Kawartha Land Trust receives grant from Invasive Species Centre to support populations of Endangered American Ginseng
Kawartha Land Trust (KLT) is proud to be one of the organizations supported through the Invasive Species Centre’s (ISC) new Invasive Species Action Fund (ISAF), which is funded through an investment from the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry (MNRF). The fund is a grant program designed to facilitate on-the-ground management and monitoring of invasive species in Ontario.
This vital investment in invasive plant species management has allowed KLT to target and remove invasive Garlic Mustard at one of our protected properties to support a population of American Ginseng, an Endangered species in Ontario.
According to the ISC, “Invasive species are considered one of the greatest threats to biodiversity.” However, thanks to the Invasive Species Action Fund grant, KLT has developed and is implementing a management plan to remove the invasive Garlic Mustard from one of our protected properties and safeguard the ecological integrity of the deciduous woodland, so that the American Ginseng located there might survive and thrive into the future.
“This year, we saw that the understory of this particular property displayed a wide variety of understory plants, including American Ginseng, Large-Flowered Bellwort, Trilliums, Trout Lily, Wild Leeks, and Bloodroot, mixed in with ferns and regenerating Hickory Trees,” said Hayden Wilson, KLT’s Land Stewardship Manager. “All of which could be under threat if invasive plant species like Garlic Mustard are not properly controlled.”
On several occasions throughout the spring and summer, KLT volunteers and staff visited the protected property to remove Garlic Mustard in key areas to protect the vulnerable Ginseng plants.
“It’s wonderful to be able to look back on a year’s worth of work and see the difference right away with more areas open for native species to flourish and people to directly participate in conservation,” said Wilson.
Through the ISAF funding, additional work will continue throughout the fall to remove the first-year Garlic Mustard plants that have grown in since the summer pulls.
In addition to Kawartha Land Trust’s ISAF-supported work, KLT staff and volunteers have been hard at work this field season to manage other instances of invasive plant species on our protected lands as part of our overarching land stewardship goals.
Some of the projects undertaken with the support of our volunteers and donors include the removal of Invasive Phragmites from Balsam Lake Wetland, pulling Dog-strangling Vine at Christie Bentham Wetland, cutting Buckthorn and Scots Pine at Ballyduff Trails, surveying for Purple Loosestrife and its biological control, the Purple Loosestrife Beetle, at John Earle Chase Memorial Park, and more.
KLT offers our thanks to the Invasive Species Centre for supporting stewardship in the Kawarthas and protecting Threatened species like American Ginseng.
“The decline of Ginseng on the landscape points to some significant conservation concerns that not only affect this deep woods species, but really all life that connects with these ecosystems, including us,” said Wilson.
“This funding allows Kawartha Land Trust to start tackling some of the most pressing issues like invasive species pressure while also getting people connected to the land to bring hearts, minds, and boots on the ground together.”
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