ONE Monitoring Reports

• Monitoring Forest Biodiversity, Health and Dynamics along the Niagara Escarpment: Analysis of Results 1996 - 2010

Throughout southern Ontario, monitoring plots have been established to gain a better understanding of temporal changes in forest biodiversity, growth, mortality, regeneration and dynamics to assess the short and long-term impacts of human disturbance. Some of the plots are now at a point where enough data has been collected to begin analysis of short-term trends. On public lands within core protected areas along the Niagara Escarpment, a series of one hectare plots have been monitored on a 5 year rotation over the past 15 years through a partnership between the Niagara Escarpment Commission and the University of Waterloo. Data collected in these plots can allow for the evaluation and refinement of land use and management practices and can serve as a baseline reference from which other monitoring and inventories of Escarpment forests can be compared.  

• An Evaluation of the Effectiveness of the Niagara Escarpment Plan in Protecting Provincially Significant Life Science Areas of Natural & Scientific Interest (PS LS ANSIs)

Historically identified along the Escarpment as Candidate Nature Reserves, Provincially Significant Life Science Areas of Natural and Scientific Interest (PS LS ANSIs) represent the best natural heritage features and landscapes in Ontario. However, this designation alone does not protect these significant areas; their protection is dependent on the policies of municipal and/or provincial land use plans, including the Niagara Escarpment Plan (NEP).  The NEP strives to protect PS LS ANSIs specifically through its development criteria and by including these areas in the Escarpment Natural Area designation; the most restrictive Plan designation in terms of land use and development. PS LS ANSIs currently occupy approximately 16% of the Plan Area.

A study was undertaken to evaluate the effectiveness of NEP policies in protecting PS LS ANSIs. Geographic Information Systems (GIS) analysis was employed to examine where the boundaries of these significant natural areas have been reduced by comparing historic and current data. The study area included PS LS ANSIs inside and outside the Plan Area (within a defined boundary) in order to note any differences in the protection of PS LS ANSIs where the NEP policies did not apply.

Relevant Niagara Escarpment Plan Objectives:

• to protect unique ecological areas
• to protect provincially significant elements of Ontario's natural landscape  

Selected Indicators:

a)   Lack of "area loss" as an indicator of PS LS ANSI protection

b)   Presence of natural regeneration over the study period to further indicate "protection"

c)   "Area loss" due to development as an indicator that PS LS ANSI protection was compromised  

Summary of Results

Since the policies of the NEP have been in place, 93% of Provincially Significant Life Science ANSIs inside the Plan Area did not experience area loss due to development. Natural regeneration was observed within several PS LS ANSIs in the Plan Area, resulting in improved ecological conditions and connectivity over the study period. Where "area loss" did occur, it was the result of a) new single dwellings being permitted in the Escarpment Natural Area designation; or b) the encroachment of a ski hill operation into a PS LS ANSI characterized by a less restrictive (i.e. Escarpment Recreation Area) Plan designation. It was found that most PS LS ANSIs in the Plan Area contained small proportions of less restrictive Plan designations along with the Escarpment Natural Area designation.

When comparing PS LS ANSIs inside and outside the Plan Area over the study period, the most notable difference within the latter was residential subdivision development.  It was noted that similar development occurred within the area now occupied by the Plan Area before the Plan's policies were in effect.

Overall, the results show that NEP policies have generally been working to protect PS LS ANSI and have made a difference on the landscape in terms of ANSI protection. However, two improvements could be made: (i) a Plan-wide update of NEP designation mapping to ensure that PS LS ANSIs are captured in their entirety within the Escarpment Natural Area designation; and (ii) "minor encroachments" within PS LS ANSI currently permitted by the NEP could be defined to exclude new single dwellings and ski hill development (or alternatively, NEP policies could be changed to prohibit any new development within PS LS ANSIs).