habitat................................................................................ 19 4 Identifying Habitats of Seasonal Concentrations of Animals........................................ 20 4.1 Definition ...................................................................................................................... 20 4.2 Ecological functions/effects of loss ................................................................................ 20 4.3 Identification of potentially significant seasonal concentration areas............................... 20 4.3.1 Mapping and verifying known seasonal concentration areas ................................... 20 4.3.2 Finding animal Concentration areas that have not been previously identified........... 21 4.4 How to find some specific seasonal concentration areas................................................. 22 4.4.1 Winter deer yards .................................................................................................. 22 4.4.2 Moose late winter habitat....................................................................................... 23 4.4.3 Colonial bird nesting sites ...................................................................................... 23 4.4.4 Waterfowl stopover and staging areas.................................................................... 25 4.4.5 Waterfowl nesting.................................................................................................. 25 4.4.6 Shorebird migratory stopover areas........................................................................ 26 4.4.7 Landbird migratory stopover areas......................................................................... 27 4.4.8 Raptor winter feeding and roosting areas ............................................................... 27 4.4.9 Wild turkey winter range ....................................................................................... 28 4.4.10 Turkey vulture summer roosting areas ................................................................... 29 ii Significant Wildlife Habitat Technical Guide 4.4.11 Reptile hibernacula ................................................................................................ 29 4.4.12 Bat hibernacula...................................................................................................... 30 4.4.13 Bullfrog concentration areas .................................................................................. 31 4.4.14 Migratory butterfly stopover areas ......................................................................... 32 5 Identifying Rare Vegetation Communities or Specialised Habitats for Wildlife.......... 33 5.1 Definitions..................................................................................................................... 33 5.2 Ecological function/effects of loss.................................................................................. 33 5.2.1 Rare vegetation communities ................................................................................. 33 5.2.2 Specialised habitats for wildlife .............................................................................. 33 5.3 Identification of potentially rare vegetation communities or specialised habitat for wildlife34 5.3.1 Potentially rare vegetation communities ................................................................. 35 5.3.2 Specialised habitats for wildlife .............................................................................. 36 5.4 How to find some rare vegetation communities or specialised habitats for wildlife.......... 37 5.4.1 Rare vegetation communities ................................................................................. 37 5.4.1.1 Alvars............................................................................................................... 37 5.4.1.2 Tall-grass prairies ............................................................................................. 38 5.4.1.3 Savannahs......................................................................................................... 39 5.4.1.4 Rare forest types............................................................................................... 40 5.4.1.5 Talus slopes...................................................................................................... 41 5.4.1.6 Rock barrens .................................................................................................... 41 5.4.1.7 Sand barrens..................................................................................................... 42 5.4.1.8 Great Lakes dunes ............................................................................................ 42 5.4.2 How to find specialised habitats for wildlife ........................................................... 43 5.4.2.1 Habitat for area-sensitive species ...................................................................... 43 5.4.2.2 Forests providing a high diversity of habitats..................................................... 45 5.4.2.3 Old-growth or mature forest stands................................................................... 45 5.4.2.4 Foraging areas with abundant mast ................................................................... 46 5.4.2.5 Amphibian woodland breeding ponds................................................................ 47 5.4.2.6 Turtle nesting habitat ........................................................................................ 47 5.4.2.7 Specialised raptor nesting habitat ...................................................................... 48 5.4.2.8 Moose calving areas ......................................................................................... 49 5.4.2.9 Moose aquatic feeding areas ............................................................................. 50 5.4.2.10 Mineral licks ................................................................................................... 50 5.4.2.11 Mink, otter, marten, and fisher denning sites ................................................... 50 5.4.3 Highly diverse areas..............................................................................................