Dynamics of periphyton during a summer low water period in relation to anthropic levels and the morphology of a French river: the Garonne

Elk (Cervus canadensis) historically inhabited southern Quebec and central Ontario, but, by the early 1900s, the species was extirpated from this region. Attempts to re-establish an Elk population in Ontario during the first half of the 20th century had limited success. We reviewed historical documents, population census records, and a previous study pertaining to Elk reintroduced to Ontario in the early 1900s for clues to the cause(s) of their limited population growth. After an apparent rapid population increase in the 1940s followed by unregulated hunting during the subsequent 3 decades, Elk abundance in Ontario had not appreciably changed from 1970 to 1997, most likely because of the small founding population, unsustainable hunting, and accidental mortality. After the abolition of legal hunting in 1980, natural mortality appeared to be the main limiting factor. A limited sample of pregnancy and calf recruitment rates, body measurements, and physical condition parameters collected in 1993–1997, suggested that adults were healthy, reproducing successfully, and not limited by food availability; thus, it was concluded that remnant Elk populations could be augmented by introducing additional animals. A renewed Elk restoration effort, conducted from 1998 to 2001, imported 443 Elk from Elk Island national Park in Alberta to 4 release areas across central Ontario (Lake of the Woods, Lake Huron North Shore, Nipissing/French River, and Bancroft/North Hastings), resulting in a provincial population of about 800 Elk by 2013.

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The Frank Bay Site, Lake Nipissing, Ontario

American Antiquity ◽

10.2307/276718 ◽

1954 ◽

Vol 20 (01) ◽

pp. 40-50 ◽

Cited By ~ 8

Author(s):

Frank Ridley

Keyword(s):

Igneous Rock ◽

Lake Ontario ◽

17Th Century ◽

Coarse Sand ◽

Lake Huron ◽

The South ◽

Low Area ◽

South Shore ◽

The One ◽

French River

Lake Nipissing is situated 230 miles north of Lake Ontario and roughly 140 miles within the igneous rock territory. Some 30 by 8 miles in size, it is drained westerly by the French River into Lake Huron. Frank Bay, enclosing an area of one half square mile, is situated on the south shore at the entrance to the French River. Historically the area was occupied by an Algonkian group called “Nipisinieries” or “Nipissings” by the 17th century Jesuits; Galinee's map of 1665 depicts a bay on the south shore of Lake Nipissing at the head of the French River: “In a bay at this place the Nipissings usually locate their village” (Coyne, 1903). The site described here, probably the one figured by Galinee, is a level tract of about one half acre constructed by wave deposition of coarse sand upon a low area at the bottom of the bay.

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Forage selection by elk in habitats common to the French River - Burwash region of Ontario

Canadian Journal of Zoology ◽

10.1139/z99-136 ◽

1999 ◽

Vol 77 (9) ◽

pp. 1429-1438 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

M A Jost ◽

J Hamr ◽

I Filion ◽

F F Mallory

Keyword(s):

North America ◽

Mixed Forest ◽

Habitat Type ◽

Acer Rubrum ◽

Rocky Mountain ◽

Phleum Pratense ◽

Western North America ◽

Rocky Mountain Elk ◽

Grassland Habitats ◽

French River

A study of two herds of Rocky Mountain elk (Cervus elaphus nelsoni) introduced into the French River - Burwash regions of Ontario in the 1940s was undertaken to assess forage selection and availability. Studies in western North America have shown that the diets of elk vary seasonally, spatially, and in response to forage availability, palatability, plant phenology, plant species diversity, and habitat type. These studies have concluded that grasses, browse, and forbs were preferred forage items and that indigenous grass was used most. In an attempt to obtain a more detailed understanding of forage use in relation to habitat type, selection and availability of forage in ridge, mixed-forest, and grassland habitats was analyzed by tracking elk during a 2-year period. More than 1000 forage occasions were recorded from approximately 60 animals. It was hypothesized that Rocky Mountain elk in the French River - Burwash region would select forage species similar to those found in western North America. The results of this study support the following conclusions: (i) elk in the French River - Burwash regions of Ontario use ridge, mixed-forest, and grassland habitats for foraging; (ii) most forage consumed by elk in this region is woody species, grasses, or forbs, common in mixed-forest habitats; (iii) open grasslands increased forage diversity minimally and appeared to be the least important for foraging; (iv) uncultivated grasslands dominated by Old World agricultural gaminoid species, such as timothy (Phleum pratense), quack grass (Elymus repens), wire grass (Poa compressa), and redtop (Agrostis gigantea), or by indigenous graminoid species, such as white-grained mountain rice (Oryzopsis asperifolia), Canada blue joint (Calamagrostis canadensis), poverty oat grass (Danthonia spicata), and (or) fringed brome grass (Bromus ciliatus), may provide little nutritional support for elk in this region; (v) habitats containing large amounts of willow (Salix spp.), red maple (Acer rubrum), and common hairgrass (Deschampsia flexuosa) provide a significant forage base for elk in the Great Lakes - St. Lawrence ectone; and (vi) relocated Rocky Mountain elk in Ontario use forage classes similar to those utilized by elk in western North America; however, woody browse is the dominant forage used.

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