Postcards from the Field: Marla Wales

Shell Conservation Intern Marla Wales

Hello from Southwestern Ontario!

Growing up in southwestern Ontario, combined with my education from the University of Guelph and Niagara College, as well as previous environmental employment experience, I am quite familiar with Carolinian Canada and the uniqueness it has to offer. My work with the Nature Conservancy of Canada this summer has taken me to all corners of southwestern Ontario, from the Southern Norfolk Sand Plains all the way to the southernmost inhabited part of Canada, Pelee Island. I have had the opportunity to experience and help protect globally rare and imperilled alvar communities, see many rare species and communities found nowhere else in Canada and explore newly acquired NCC land!

The majority of my work this summer has involved restoring open alvar communities on Pelee Island which are disappearing due to the presence of invasive exotic species. Alvars are naturally open habitats with either a thin covering of soil or no soil over a base of limestone or dolostone and are subject to seasonal drought and flooding. Due to this unusual environment, these open habits contain many specialist and endemic species that have adapted to these harsh conditions. With the disappearance of a natural disturbance regime, the invasion of exotic species has increased creating a serious threat to, these unique communities. In our aid to understand the dynamics of these systems, research plots were set up on Pelee Island in hopes of determining the best method to control the invasive exotics and return the alvar to a healthier condition, while increasing native biodiversity.

The invaluable field skills and conservation biology experience I have gained this summer will be extremely beneficial to my future career. I am very appreciative of Shell Canada Limited and NCC for allowing me to discover many aspects of stewardship and conservation science and for creating this opportunity to allow me to further explore the ecosystems in "my own backyard".

Take care,

Marla Wales