Pollinator Diversity in Human-Modified Landscapes

Date: Thursday April 26th 2012
Conversation: 5:30 – 7:30 pm
Location: The Graduate Student Union Pub
16 Bancroft Ave. Toronto, ON

At our next Conservation Conversation (March 1st), we will be discussing pollinator diversity in human modified landscapes. This CC is in preparation for our inaugural pollinator monitoring in the Rouge Park, as part of the ‘SCB Goes Rouge Pollinator Project’. If you have expressed interest in volunteering with us this summer (fieldwork, labwork, stewardship positions still available), we urge you to come and join us!

Bring a friend if you like and come and meet other conservation biologists and enthusiasts from your neighburhood

This event is part of the Toronto Chapter of the Society for Conservation Biology series Conservation Conversation. The purpose of these monthly discussions is to get people together in an informal setting (Pub!) to discuss topical and sometimes controversial conservation issues.

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The Toronto Chapter of the Society for Conservation Biology is embarking on an exciting new project at Rouge Park.  With the help of partners at Rouge Park and volunteers we will be:

1. Searching the park for the endangered Rusty-patched Bumblebee
2. Monitoring park pollinator diversity
3. Initiating outreach and education programs about the importance of pollinators in the park

The presence of native pollinators is crucial to the success of park restoration and ecosystem sustainability.  They provide the ecosystem service of pollinating native plants which provide food and shelter for other native animals like songbirds and small mammals. In recent years, some pollinator species have shown rapid declines.  The Rusty-patched Bumblebee, for example, went from being the 4^th most common species in southern Ontario to the rarest in just a few decades.

We need volunteers
Interested in volunteering with SCB-TO this summer on our SCB Goes Rouge Pollinator Project? We need volunteers to help with field work (including monitoring of bee pollinator diversity), community outreach, and lab work (including organizing, pinning, mounting specimens). To help us get all our volunteers organized we are asking you to fill out our volunteer recruitment survey. This will help us to coordinate everyone, organize transportation, and fit you into the best volunteer spots given your interests. This should not take more than 5 minutes of your time.

Volunteer survey link

We really appreciate your interest and look forward to meeting and working with you this summer. Please feel free to pass on the message to others you think might be interested.

For other info please check out these websites

• Rusty-patched Bumblee Recovery Strategy
• Xerces Fact Sheet
• Rouge Park
• The Pollinator Partnership

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Conservation Conversation

Date: Thursday March 1st 2012
Conversation: 5:30 – 7:30 pm
Location: The Graduate Student Union Pub
(or upstairs, will anounce in the next week)
16 Bancroft Ave. Toronto, ON

Canadian climate change policies and protected areas

At our next Conservation Conversation (March 1st), we will be discussing Canada’s policies on climate change and adaptation strategies in the context of our protected areas.
Potential future climate change is regarded globally as a threat to social and ecological systems, and may potentially exacerbate those systems that are already currently threatened by other stressors, such as habitat loss. Given this, it is important that nations integrate climate change into policy, planning, and management. At this week’s Conservation Conversation, we will present a brief overview of what Canada’s is (or is not doing) with special emphasis on protected areas and the responsible jurisdictions and levels of governance. Secondly, we would like to hear from you and what you think should or should not be done in the context of protected areas planning and management. What do you think the role of various types of institutions should be? How might this play out over different scales or jurisdications (i.e. local, landscape, regional; municipal, provincial, national)? Bring your questions, anecdotes, and suggestions to the table.

Bring a friend if you like and come and meet other conservation biologists and enthusiasts from your neighburhood

Background material:

Lemieux_et_al_2011_CanGeo_clch_adaptation_CAN_PA

For further reading (grey and peer reviewed literature)

1. Climate Change and Ontario’s Provincial Parks: Towards an Adaptation Strategy (2007) http://www.mnr.gov.on.ca/stdprodconsume/groups/lr/@mnr/@climatechange/documents/document/276924.pdf
2. Implications of Climate Change for Northern Canada: Freshwater, Marine, and Terrestrial Ecosystems. Terry D. Prowse, Chris Furgal, Fred J. Wrona, and James D. Reist. AMBIO: A Journal of the Human Environment Jul 2009 : Vol. 38, Issue 5, pg(s) 282-289 doi: 10.1579/0044-7447-38.5.282
3. Lemieux et al. 2011. Changing Climate, Challenging Choices: Identifying and Evaluating Climate Change Adaptation Options for Protected Areas Management in Ontario, Canada. Environmental Management. 48:675–690. DOI 10.1007/s00267-011-9700-x
4. Kerr and Coristine. 2010. Habitat loss, climate change, and emerging conservation challenges in Canada. Can Journal of Zoology.

This event is part of the Toronto Chapter of the Society for Conservation Biology series Conservation Conversation. The purpose of these monthly discussions is to get people together in an informal setting (Pub!) to discuss topical and sometimes controversial conservation issues.

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