![]() habitat quality, geographic isolation, heterogeneity and anthropogenic development) will be compared directly to genetic profiles to identify causal factors limiting or promoting connectivity around park systems.Įastern white pine sample sites include Algonquin Park and different land-use areas surrounding the park, including smaller provincial parks, primary heritage sites, conservation areas and other non-designated regions. The study will assess the impact of parks, specifically Algonquin Provincial Park, on surrounding areas and smaller adjacent parks and multi-use areas that differ significantly with respect to forest cover and forest composition. Objectives of this study include identifying landscape variables that promote or reduce dispersal within and among multi-use habitats, as well as to investigate the effects of different degrees of fragmentation on multiple indicator species including eastern white pine, moose, fishers, and northern flying squirrel. Landscape genetics includes a genetic component, the use of molecular markers to examine population demographics and evolutionary processes, as well as a Geographical Information Systems (G.I.S.) component, the database systems responsible for the organization, modeling, analysis and presentation of geographically referenced genetic data. This larger study focuses on the ddevelopment of landscape genetics as a novel management tool for Ontario’s parks and heritage sites. The eastern white pine project is part of a larger multi-species study with the Ontario Living Legacy Trust. Several animals including rabbits feed on the outer bark. Squirrels, chipmunks, and mice feed on the seeds and soft needles. Dead and dying trees provide sites for cavity nesting species such as hibernating black bears and woodpeckers (Green, 1992). The white-winged crossbill (Loxia leucoptera) possesses a bill that is specialized for opening the cones of conifers. White-winged crossbills, pileated woodpeckers, lynx, flying squirrels, and bald eagles all depend on white pine for various things, including protection from predators, shelter, and food. Mice and voles create caches of white pine seeds just beneath the soil, and caches that are not revisited usually produce seedlings (Wilson & Gray, 2001).Įastern white pine is of great ecological importance. However, animals also play a minor role in seed dispersal. The primary method of seed dispersal is by wind, which can send a seed traveling 60+ metres from the source within a stand of trees, and up to 220 metres in the open. Cone production begins at 5-10 years of age, but good seed years do not occur until the tree is over 20 years of age, and only every 3-5 years after that, although seeds are produced annually. The seeds of white pine are located in cones, which mature over a two year period. White pine is monoecious, meaning that each individual tree possesses separated male and female reproductive structures. Trees can grow up to a height of 53 metres and a diameter of 1.2 metres. ![]() ![]() Its American range includes the states of New York and New Jersey, Minnesota, northeastern Iowa, Illinois, Ohio, Pennsylvania, northern Georgia, and northwestern South Carolina (Abrams, 2001).Įastern white pine trees can live to be over 400 years old. In Canada, the current distribution of eastern white pine occurs across the Great Lakes region of central and southern Ontario, across southern Quebec into the Maritime Provinces, and into Newfoundland. The same results were obtained when microsatellite analysis was applied to the same study area (Rajora et al., 2000). (1994), using allozyme analysis, reported a loss of 25% in the mean number of alleles in a partially harvested old-growth stand of white pine in Ontario. This over-harvesting has resulted in the reduction of seed sources, making it difficult for population regeneration to occur. It was logged heavily to create the masts and booms of British Royal Navy ships, for building materials, and furniture (Wilson & Gray, 2001).Ī past study estimated that the current eastern white pine coverage in the Great Lakes and boreal forest regions of Ontario are 50% and 35% respectively of what they were in the pre-settlement landscape (Quinby, 1993). In the 18th century, this tree was highly valued for these properties. The wood of eastern white pine is light, straight-grained, and easily worked. However, after more than a century of intense logging, this pristine landscape exists only in photographs. Before the arrival of European settlers, the landscape of central and southern Ontario was dominated by stands of eastern white pine (Wilson & Gray, 2001). Eastern white pine (Pinus strobus) is one of the most valuable tree species in North America.
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