Across eastern Ontario areas of poor water quality have been identified through several groundwater studies completed as part of the Ontario Geological Surveys Ambient Groundwater Geochemistry Program in partnership with local municipalities and conservation authorities. This study focuses on a subset of data collected between 2012 and 2017 between east Ottawa and Champlain Township along the south shore of the Ottawa River. A high degree of variability is observed in groundwater chemistry and geochemical processes which closely relate to major geologic features across the study area (~1600 km²). Over 9000 borehole records were evaluated and used to produce updated bedrock topographic and drift thickness models to better constrain geologic features in the region. These models in conjunction with geochemical results from 369 domestic well water samples highlight the significant implications that stagnant groundwater flow and preferential recharge areas have on groundwater quality across the study area.

As part of Parks Canada’s management initiatives, St. Lawrence Islands National Park (SLINP) funded this study to learn more about the natural local fire regime, learn about the risks associated with fire in a changing climate scenario, and to aid in protection efforts of the fire-dependent species Pinus rigida (pitch pine), which is listed provincially as a species at risk. The study site selected was Little Black Lake (44º 32'45.20" N, 76 º 03'12.06” W), which is ideal because of its small size and isolated watershed. A 4.5 m Livingston-piston core and a 0.5 m Glew gravity core were extracted from the lake basin. Charcoal macrofossils >125 µm were quantified at 0.5 cm intervals to produce a high-resolution (14 years) fire record. A chronology was created for each of the two cores together using a combination of 13 14C dates and 20 210Pb dates to complete a record spanning from 2008 to >11000 Cal yrs BP. In general, the fire regime appears to be non-stationary with overall low CHAR (charcoal particles per cm2 of sediment per year) throughout the Holocene. The mean fire return interval for the entire record was on the century scale, at 244 years. The early- and mid-Holocene show low CHAR and few peaks during a period dominated by spruce and pine. Contrastingly, the late Holocene shows an increase in CHAR and peaks during hardwood dominance, which may be due to a change in fuel, as suggested by charcoal morphotypes. A detailed look at the Late Holocene through an analysis of the Glew gravity core, shows a shorter mean fire interval. Comparisons of the Little Black Lake fire record with other vegetation and charcoal records from this region indicate interactions between climate and changing fuel sources may be explanations for the non-stationarity of the fire regime. Management steps for St. Lawrence Islands National Park could include continuing small, isolated and infrequent burns and continued monitoring of local Pitch Pine populations provided spatial and temporal heterogeneity are taken into account. / Thesis (Master, Environmental Studies) -- Queen's University, 2010-01-31 23:58:09.579

This thesis examines the extent to which sugar bush management in Eastern Ontario might contribute to biodiversity maintenance and conservation and therefore be promoted as a form of rural sustainable development. Ontario government policy seeks to actively promote actions that strengthen the province’s rural communities and protect biodiversity. Therefore sustainable development is an important concept to encourage in rural areas. The production of maple syrup on sugar bushes has already been demonstrated to be economically, socially, and in some aspects ecologically sustainable. This study seeks to determine how the operation of sugar bushes might also contribute to ecological sustainability through the maintenance and conservation of forest biodiversity. I identified three documents published by the Eastern Ontario Model Forest (EOMF): a set of management principles for conserving biodiversity on private woodlots, a list of biodiversity indicators, and a manual for monitoring them. I monitored three of the biodiversity indicators (spring ephemerals, birds, and frogs) on three of the larger sugar bushes in the Eastern Ontario and established that the EOMF biodiversity monitoring practices and guidelines were suitable for working sugar bushes. Using the management principles for biodiversity conservation developed by the EOMF, I interviewed 22 sugar bush operators in Eastern Ontario. With these interviews I addressed two objectives: 1. To generate empirical information regarding the management practices of maple sugar bush operators in Eastern Ontario and to compare these with established management principles for forest biodiversity conservation in the region 2. To generate suggestions for woodlot operators and government policymakers alike about future opportunities for research and management decision-making. The results of the study show that although most operators do not have a formal management plan for their sugar bush, many of their management practices are consistent with prescribed biodiversity conservation principles. Sugar bush operators are receptive to conserving biodiversity on their properties. The findings suggest that through sound management and planning, small-scale commercial sugar bush operations generally can be made environmentally sustainable, and become important components in broader rural development strategies. This study provides new insights into how small-scale sugar bush management, when practiced well, is consistent with conservation principles and with sustainable development principles more generally. It shows how sugar bush operators in Eastern Ontario can help the province reach its goals of biodiversity conservation and rural development set out in Ontario’s Biodiversity Strategy (2005) and Ontario’s Rural Plan (2004).

Pollen profiles from two lakes, Tawny Pond (44°48’59”N, 77°10’54”W, 276m) and Stoll Lake (44°58’16”N, 77°17’22”W,303m) in Addington Highlands, eastern Ontario, Canada were analyzed to understand the effects of late-Holocene climate change and European settlement on eastern Ontario’s forests. Both lakes were analyzed at high temporal resolution and record vegetation dynamics over the last 1000 years. Throughout the past 1000 years, Pinus, Tsuga, Betula, Quercus, Acer and Fagus were the dominant taxa in the pollen record. The pollen records show vegetation response in relation to the Medieval Warm Period and the Little Ice Age. From 970-1200 AD the forest was dominated by hemlock, beech and maple trees. From 1200-1870 AD the forest composition changed as pine and boreal trees became more abundant and/or had increased relative pollen production. Most recently, since 1870 AD, herbaceous plants (weeds) increased, whereas softwoods decreased and hardwoods increased, due to landscape changes associated with European settlement. These results show that high resolution studies of unvarved lakes, with an appropriate chronology, can detect multi-decadal climate variability. This thesis was also concerned with making management suggestions to the forestry community. Future climate change will likely create a forest composition more similar to that of the Medieval Warm Period than the time of European colonization, and thus should be the basis for forest planning.

This thesis examines the extent to which sugar bush management in Eastern Ontario might contribute to biodiversity maintenance and conservation and therefore be promoted as a form of rural sustainable development. Ontario government policy seeks to actively promote actions that strengthen the province’s rural communities and protect biodiversity. Therefore sustainable development is an important concept to encourage in rural areas. The production of maple syrup on sugar bushes has already been demonstrated to be economically, socially, and in some aspects ecologically sustainable. This study seeks to determine how the operation of sugar bushes might also contribute to ecological sustainability through the maintenance and conservation of forest biodiversity. I identified three documents published by the Eastern Ontario Model Forest (EOMF): a set of management principles for conserving biodiversity on private woodlots, a list of biodiversity indicators, and a manual for monitoring them. I monitored three of the biodiversity indicators (spring ephemerals, birds, and frogs) on three of the larger sugar bushes in the Eastern Ontario and established that the EOMF biodiversity monitoring practices and guidelines were suitable for working sugar bushes. Using the management principles for biodiversity conservation developed by the EOMF, I interviewed 22 sugar bush operators in Eastern Ontario. With these interviews I addressed two objectives: 1. To generate empirical information regarding the management practices of maple sugar bush operators in Eastern Ontario and to compare these with established management principles for forest biodiversity conservation in the region 2. To generate suggestions for woodlot operators and government policymakers alike about future opportunities for research and management decision-making. The results of the study show that although most operators do not have a formal management plan for their sugar bush, many of their management practices are consistent with prescribed biodiversity conservation principles. Sugar bush operators are receptive to conserving biodiversity on their properties. The findings suggest that through sound management and planning, small-scale commercial sugar bush operations generally can be made environmentally sustainable, and become important components in broader rural development strategies. This study provides new insights into how small-scale sugar bush management, when practiced well, is consistent with conservation principles and with sustainable development principles more generally. It shows how sugar bush operators in Eastern Ontario can help the province reach its goals of biodiversity conservation and rural development set out in Ontario’s Biodiversity Strategy (2005) and Ontario’s Rural Plan (2004).

Pollen profiles from two lakes, Tawny Pond (44°48’59”N, 77°10’54”W, 276m) and Stoll Lake (44°58’16”N, 77°17’22”W,303m) in Addington Highlands, eastern Ontario, Canada were analyzed to understand the effects of late-Holocene climate change and European settlement on eastern Ontario’s forests. Both lakes were analyzed at high temporal resolution and record vegetation dynamics over the last 1000 years. Throughout the past 1000 years, Pinus, Tsuga, Betula, Quercus, Acer and Fagus were the dominant taxa in the pollen record. The pollen records show vegetation response in relation to the Medieval Warm Period and the Little Ice Age. From 970-1200 AD the forest was dominated by hemlock, beech and maple trees. From 1200-1870 AD the forest composition changed as pine and boreal trees became more abundant and/or had increased relative pollen production. Most recently, since 1870 AD, herbaceous plants (weeds) increased, whereas softwoods decreased and hardwoods increased, due to landscape changes associated with European settlement. These results show that high resolution studies of unvarved lakes, with an appropriate chronology, can detect multi-decadal climate variability. This thesis was also concerned with making management suggestions to the forestry community. Future climate change will likely create a forest composition more similar to that of the Medieval Warm Period than the time of European colonization, and thus should be the basis for forest planning.

This thesis examines the extent to which sugar bush management in Eastern Ontario might contribute to biodiversity maintenance and conservation and therefore be promoted as a form of rural sustainable development. Ontario government policy seeks to actively promote actions that strengthen the province’s rural communities and protect biodiversity. Therefore sustainable development is an important concept to encourage in rural areas. The production of maple syrup on sugar bushes has already been demonstrated to be economically, socially, and in some aspects ecologically sustainable. This study seeks to determine how the operation of sugar bushes might also contribute to ecological sustainability through the maintenance and conservation of forest biodiversity. I identified three documents published by the Eastern Ontario Model Forest (EOMF): a set of management principles for conserving biodiversity on private woodlots, a list of biodiversity indicators, and a manual for monitoring them. I monitored three of the biodiversity indicators (spring ephemerals, birds, and frogs) on three of the larger sugar bushes in the Eastern Ontario and established that the EOMF biodiversity monitoring practices and guidelines were suitable for working sugar bushes. Using the management principles for biodiversity conservation developed by the EOMF, I interviewed 22 sugar bush operators in Eastern Ontario. With these interviews I addressed two objectives: 1. To generate empirical information regarding the management practices of maple sugar bush operators in Eastern Ontario and to compare these with established management principles for forest biodiversity conservation in the region 2. To generate suggestions for woodlot operators and government policymakers alike about future opportunities for research and management decision-making. The results of the study show that although most operators do not have a formal management plan for their sugar bush, many of their management practices are consistent with prescribed biodiversity conservation principles. Sugar bush operators are receptive to conserving biodiversity on their properties. The findings suggest that through sound management and planning, small-scale commercial sugar bush operations generally can be made environmentally sustainable, and become important components in broader rural development strategies. This study provides new insights into how small-scale sugar bush management, when practiced well, is consistent with conservation principles and with sustainable development principles more generally. It shows how sugar bush operators in Eastern Ontario can help the province reach its goals of biodiversity conservation and rural development set out in Ontario’s Biodiversity Strategy (2005) and Ontario’s Rural Plan (2004).

The geology, hydrogeology, and groundwater geochemistry are described for an interface aquifer in Eastern Ontario exhibiting anomalously high proportions of iodine (I) as iodide (I-) and dissolved methane (CH4). The studied area is unique in that it shows a significant marine influence, attributed to the most recent Champlain Sea incursion 10 – 12 ka BP, which has implications for I and CH4 enrichment. I and CH4 in groundwater are found in high proportions in reducing fossil seawaters, which are typically observed in depressions in the bedrock surface that are overlain by thick layers of glaciomarine muds. I is released via microbial decomposition of marine phytoplankton into mud porewaters, where it is then leached to underlying groundwaters. 129I and 14C isotopic signatures of I and C compounds highlight the importance of allochthonous I and C sources in the Champlain Sea basin derived from glacial abrasion of the surrounding terrain and imported via glacial meltwater. CH4 is microbial in origin, with marine phytoplankton from the Champlain Sea incursion and ancient terrestrial organic matter from an Early Wisconsinian interstadial period (60 – 75 ka BP) as the dominant substrates. A thermogenic CH4 component was observed for areas underlain by the Billings shale unit. Both I and CH4 originate at least partially from the same marine phytoplankton source within the muds, demonstrate similar controls on enrichment, and have a Spearman’s rank coefficient of 0.62, indicating that the correlation between I and CH4 in groundwater in the studied area is significant.

This thesis examines the extent to which sugar bush management in Eastern Ontario might contribute to biodiversity maintenance and conservation and therefore be promoted as a form of rural sustainable development. Ontario government policy seeks to actively promote actions that strengthen the province’s rural communities and protect biodiversity. Therefore sustainable development is an important concept to encourage in rural areas. The production of maple syrup on sugar bushes has already been demonstrated to be economically, socially, and in some aspects ecologically sustainable. This study seeks to determine how the operation of sugar bushes might also contribute to ecological sustainability through the maintenance and conservation of forest biodiversity. I identified three documents published by the Eastern Ontario Model Forest (EOMF): a set of management principles for conserving biodiversity on private woodlots, a list of biodiversity indicators, and a manual for monitoring them. I monitored three of the biodiversity indicators (spring ephemerals, birds, and frogs) on three of the larger sugar bushes in the Eastern Ontario and established that the EOMF biodiversity monitoring practices and guidelines were suitable for working sugar bushes. Using the management principles for biodiversity conservation developed by the EOMF, I interviewed 22 sugar bush operators in Eastern Ontario. With these interviews I addressed two objectives: 1. To generate empirical information regarding the management practices of maple sugar bush operators in Eastern Ontario and to compare these with established management principles for forest biodiversity conservation in the region 2. To generate suggestions for woodlot operators and government policymakers alike about future opportunities for research and management decision-making. The results of the study show that although most operators do not have a formal management plan for their sugar bush, many of their management practices are consistent with prescribed biodiversity conservation principles. Sugar bush operators are receptive to conserving biodiversity on their properties. The findings suggest that through sound management and planning, small-scale commercial sugar bush operations generally can be made environmentally sustainable, and become important components in broader rural development strategies. This study provides new insights into how small-scale sugar bush management, when practiced well, is consistent with conservation principles and with sustainable development principles more generally. It shows how sugar bush operators in Eastern Ontario can help the province reach its goals of biodiversity conservation and rural development set out in Ontario’s Biodiversity Strategy (2005) and Ontario’s Rural Plan (2004).

Pollen profiles from two lakes, Tawny Pond (44°48’59”N, 77°10’54”W, 276m) and Stoll Lake (44°58’16”N, 77°17’22”W,303m) in Addington Highlands, eastern Ontario, Canada were analyzed to understand the effects of late-Holocene climate change and European settlement on eastern Ontario’s forests. Both lakes were analyzed at high temporal resolution and record vegetation dynamics over the last 1000 years. Throughout the past 1000 years, Pinus, Tsuga, Betula, Quercus, Acer and Fagus were the dominant taxa in the pollen record. The pollen records show vegetation response in relation to the Medieval Warm Period and the Little Ice Age. From 970-1200 AD the forest was dominated by hemlock, beech and maple trees. From 1200-1870 AD the forest composition changed as pine and boreal trees became more abundant and/or had increased relative pollen production. Most recently, since 1870 AD, herbaceous plants (weeds) increased, whereas softwoods decreased and hardwoods increased, due to landscape changes associated with European settlement. These results show that high resolution studies of unvarved lakes, with an appropriate chronology, can detect multi-decadal climate variability. This thesis was also concerned with making management suggestions to the forestry community. Future climate change will likely create a forest composition more similar to that of the Medieval Warm Period than the time of European colonization, and thus should be the basis for forest planning.