Carolinian forest

Template:Short description The Carolinian forest refers to a life zone in eastern North America characterized primarily by the predominance of deciduous (broad-leaf) forest.<ref name=":12">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The term "Carolinian", which is most commonly used in Canada, refers to the deciduous forests which span across much of the eastern United States from North Carolina northward into southern Ontario, Canada.<ref name=":5">Template:Cite book</ref><ref name=":6">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> These deciduous forests in the United States and southern Ontario share many similar characteristics and species hence their association.<ref name=":7">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Today the term is often used to refer to the Canadian portion (northern limit) of the deciduous forest region while the portion in the United States is often referred to as the "Eastern deciduous forest".<ref name=":5" /><ref name=":6" /><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Location and extent

The Carolinian zone spans across much of the eastern United States,<ref name=":12" /> with extensive coverage in the Virginias, Kentucky, Tennessee, Maryland, Delaware, Pennsylvania, parts of southern New York state, Connecticut, and Rhode Island, eastern Ohio, and small parts of southern Michigan, Indiana, and western Ohio. It extends up into Southern Ontario, Canada which is located in the fertile ecozone of the Mixedwood Plains and includes ecodistricts 7E-1 to 7E-6.

Trees found here include various species of ash, birch, chestnut, hickory, oak, and walnut; tallest of all is the tulip tree. Fruit trees native to this zone include the pawpaw.<ref name=caroliniancanada.ca/> Animal life includes raccoons, opossums, squirrels (including the relatively rare southern flying squirrel), nuthatches, and chickadees.<ref name=caroliniancanada.ca>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Carolinian Canada

The Carolinian forest in Canada is located at the southern tip of Ontario between Lake Erie, Lake Huron and Lake Ontario.<ref name=":7" /> The region contains an extremely high biodiversity of species, over 500 of which are considered rare.<ref name=":2">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Climate

The reason for the high biodiversity in this region is its unique climate; ranging from humid subtropical to a mild humid continental. The Carolinian forest of Ontario has the warmest average annual temperatures, the longest frost-free seasons, and the mildest winters of any region in Ontario and Canada in general.<ref name=":3">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> This distinctive climate is largely due to the nearby Great Lakes which moderate the temperature of the surrounding land.

Status

File:Canada warbler (5834587846).jpg

Canada warbler (Cardellina canadensis) who use the Carolinian forests as their breeding grounds.Southern flying squirrel (Glaucomys volans) in a Red Maple tree found in the Carolinian forests of North Carolina.A southern flying squirrel (Glaucomys volans) in the branches of a red maple tree.

The high fertility of the land has seen the region become highly developed and populated, with agricultural, industrial, commercial and urban areas.<ref name=":12" /><ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Today, the Carolinian Zone contains major cities and is home to one quarter of Canada's population despite being 0.25% of the total land area.<ref name=":4">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}</ref> The deforestation of the region for this development has led to significant habitat loss and fragmentation, leaving the remaining portions of land scattered and disconnected, with some areas still threatened by human development.<ref name=":4" /> In total, it is estimated that forest cover has been reduced from 80% to 11.3% while wetlands reduced from 28.3% to 5.1%.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In addition to habitat loss and fragmentation, the native Carolinian species are also being threatened by invasive species such as garlic mustard and buckthorn, and overgrazing by white-tailed deer.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> These factors have contributed to the Carolinian zone becoming the most threatened region in Ontario, with over 125 species of plants and animals listed as either vulnerable, threatened or endangered by the federal or provincial governments.<ref name=":2" /> This is over one-third of all vulnerable, threatened or endangered species in Canada.<ref name=":3" />

Conservation efforts

Some parts of the remaining natural area in the Carolinian zone are protected in an effort to conserve the region and its unique, diverse biota. For example, today there are many protected areas including Point Pelee National Park, 21 provincial parks, and many conservation areas.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Some of the best preserved areas of Canada's Carolinian forest are located in Windsor's Ojibway Prairie Complex and Rondeau Provincial Park near Morpeth, Ontario; another is the Niagara Glen Nature Reserve near Niagara Falls, Ontario.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> There are also organizations like the Carolinian Canada Coalition who aim to restore the region as much as possible. Carolinian forests are complex ecosystems that cannot be replicated in gardens or other small areas. The only way to preserve this unique habitat is continue to keep larger areas of land protected from development and agriculture.

Other conservation efforts have included the reduction of the white-tailed deer population from their peak density of 55 deer km⁻² to 7 deer km^−2, between the years of 1996-2009.<ref name=":8">Template:Cite journal</ref> However, studies have found that while this helps reduce further forest damage, continued decline in the forest canopy can still occur, indicating the recovery from overgrazing by herbivores on the forest canopy is a long process without immediate results.<ref name=":8" /> Maintaining a lower density of white-tailed deer, while increasing the seed sources of native trees and protecting tree saplings in herbivore exclosures are all suggested ways of helping the Carolinian forest recover or at least conserve what is remaining.<ref name=":8" /><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>

Examples of species

Fauna:<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

• White-tailed deer
• American black bear
• Virginia opossum
• American badger
• Gray fox
• Bobcat
• Southern flying squirrel
• Wild turkey
• Ruffed grouse
• Hooded warbler
• Prothonotary warbler
• Canada warbler
• Carolina wren
• Yellow-breasted chat
• Northern cardinal
• Red bellied woodpecker
• Red-tailed hawk
• American barn owl
• Passenger pigeon (formerly)
• Carolina parakeet (formerly)
• Eastern box turtle
• Spotted turtle
• Eastern hognose snake
• Eastern spiny softshell turtle
• Eastern fox snake
• Red salamander
• Karner blue butterfly

Flora:<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>

• Eastern prickly pear cactus
• Tulip tree
• Sassafras
• Miami mist
• Pawpaw
• Kentucky coffeetree
• Flowering dogwood
• Black walnut
• American chestnut
• American sycamore
• Red mulberry
• Black gum
• Red maple
• Eastern white pine
• Eastern hemlock
• Honey locust

Rivers and creeks

• Ausable River
• Catfish Creek
• Credit River
• Kettle Creek
• Grand River
• Rouge River
• Sydenham River
• Thames River
• Twenty Mile Creek
• Welland River
• Nith River

Other

• Rouge Park
• Barker's Bush
• Point Pelee National Park

See also

• Temperate broadleaf and mixed forests
• Southern Great Lakes forests

External links

• Carolinian Canada
• Carolinian forest species at risk
• Carolinian invasive species