Savanna habitat on Pelee Island
by Heather Arnold, NCC
Current Projects - Western Lake Erie Islands
The Western Lake Erie Islands (WLEI) are a mosaic of aquatic and terrestrial resources, crossing the boundary between Ohio and Ontario. Consisting of globally rare shoreline, alvar, savanna and forest communities, this archipelago of 22 islands, including nine in Canada, supports globally significant biodiversity and numerous rare and imperilled species.
On Pelee Island, the largest of the Canadian WLEI, The Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC) conducted bird inventories on savanna and alvar properties and conducted invasive species control on multiple properties to improve habitat quality. NCC completed a management plan for one of the NCC owned Pelee Island properties and initiated the groundwork for a second management plan, both of which support many landbirds.
Priority bird species benefiting from NCC’s work on Pelee Island include Bald Eagle, Yellow Breasted Chat and the endangered Acadian Flycatcher.
