Dwarf hackberry (Celtis tenuifolia) in Point Pelee National Park: critical habitat description

PARKS CANADA AGENCY

SPECIES AT RISK ACT

Description of critical habitat of Dwarf Hackberry in Point Pelee National Park of Canada

Dwarf Hackberry (Celtis tenuifolia) is a species listed on Schedule 1 to the Species at Risk Act as threatened. It is a small, deciduous tree that occurs within specific habitat types in the mainland portion of Point Pelee National Park of Canada. Critical habitat for Dwarf Hackberry is identified within the Recovery Strategy for the Dwarf Hackberry (Celtis tenuifolia) in Canada.

Notice is hereby given that, pursuant to subsection 58(2) of the Species at Risk Act, critical habitat of Dwarf Hackberry in the mainland portion of Point Pelee National Park of Canada (Figure 1), as identified on the National Topographic System (NTS) map 40G/15 (Edition 7, printed in 2001), is described as the boundaries of the occupied Red Cedar Treed Sand Dune and Hoptree Shrub Sand Dune Ecological Land Classification (ELC) vegetation types adjacent to the shores of Lake Erie. Within the geographic boundary of these ELC vegetation types (see Figure 1), critical habitat is located where the following biophysical attributes occur: open to moderately vegetated areas, often with a relatively high level of natural disturbance or harsh environmental conditions, including dry, sandy, well-drained sites with open, early successional habitats. These attributes occur near the shores of Lake Erie along the leading edge of woody, shoreline vegetation adjacent to woodland or forest and in adjacent shrub and/or treed sand dune, shrub shoreline, and deciduous thicket communities at Point Pelee National Park of Canada.

Existing anthropogenic features are excluded from critical habitat. These features include, but are not limited to, existing infrastructure (e.g. roads, trails, parking lots, utility corridors, and buildings), existing cultivated areas (e.g. agricultural fields), or unnatural vegetation types (e.g. grassed areas and septic beds).

Critical habitat parcel numbers are based on the unique Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC) species identification number for Dwarf Hackberry (247) and the parcel number. Further details regarding Dwarf Hackberry critical habitat can be found on the Species at Risk Public Registry Web site.

Figure 1

Location and extent of critical habitat parcel No. 247_3 for Dwarf Hackberry. Critical habitat does not include existing infrastructure, existing cultivated areas, unnatural vegetation types, or areas in or adjacent to anthropogenic features where the presence of Dwarf Hackberry is opportunistically related to the existence of these features. Please refer to the Species at Risk Public Registry Web site for more details on Dwarf Hackberry critical habitat.

January 18, 2012

GEOFFREY HANCOCK
Field Unit Superintendent
Southwestern Ontario Field Unit

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