Owen Sound Field Naturalists are pleased to announce that the launch of the newly revised 2nd Edition of the Ferns of Grey Bruce will be on November 14th. Please come at 6:30 p.m. before the monthly meeting at the Bayshore Community Centre, to purchase a copy. You can meet the Publications Committee and the Maher family who have generously sponsored this edition.
First released in 1999, Ferns of Grey & Bruce was reprinted in 2005. This 2nd Edition publication has been completely updated and revised with current species at risk rankings, updated scientific and common names, and two pages of text and photos for most of the fern species that have been recorded in Bruce and Grey counties. There are 59 species of ferns in Bruce and Grey of which 9 are hybrids. Fifty ferns are featured in the book with new photographs. New digital photographs show each plant in its habitat, a close-up of the sori and an individual frond to aid in field identification. Anecdotal information as well as a systematic description of the fern and its habitat, accompanied by B&W silhouettes of the fern are included.
The Niagara Escarpment, Georgian Bay on one side and Lake Huron on the other, makes this area unique. The high calcium content of the limestone bedrock and the dolostone escarpment dominates soils and wetlands. Combined, all these factors create a variety of habitats suited to the 59 species of ferns in Bruce and Grey. (Ontario has 76 species of ferns.) The new guide will be available this fall in spiral bound print format and as a downloadable PDF on the online shop at owensoundfieldnaturalists.ca.
Did you know that there are at least 11 good reasons to be part of the Nature Network?! The network is comprised of 150 member groups from across the province, working together to save wild species and wild spaces. There are many benefits to being part of the Nature Network, maybe even some you weren’t aware of! We have updated our member group benefits webpage and created a digital document to share. We encourage current member groups to review this document to ensure that you are taking full advantage of the benefits. We also encourage you to share with groups that you think should be part of the network.
This six-lane, 52-kilometre highway would pave over 400 acres of the Greenbelt and more than 2,000 acres of Ontario’s most productive farmland. It would negatively impact 29 species at risk, cross over 85 rivers and streams, and destroy or partially destroy 75 wetlands. It would also cause more than 17 million tonnes of additional CO2 emissions by 2050, the year by which Canada is committed to reaching net-zero emissions. Please join Ontario Nature in urging the federal government to step in and fulfill its obligations to protect waterways, at-risk species, migratory birds and fish and to achieve its climate commitments.
On December 5th, Ontario Nature will be hosting a webinar for Nature Network Groups. The focus will be on how groups can effectively and ethically work with Indigenous Peoples and communities for conservation. We will announce more details and launch registration shortly in an email to Nature Network groups and the November edition of this newsletter.
See our events calendar for a complete listing of events organized by Ontario Nature and Nature Network groups.
To submit your public events to our online calendar, email them to noahc@ontarionature.org and allow up to a week for posting. Please send only events that are open to the public and no more than three per month.
We want to include more content from the network and will feature a story or two each month from network groups, as well as other resources. We encourage you to share your stories and links by emailing them to naturenetwork@ontarionature.org.
Ontario Nature @ Centre for Social Innovation720 Bathurst Street Toronto, Ontario M5S 2R4
Photos © Willy Waterton, Pete Ryan, Jon Clayton, Kirsten Dahl, Lesley Bol, Stephanie Muckle