NATURE

When traveling throughout Ontario, you will encounter large and well-known ecosystems such as the St. Lawrence Lowlands, the Canadian Shield and further north, the Boreal Forest. But what lies between these areas? What is found at the edge of each place? At the edge of an ecosystem is what ecologists call an “ecotone”: an area of transition containing elements from the ecosystems it borders, but also having features that are entirely unique.

The Land Between is a complex irregular-shaped strip skirting the rise of land called the Algonquin Dome. It is an ecotone, placed between the Canadian Shield and St. Lawrence Lowlands, and is characterized by low relief exposed granite to the north side and “stepping stones” of limestone plain along the south side. Small and connected lakes and wetlands between these dry open ridges and patches of cool shaded forest are the patterns of this unique natural system.

The physical character of The Land Between, as an ecotone, is shaped by fundamental transitions in:

1. Physiography (physical structure and formation)
2. Elevation and relief
3. Climate and plant hardiness
4. Habitat interspersion including density of shorelines and waterbodies

Working together, these features make The Land Between a distinguishable transition zone - an identifiable entity.

For detailed information on the characteristics and parameters that form The Land Between ecotone, please read "The Land Between as an Ecotone" (Adobe PDF)

Thanks to researchers Dr. Marie Josee Fortin and Allan Brand of University of Toronto, the characteristics, including wetlands, water, roads, elevation, and species ranges, have illuminated not only the transitional nature of The Land Between but the boundaries of the ecotone. For a copy of this research report, please see our Science and Discoveries section