The latest updates from our Terrestrial Restoration and Resiliency Coordinator, Robert Smith.

Get the latest updates from our Aquatic Restoration and Resiliency Coordinator, Brittney Rogers.

Recently, Water soldier has been detected by commercial fishers at the outlet of the Bay of Quinte. Due to concern for potential spread, the Ontario Ministry of Northern Development, Mines, Natural Resources, and Forestry Surveillance Program is expanding to include Eastern Lake Ontario, and the St. Lawrence River in 2023.

Elm zigzag sawfly (Aproceros leucopoda), an exotic pest native to East Asia that feeds exclusively on elm species, has been detected in many locations across New York State this season. EZS was first detected in St. Lawrence County in August 2022. Since, it has been found in Allegany, Ontario, Madison, Ulster, Schenectady, Albany, Saratoga, Warren, and Clinton, with new counties being confirmed weekly.

Yellow iris is a target species in the SLELO region. Get an overview of the species’ history, and identification, and learn of volunteer removal efforts.

By focusing invasive species suppression and habitat rehabilitation on connected areas, both terrestrial and aquatic areas, we can defragment our recovery efforts, preserve the resilience of these systems and augment their natural character to achieve a greater conservation impact.

Is the health of our Priority Conservation Areas (PCAs) improving, maintaining, or worsening as a result of our invasive species management strategies and restoration activities? Answering this important question first requires a benchmark. To achieve this, the SLELO PRISM continues to develop scorecards for each PCA, and to date, approximately half of our PCAs have been benchmarked.

The Monitoring and Managing Ash (MaMA) program of the Ecological Research Institute (ERI) has made considerable progress in its efforts to detect “lingering ash”, trees that likely have some resistance to emerald ash borer (EAB) and from which material can be used to breed highly EAB-resistant trees. As EAB’s invasion expands in the SLELO region, participation in MaMA needs to expand as well, so locally adapted lingering ash can be found.

Volunteers have helped to remove over 1,200 target invasive species this summer!

Our work is more than restoration – it’s about sustaining biodiversity, improving carbon sequestration and wildlife habitat by reducing invasive plant monocultures and increasing native plant establishment. Often, invasive plants create monocultures on the landscape thereby reducing native plant diversity. These same ‘disturbed’ areas can often reduce the healthy sequestration of carbon – as is the case with forest pests. By suppressing invasive plants and promoting native plant recovery, we can increase biodiversity on these sites. As a result, we can improve carbon uptakes and wildlife habitat making these areas more resilient to external stressors such as a changing climate.