Tree & Shrub Management
Trees provide many benefits to both humans and our surrounding environment. From combating global warming by absorbing pollutant gases like carbon dioxide, filtering air by trapping particles on their leaves and barks, to perhaps most importantly, providing oxygen for humans to live. Planted strategically around homes and farms, trees can also help reduce energy costs and also help minimize wind and soil erosion. Trees also increase property values, provide vital wildlife habitat and can even provide an income through selective logging or harvesting.
Contact ONS: In partnership with your local Conservation Authority, ONS can provide tree planting services including:
- On-site visit and assessment
- Access to variety of native trees and shrubs
- Overseeing of planting project
- Post-planting maintenance
ONS can help in increasing the tree cover in your area by . . .
Connecting Habitat
South-western Ontario lacks interior forest cover. Most woodlots are disconnected creating issues for wildlife. We can help connect existing woodlots and/or expand them to create larger, more biodiverse woodlots.
Create Windbreaks & Hedgerows
Windbreaks are rows of trees or shrubs that reduce the force of the wind. They can reduce soil erosion, increase crop yields and protect livestock from heat and cold. Windbreaks can shield buildings and roads from drifting snow. They beautify the landscape and provide travel routes and habitat for wildlife. Windbreaks can also be sources of wood and food.
Create Forest Habitat
Depending on available land and site conditions, large tracts of land can be planted to create forest habitat.
Riparian Buffer
Native trees and shrubs can be used as an effective buffer to protect water quality while stabilizing slopes.
The Carolinian Canada Life Zone is part of the Deciduous Forest Region, and makes up only 1% of Canada’s total landmass. Despite being the smallest forest region in the country, it boasts the highest diversity of native tree species.
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Of the 70 species throughout the region, some are typical of the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Forest to the north, while others are Carolinian indicator species which are more commonly found in Ohio, Pennsylvania and the Carolinas. Yellow birch, sugar and red maples, basswood and red oak are common deciduous trees in other parts of Ontario. But the Carolinian zone is the only place in Canada to see black walnut, butternut, tulip tree, magnolia, black gum, many types of oaks, hickories, sassafras and red bud. There are few coniferous species in the Carolinian zone, but there is a scattered distribution of eastern white pine, tamarack, eastern red cedar and eastern hemlock. The region’s landscape has dramatically changed since pre-European settlement. Over the past two centuries, southern Ontario’s forests have been decimated with more than 80% of the original forests having been lost to urban sprawl and farmland. The remaining woodlots are fragmented and small and cannot support the diversity of wildlife that it once did. As a result, the Carolinian Life zone has become the province’s most threatened ecological region.