Want to create interactive content? It’s easy in Genially!

Get started free

ALUS Outaouais - Species at Risk Interactive Guide

ALUS National

Created on March 13, 2024

Start designing with a free template

Discover more than 1500 professional designs like these:

Practical Microsite

Essential Microsite

Akihabara Microsite

Essential CV

Akihabara Resume

Momentum: Manager Guide

Momentum: First Operational Steps

Transcript

FARMING FOR SPECIES AT RISK

Click on the habitat icons to learn more about 13 species at risk in the Outaouais region.

Building

Field

Woodland

Pollinator Strip

Water-course

The vulnerable species map shows where these species have been sighted in Quebec.

This project was created in collaboration with :

FARMING FOR SPECIES AT RISK

YELLOW-BANDED BUMBLE BEE

Click on the habitat icons to learn more about 13 species at risk in the Outaouais region.

Monarch

WESTERN CHORUS FROG

WOOD TURTLE

Building

Field

Woodland

Pollinator Strip

Water-course

BLANDING's TURTLE

BOBOLINK

Eastern Meadowlark

GRASSHOPPER SPARROW

GOLDEN-WINGED WARBLER

The vulnerable species map shows where these species have been sighted in Quebec.

EASTERN MILKSNAKE

BARN SWALLOW

RED-HEADED WOODPECKER

EASTERN LOGGERHEAD SHRIKE

This project was created in collaboration with :

POLLINATOR STRIP

Sustainable practices
Threats

To help conserve these species in agricultural environments, a number of sustainable practices can be adopted, such as:

  • Reducing the use of pesticides and favouring those with low environmental impact.
  • Cultivating a variety of herbaceous plants that bloom at different times of the season in marginal and riparian areas

A number of human activities can affect these species, including agricultural activities:

  • Use of pesticides
  • Lack of floral diversity in buffer zones and riparian areas

WATERCOURSE

Threats

A number of human activities can affect these species, including agricultural activities:

  • Alteration (destruction or fragmentation) of their habitats by agricultural activities
  • Collisions with farm machinery 

Sustainable practices

To help conserve these species in agricultural environments, a number of sustainable practices can be adopted, such as:

  • Creating wide riparian buffers and buffer zones
  • Adapting mowing practices: Leaving a 10–15 m strip on the riparian side of the field and mowing in two stages (to provide refuge for animals)

FIELD

Reading about wildlife is great, but watching it is even better! Watch this short video about grassland birds to learn more about these species at risk.

Threats
Sustainable practices

A number of human activities can affect these species, including agricultural activities:

  • Habitat loss due to the conversion of forage crops to annual crops
  • Risk of mortality of young birds during mowing because they nest on the ground

To help conserve these species in agricultural environments, a number of sustainable practices can be adopted, such as:

  • Delaying the first hay cutting until July 15
  • Preserving grasslands

BUILDING

Threats

A number of human activities can affect these species, including agricultural activities:

  • Habitat fragmentation and loss due to intensification of agriculture and destruction of wooden farm buildings
  • Use of pesticides

Sustainable practices

To help conserve these species in agricultural environments, a number of sustainable practices can be adopted, such as:

  • Preserving old buildings (especially barns) and other structures to ensure habitat availability
  • Maintaining wetlands and small wooded areas

WOODLAND

Sustainable practices
Threats

To help conserve these species in agricultural environments, a number of sustainable practices can be adopted, such as:

  • Leaving dead trees in place and maintaining mature forests and high densities of shrubs near fields
  • Restoring nesting habitats

A number of human activities can affect these species, including agricultural activities:

  • Logging of mature forests and removal of dead trees in wooded areas
  • Use of insecticides

BOBOLINK

Dolichonyx oryzivorus

The bobolink is a grassland bird that nests on the ground. Adults feed on crop pests and seeds. Nestlings feed only on insects. This species is vulnerable during its nesting season, which extends from May to mid-July.  .

information SHEET

EASTERN MEADOWLARK

Sturnella magna

The eastern meadowlark is a migratory bird. The males arrive at the breeding site between late March and early April, and the females follow 2 to 4 weeks later. They then build their nests on the ground.  This species feeds mainly on insects found on the ground in meadows, but also on the larvae of pest moths and butterflies.

information SHEET

GOLDEN-WINGED WARBLER

Vermuvora chrysoptera

The golden-winged warbler is an insectivorous field bird. It feeds on insects and spiders found on the ground.  It can be found in Quebec from May to late September and nests from mid-May to early August.

information SHEET

GRASSHOPPER SPARROW

Ammodramus savannarum pratensis

The grasshopper sparrow is a field bird that feeds almost exclusively on the ground in low vegetation or patches of bare ground, where it also builds its nest. It feeds mainly on grasshoppers, but also on caterpillars, snails, and beetles. Its migration brings it to Quebec from mid-April to late August.

information SHEET

EASTERN MILKSNAKE

Juvenile eastern milksnakes feed on earthworms, other snakes, amphibians, and invertebrates, while adults feed primarily on small rodents. The nesting season extends from late May to early June. The incubation period varies from 50 to 70 days. This species has a number of predators, including raccoons, coyotes, foxes, skunks, and birds of prey.

Lampropeltis triangulum

information SHEET

Inspiré de la Société d’histoire naturelle de la vallée du Saint-Laurent, 2015. Figure 2.9

BARN SWALLOW

Hirundo rustica

The barn swallow is an insectivorous bird found on farms. Its diet consists of flies, grasshoppers, dragonflies, beetles, moths such as owlet moths, and many other insects.  Barn swallows can have up to two broods during the nesting season, which lasts from late April to September.  Most individuals of this species build nests on wooden structures such as barns, sheds, bridges, culverts, and houses. .

information SHEET

RED-HEADED WOODPECKER

Melanerpes erythrocephalus

An omnivore, the red-headed woodpecker feeds on seeds, nuts, berries, insects, eggs, nestlings of other birds and sometimes small rodents. It needs dead or dying trees, like snags, for nesting, and an open canopy. It generally has a nesting period extending from mid-May to the end of August. In Quebec, this species is rarely seen during the winter.

information SHEET

© Jacques Bouvier

EASTERN LOGGERHEAD SHRIKE

Lanius ludovicianus ssp.

The eastern loggerhead shrike is carnivorous and feeds on insects, small birds, lizards, frogs and small mammals. The shrike hunts from high perches and likes to nest in thorny undergrowth to protect itself from predators. The nesting season lasts from late April to late July. Although its breeding range extends into Quebec, this species is now rarely seen in the province.

information SHEET

WOOD TURTLE

Glyptemys insculpta

Temperature is very important for the wood turtle, as this species relies on the sun to regulate its body temperature. That’s why it’s active only from April to November and hibernates the rest of the year. An omnivorous species, it feeds on plants, fruits, earthworms, slugs, and a variety of carrion. Wood turtles generally mate in the spring and fall. Females lay anywhere from 3 to 20 eggs at a time.

information SHEET

Adapted from St. Lawrence Valley Natural History Society, 2015, Figure 2.10

BLANDING’S TURTLE

Emydoidea blandingii

The Blanding’s turtle spends much of its time in the water. It prefers wetlands, vegetated ponds, and beaver ponds. It nests in sunny spots in sandy, well-drained soil, such as lawns and fields. This turtle species is primarily carnivorous and has a varied diet that includes crayfish, insects, mollusks, fish, frogs, and carrion, as well as some plants. It usually mates between April and November. Females can lay from 6 to 22 eggs at a time.

information SHEET

Adapted from St. Lawrence Valley Natural History Society, 2015, Figure 2.10.

WESTERN CHORUS FROG

© Tommy Montpetit

© Andrew DuBois, RFGO CC BY-NC 2.0

Pseudacris triseriata

The western chorus frog has a life cycle similar to many amphibians. It spends the beginning of its life in the water as a tadpole, eating only organic particles. Once it reaches adulthood, it can leave the water to feed on a variety of insects, many of which are crop pests. During the winter, it stops feeding. The spring thaw marks the beginning of the mating period: females lay eggs in small clusters on aquatic vegetation.

Inspiré de la Société d’histoire naturelle de la vallée du Saint-Laurent, 2015. Figure 2.7

chorusfrog.ca

information SHEET

MONARCH

Danaus plexippus

The monarch is a migratory butterfly found in southern Quebec from June to September. It reproduces two to three times before migrating in the fall to overwinter in the warmer climate of Mexico.

information SHEET

YELLOW-BANDED BUMBLE BEE

Bombus terricola

This bumble bee is a pollinator that feeds on the pollen of several flowering plant species and is attracted to the flowers of plant species such as willows, raspberry bushes, and clover. It must have access to flowers that bloom at different times of the year to ensure adequate food supply throughout its active season. With the onset of winter, all individuals die except for future queens ready to lay eggs.

information SHeet

© Thomas Wood, CC BY-NC 2.0