The Haliburton County Gardeners initiated a project to assess and catalogue the presence of insects and flora, in order to further understand the biodiversity present along the Riverwalk but also to look at the range of pollinators that were aiding in pollination, as well as other insect and plant interaction that were occurring along the Riverwalk. This information would be compiled for a self-guided audio tour, which would be made public online for the town and any visitors curious about the ecology of the Riverwalk.]]> approximately 62 acres of wetland. It was donated to HHLT in 2012 by Dennis Barry.
The property is located at the southern end of South Lake, in the Township of Minden
Hills, Haliburton. The area is located at the headwaters of the provincially significant
wetland, the Kendrick Creek Wetland Complex, which feeds into the Irondale and Burnt
Rivers. In 2021, in cooperation with Glenside Ecological Services LTD this wetland
reserve was designated within a large wildlife corridor, The Highlands Corridor, and was
recognized to have features that are resilient to the effects of climate change. The
wetland reserve’s land was donated in 2012 by Dennis Barry through the Government
of Canada’s Ecological gifts program (HHLT, 2023). Unfortunately, due to the relative
sensitivity of the wetland and the mixed terrain that can pose safety risks to humans, it
is not available to the public]]> Association. We completed a benthic macroinvertebrate assessment of the lake
following Ontario Benthic Biomonitoring Network (OBBN) protocol using samples
collected in the fall of 2022. The goal of this assessment is to contribute to a 5-year
study establishing the baseline conditions of Bob Lake and the benthic invertebrate
communities that inhabit it. Only one year has been completed prior to the submission
of this report, which accounts for the second year. The results of this research will
contribute to lake monitoring data and advise the Bob Lake Association on future lake
management decisions. Using the random teaspoon sampling method, we identified
100 invertebrates from each replicate of the three sites sampled. We then evaluated the
results of each site using several indices of species diversity and richness. Our
evaluation shows that the lake conditions are within a normal range for the Haliburton
area, but the remaining three years of this study must be completed to effectively
confirm these results.]]>