“There is something infinitely healing in the repeated refrains of nature...the assurance that dawn comes after night, and spring after the winter." -- Rachel Carson
Upcoming South Shore Events
About the American Chestnut
Prestoration - The art and science …
April in the Hills
Spring Blooms Word Search
County did you know … Squirrels and Rabbits Riddles
Naked Eye Astronomy – April 2025
Naked Eye Astronomy – May 2025
David Attenborough Quotes
Kids Korner -- Make a Sound Map
Kids Korner -- Looking for Signs of Spring
Kids Korner -- Spring Scavenger Hunt
The Song My Paddle Sings
Winter Weather Word Search Answers
County did you know … Winter Animal Riddles Answers
Photo Gallery - Lunar Eclipse
Upcoming South Shore Events
Last tour of the season to Explore the Prince Edward Point National Wildlife Area with Cheryl Chapman, part of SSJI’s Wild Thing Outdoor Education Program. NWA Tour on Sat., Apr. 12, 2025.
Meet time is 1:00 P.M. This event lasts 3 hours. The tour coordinator will contact you with details closer to the tour date. RSVP. For more information, contact Cheryl Chapman at [email protected]
Come learn about observatories, how non-visible light is observed, and compare images from Hubble and Webb Telescopes. Beyond the Rainbow: going past Hubble is presented by the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada (RASC) Belleville. Astronomy Talk at Picton Library – Flex Space on Sat., Apr. 12 2025 from 2:00 to 3:00 P.M. RSVP.
Join us for SSJI’s 2025 Annual General Meeting (AGM) via ZOOM on Thurs., May 8, 2025 from 7:00 to 10:00 PM. The AGM will be followed by a special guest presentation on Accelerating Conservation in Ontario: Exploring New Tools and Opportunities by Luke Ridgway and Sojourn, a 4-minute animation centred on the South Shore by Stacey Sproule. RSVP.
Discover the spring beauty of Monarch Point Conservation Reserve on a Wildflower Walk with John Lowry. Meet at the corner of Cty. Rd. 24 and Army Reserve Road on Sat., May 10, 2025 from 9:00 A.M. to 12:00 Noon. RSVP.
Come learn about astronomer Galileo – his life and work, and the four largest moons of Jupiter he discovered. Galileo and the Galilean Moons is presented by the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada (RASC) Belleville. Astronomy Talk at Picton Library – Flex Space on Sat., May 10, 2025 from 2:00 to 3:00 P.M. RSVP.
Space is limited! RSVP for South Shore Events now at ssji.ca
Unable to attend and want to support? Donate or become a member now at ssji.ca
About the American Chestnut
by John F. Foster
(All Photos by John F. Foster)
Once the American Chestnut (Castanea dentata) was a great part of the Eastern Deciduous Forests of the United States centred on the slopes of the Appalachian Mountains. The species also grew in abundance in Southwestern Ontario where it is known as the Northwestern Chestnut. But, in 1904, American Chestnut trees were found dying at the Bronx Zoo in New York City with a bark blight.5 That bark blight was accidentally introduced on wood from China. The blight is known today as the Chestnut Bark Blight (Cryphonectria parasitica).5 The Blight went on to infect the American Chestnut throughout its entire range. By 1950, Chestnut Bark Blight had killed off 4 billion American Chestnuts and rendered the species functionally extinct.9 This kind of extinction means that although the top part of the tree has been killed off by the Blight, the roots have not. 9
Chestnut Bark Blight
Once the American Chestnut (Castanea dentata) was a great part of the Eastern Deciduous Forests of the United States centred on the slopes of the Appalachian Mountains. The species also grew in abundance in Southwestern Ontario where it is known as the Northwestern Chestnut. But, in 1904, American Chestnut trees were found dying at the Bronx Zoo in New York City with a bark blight.5 That bark blight was accidentally introduced on wood from China. The blight is known today as the Chestnut Bark Blight (Cryphonectria parasitica).5 The Blight went on to infect the American Chestnut throughout its entire range. By 1950, Chestnut Bark Blight had killed off 4 billion American Chestnuts and rendered the species functionally extinct.9 This kind of extinction means that although the top part of the tree has been killed off by the Blight, the roots have not. 9
In the last hundred years or so, the still extant roots of many American Chestnuts send up sucker growth. The suckers rarely reach 15 years old which is when the species starts to produce the burrs containing 2 to 3 nuts.2 The Chestnut Bark Blight kills off the suckers most of the time, hence, the functional extinction because the tree cannot reproduce. The suckers provide energy to the live roots, but if they keep getting killed off by the Blight, then the roots die off. American Chestnut does not have an immunity to the Chestnut Bark Blight.8 In its native range in East China, the Chinese Chestnut has enough immunity to be protected from the Chestnut Bark Blight. It has existed with the Blight for a long time and so developed its immunity to the fungus.7 A separate Chestnut species exists in Japan, and it, too, has immunity to the Blight. In Europe, as in North America, the European Chestnut has also been decimated by the Chestnut Bark Blight.8
Chestnuts in Europe are showing hypovirulence.3 Efforts are being made there, too, to instill immunity into that species by backcrossing with Chinese and Japanese Chestnuts.7
American Chestnut Bark young tree
American Chestnuts once grew up to 30 metres tall with diameters at breast height of 3 m. They were often called the “King of the Forest”.1 The tree is recognized by its very long narrow leaf that has many hooked teeth along its edges. When young, the bark of the tree is very smooth and gray. As the Chestnut tree ages, the bark becomes furrowed. If the tree grows in the open, the crown spreads up to 30 metres wide. In forest conditions, the tree has a narrower canopy. It reaches upward for the light to great height.8
The leaves appear on the Chestnut in April. In the Autumn they turn a brilliant yellow. The landscape once looked fiery with their colour.
American Chestnut leaves
When the leaves have detached from the tree, they blanket the ground, later rot, and provide sustenance and cover to the plants and animals living there.8
Flowering season for the American Chestnut is the middle of May to the beginning of June. The long narrow white flower spikes are found on the top half of the tree. Chestnuts once made up a third of the forest on the Appalachian slopes.8 When their flowers bloomed, they gave off prodigious quantities of pollen. From the flowers, burrs develop, and drop to the ground in great abundance. Young trees grow from the nuts that developed in the burr. The American Chestnut relies, heavily, on mammals and birds to carry the nuts away for dispersal.
American Chestnut burr
The American Chestnut had many uses pre-blight. It was a profuse producer of mast. The nuts were eaten by many mammals and birds in the forest. Farmers once grazed their cattle beneath American Chestnuts so they could eat the nuts that had dropped from the trees. Bushels of nuts were transported to market where they were sold.8
American Chestnut nuts
American Chestnut wood contains a lot of tannin which makes it rot resistant. The tannin was useful in the leather industry.4 American Chestnut wood was used for fence posts, panels, railroad ties, furniture, and cabinetry.2 Today, the only American Chestnut wood available is from old barn panels, logs salvaged from rivers, and forests.
The Chestnut Bark Blight infects the American Chestnut by gaining access to the tree’s cambial layer through wounds.2 The blight can be transmitted by airborne spores or carried to trees by birds.8 It infects the point of contact and spreads, creating cankers which appear on the bark of the tree.2 The infected areas have either sunken cankers or open ones that have bulged the bark outward exposing the infected area.2 These Infected areas often appear orange in colour and have streaks of spores running down the trunk.8 The blight girdles branches and trunks. Trees are killed when their trunks are girdled. The roots of destroyed trees remain intact.2
American Chestnut grove
Current efforts to provide the tree immunity centre around backcrossing with Chinese and Japanese Chestnuts which are immune to the blight.7 In the USA, gene splicing and transgenic inclusions are being tried with varying success.7 The American Chestnut trees being worked with in Southwestern Ontario are called Northwestern Chestnuts.6 Studies by University of Guelph researcher – Sophia Stolz – have shown that there are two genetic populations of Northwestern Chestnuts in Southwestern Ontario.6 There is hope that this work to give the American Chestnut immunity will eventually succeed. If nothing is done, the American Chestnut will become extinct.
References
1) Metcalfe, Zack. 2024. King of the Forest. Saltscapes, Halifax, Nova Scotia.
https://www.saltscapes.com/roots-folks/2708-king-of-the-forest.html. Accessed 20241115Fri.
2) Morgan. Kate. 2021. The Demise and Potential Revival of the American Chestnut. Sierra March-April 2021. The Sierra Club, Oakland, Calif., USA. https://www.sierraclub.org/sierra/2021-2-march-april. Accessed 20241115Fri.
3) N.K. Van Alfen, and P. Kazmierczak. 2008. Hypovirulence in Encyclopedia of Virology, 3rd
Edition cited in Science Direct, 2024, a publication of Elsevier, B.V.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/biochemistry-genetics-and-molecular-biology/hypovirulence. Accessed 20241115Fri.
4) Ontario.ca. 2024. American Chestnut. First published 2014. King’s Printer for Ontario,
Toronto, Ont. https://www.ontario.ca/page/american-chestnut. Accessed 20241115Fri.
5) Pennsylvania Chestnut Bark Blight Commission. 1915. Pennsylvania Chestnut Bark Blight Commission Final Report. Biological Heritage Library, Smithsonian, Washington D.C., USA.
https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/108796#page/7/mode/1up. Accessed 20241115Fri.
6) Stoltz, Sophia. 2023. American Chestnut’s Enduring Genetic Diversity. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/365298674_High_genetic_diversity_in_American_chestnut_Castanea_dentata_despite_a_century_of_decline . Accessed 20241115Fri.
7) The American Chestnut Foundation. 2024. History of the American Chestnut Tree.
TACF, Asheville, N.C., USA. https://tacf.org/history-american-chestnut/. Accessed 20241115Fri.
8) Wikipedia. 2024. American Chestnut.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_chestnut. Accessed 20241113Wed.
9) Wikipedia. 2024. Functional Extinction. Wikipedia Foundation. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Functional_extinction. Accessed 20241115Fri.
Current Range of the American Chestnut in Southwestern Ontario
(Map Courtesy of Tom Purdy – Tallgrass Ontario)
Prestoration - The art and science of ecological restoration1
by Tim Ennis
(Article used with the permission of the Watershed Sentinel)
On August 29, 2016, the International Geological Congress declared that the earth had entered a new geological era sometime around 1950. They called it the “Anthropocene”or era of humans. We have created an indelible film of human-created material over every surface of the planet, including radioactive particles from nuclear explosions, soot from our factories, and micro-plastics from our waste. Modern humans have inhabited planet earth for approximately ten thousand generations, but in the past three or four generations the activities of our species have altered every ecological process at the global scale.
Ecosystem restoration practitioners rarely struggle with making value-based decisions about whether we ought or ought not to restore the Earth’s degraded ecosystems. The importance of this task and a sense of urgency is what gets us out of bed in the morning. There is an appealing illusion that it is also straightforward to determine what we ought to restore a degraded or lost ecosystem to. However, the uncertainties regarding what specific consequences global climatic changes will bring, coupled with the dawn of the Anthropocene, are sending many ecologists back for a second cup of coffee in the morning.
The reality is that it has never actually been easy to decide what the purpose or end result of an ecological restoration program should be. The topic has filled the pages of scientific journals, lecture halls, and conference auditoriums for at least 40 years. Philosophical debate rages on about whether or not the concept of a “natural” ecosystem outside of the influence of humans exists at all, particularly in the context of the often subtle but wide- spread resource stewardship activities of Indigenous cultures. Conceptual frameworks and principles to guide the process of setting restoration objectives are diverse and varied.
There is no universally accepted definition of what “ecological integrity” means.
The notion of “ecological integrity” as a restoration objective is one such example that has been adopted as the guiding principle of many of the world’s leading conservation agencies, yet there is no universally accepted definition of what this term means. Historic or pre-contact condition, potential natural community, desired future condition, reference ecosystems, successional pathways, climax vs “dis-climax” ecosystems, natural disturbance regimes, key ecological attributes, novel ecosystems, and ecological function-based or process-based approaches all come into the conversation.
While this healthy but heady philosophical dialogue continues, other restoration practitioners focus on the challenges of setting quantifiable, measurable restoration targets by which to assess our success. Is there a single science-based numerical value that tells us what our restoration target should be (e.g., restore a self-sustaining population of 500 caribou in area X)? Perhaps the data and models show that there is a critical threshold above which we will declare success (e.g., >500 caribou). But what if there are logistical or other constraints? Perhaps our targets should occur as a gradient (e.g., 200-300 caribou is fair, 301-500 is good, but >500 is excellent). Ecosystems are complex. Maybe what we really need as a restoration target for the caribou of area X is a self-sustaining population of >500 with an average ratio of 5:1 cows to bulls of which at least 80% are of breeding age and >20% are >8 years old with periodic gene flow between areas Y and Z….
In more than one case, the evasive nature of philosophically robust objectives and quantifiable, science-based targets has sent restoration practitioners back to their desks to design better baseline studies, improve models and refine objectives before taking any restoration actions on the ground. On the one hand, these delays are understandable. Restoration projects often cost tens of thousands if not millions of dollars to implement. Whether you are accountable to a client who expects a certain return on investment tied to an important government authorization, or accountable to the general public who may become upset if you “overachieve” with a prescribed burn in a national park, the stakes are high. Regardless, in some cases, the quest for perfectly articulated restoration objectives and detailed metrics of target percent cover values for desirable plant species has proven to be a formidable barrier to taking action in situations where time is of the essence.
In the world of human health, the precept of non-maleficence, primum non nocere (first, do no harm), is at the core of bioethics. This maxim has been extended to include the concept of not doing something or purposefully taking no action rather than risk causing more harm.
In the sphere of ecosystem restoration, I argue that what we also need is a caveat of “don’t do nothing until the patient dies.” With so many ecosystems dependent on one form or other of “life support” (e.g., salmon hatcheries, captive breeding programs, etc.), I believe it is prudent, if not essential, that the restoration practitioner take a more active and adaptive approach. This approach is justified in the context of the uncertainties posed by the dramatic destabilization of global climate regimes and other ecological processes in this new geological “era of humans.”
Restoration is defined as the act of returning something to a previous state or condition. We know that, ecologically, the future will be remarkably different from the 5,000 years or so of relative stability we have enjoyed, be it from climate change, the introduction of invasive species, or changing biochemical processes on the planet. The prefix “pre” means in advance of, or before.
Therefore, I would propose to the restoration practitioner that we engage ourselves with “prestoration”: manipulating degraded or lost ecosystems towards a state of ecological well being that predicts and is resilient to the forthcoming changes in the Earth’s system. Ecological restoration must stay grounded in the best available science; however, we must realize that our knowledge of natural systems will never be complete. Filling in the blanks is an art.
Tim Ennis is the president of Latitude Conservation Solutions Company in Cumberland, BC.
1 - Ennis, Time. 2018. Prestoration. Watershed Sentinel 28(3): 24-25. Comox, B.C.
https://watershedsentinel.ca/article/prestoration/ . Accessed Wed., Nov.6, 2024.
April in the Hills
Archibald Lampman1
To-day the world is wide and fair
With sunny fields of lucid air,
And waters dancing everywhere;
The snow is almost gone;
The noon is builded high with light,
And over heaven's liquid height,
In steady fleets serene and white,
The happy clouds go on.
The channels run, the bare earth steams,
And every hollow rings and gleams
With jetting falls and dashing streams;
The rivers burst and fill;
The fields are full of little lakes,
And when the romping wind awakes
The water ruffles blue and shakes,
And the pines roar on the hill.
The crows go by, a noisy throng;
About the meadows all day long,
The shore-lark drops his brittle song;
And up the leafless tree
The nut-hatch runs, and nods, and clings;
The bluebird dips with flashing wings,
The robin flutes, the sparrow sings,
And the swallows float and flee.
I break the spirit's cloudy bands,
A wanderer in enchanted lands,
I feel the sun upon my hands;
And far from care and strife
The broad earth bids me forth. I rise
With lifted brow and upward eyes.
I bathe my spirit in blue skies,
And taste the springs of life.
I feel the tumult of new birth;
I waken with the wakening earth;
I match the bluebird in her mirth;
And wild with wind and sun,
A treasurer of immortal days,
I roam the glorious world with praise,
The hillsides and the woodland ways,
Till earth and I are one.
1 – Lampman, Archibald. 1895. April in the Hills in “Lyrics of the Earth”, P.8-9. Copeland and Day, Boston.
https://allpoetry.com/April-in-the-Hills Accessed Sat., Mar.15, 2025
Spring Blooms Word Search
by John F. Foster
(See Answers in The South Shoreliner – Vol.6 No.3 – June, 2025)
County did you know … Squirrels and Rabbits Riddles
by John F. Foster
1) I have gray or black-coloured fur. I have a tail that is long and bushy. I build drays of leaves in trees.
Who am I? _________________________
2) I have reddish brown fur. I have a chattering voice. I build food middens for winter.
Who am I? _________________________
3) I have stripes on my back. I live in underground tunnels. I have bulging cheek pouches.
Who am I? _________________________
4) I have brownish gray fur. I make tunnel complexes under fields. I have paws adapted for digging.
Who am I? _________________________
5) I have brown fur. I have long movable ear lobes for hearing. I have a ball-shaped tail.
Who am I? _________________________
6) I have fur that changes colour with the seasons. I have a good sense of smell. I have big back paws.
Who am I? _________________________
(See Answers in The South Shoreliner – Vol.6 No.3 – June, 2025)
David Attenborough Quotes
“Every breath of air we take, every mouthful of food that we take, comes from the natural world. And if we damage the natural world, we damage ourselves."
"An understanding of the natural world and what 's in it is a source of not only a great curiosity but great fulfillment."
"Surely we all have a responsibility to care for our Blue Planet. The future of humanity and indeed, all life on earth, now depends on us."
"The truth is: the natural world is changing. And we are totally dependent on that world. It provides our food, water and air. It is the most precious thing we have and we need to defend it."
The Song My Paddle Sings
West wind, blow from your prairie nest,
Blow from the mountains, blow from the west
The sail is idle, the sailor too;
O! wind of the west, we wait for you.
Blow, blow!
I have wooed you so,
But never a favour you bestow.
You rock your cradle the hills between,
But scorn to notice my white lateen.
I stow the sail, unship the mast:
I wooed you long but my wooing’s past;
My paddle will lull you into rest.
O! drowsy wind of the drowsy west,
Sleep, sleep,
By your mountain steep,
Or down where the prairie grasses sweep!
Now fold in slumber your laggard wings,
For soft is the song my paddle sings.
August is laughing across the sky,
Laughing while paddle, canoe and I,
Drift, drift,
Where the hills uplift
On either side of the current swift.
The river rolls in its rocky bed;
My paddle is plying its way ahead;
Dip, dip,
While the waters flip
In foam as over their breast we slip.
And oh, the river runs swifter now;
The eddies circle about my bow.
Swirl, swirl!
How the ripples curl
In many a dangerous pool awhirl!
And forward far the rapids roar,
Fretting their margin for evermore.
Dash, dash,
With a mighty crash,
They seethe, and boil, and bound, and splash.
Be strong, O paddle! be brave, canoe!
The reckless waves you must plunge into.
Reel, reel.
On your trembling keel,
But never a fear my craft will feel.
We’ve raced the rapid, we’re far ahead!
The river slips through its silent bed.
Sway, sway,
As the bubbles spray
And fall in tinkling tunes away.
And up on the hills against the sky,
A fir tree rocking its lullaby,
Swings, swings,
Its emerald wings,
Swelling the song that my paddle sings.
1 – Johnson, Emily Pauline (Tekahionwake). 1922. The Song My Paddle Sings
in “Flint and Feather: The Complete Poems of E. Pauline Johnson (Tekahionwake)”, P.31-32.
The Musson Book Co. Limited, Toronto.
https://poets.org/poem/song-my-paddle-sings Accessed on Sat., Mar.15, 2025.
Winter Weather Word Search Answers
by John F. Foster
(Appeared in The South Shoreliner – Vol.6 No.1 – February, 2025)
County did you know … Winter Animal Riddles Answers
John F. Foster
1) My hind feet are adapted to snow. My ears are very long. My fur is white in winter.
Who am I? Snowshoe Hare
2) My fur is slaty grey. My tail is short and stubby. I build tunnels in winter beneath the snow.
Who am I? Meadow Vole
3) My body is long and lanky. My tail tip is black. My fur is white in winter.
Who am I? Ermine
4) My eyes are yellow. My home in winter is sometimes large fields. My feathers are white.
Who am I? Snowy Owl
5) My favourite winter habitat is fields. My neighbours and I make large groups. My body is partly white. Who am I? Snow Bunting
6) My usual winter habitat is on water. My tail is very long if I’m male. My usual company is with large rafts. Who am I? Long-tailed Duck
(Appeared in The South Shoreliner – Vol.6 No.1 – February, 2025)
Photo Gallery
March 14, 2025 Lunar Eclipse (Photo: Greg Lisk)
March 14, 2025 Lunar Eclipse Totality (Photo: Greg Lisk)
Editor's Note
This is the 29th edition of The South Shoreliner. The editor would like to thank the following for contributing to this 29th edition of The South Shoreliner: John F. Foster, Tim Ennis, Archibald Lampman, Steven Burr, David Attenborough, Cheryl Chapman, E. Pauline Johnson, and Greg Lisk. Contributions make the newsletter readable and interesting. For the next and upcoming newsletters, contributions of articles, photos and events are always welcome.
-- John F. Foster, The South Shoreliner Editor
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