| In Ontario, oak savanna plant communities are rare and fragmented and are described as globally imperiled. Species such as Wild Lupine ( Lupinus perennis) and Karner Blue Butterfly (Lycaedes melissa samuelis) have become locally extirpated, generating interest in habitat restoration. The suppression of fires and the introduction of inappropriate disturbances such as intense herbivory by white-tailed deer have altered natural disturbance patterns, causing the composition of extant oak savannas to become altered in three locations: Pinery Provincial Park, Point Pelée National Park and Rondeau Provincial Park. This study had two main objectives: (1) to characterize and compare the plant community composition and light levels of degraded and restored oak savanna remnants in these parks in 2000, and (2) to assess the effects of specific restoration efforts (prescribed burns, deer herd reductions and deer exclusion) in Pinery (1994–2000). Five plant community types were compared: two in Pinery (black and black-white oak savannas), two in Point Pelée (sand dune and oak savanna) and one in Rondeau oak savanna. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)... |
