Probst Easement

Background:

The Probst Conservation Easement (40.50 ha or 100.08 acres) is located within the core area of the Carden Alvar and within the Carden Alvar area. The Carden Alvar Natural Area is a 27,000 acre complex of alvars, limestone plain forests, wetlands and pastures located within the Carden Plain physiographic region approximately 40 km east of Orillia, Ontario. The Carden Alvar is one of the largest and most significant alvars in the world. Alvars occur in glaciated areas of thin and discontinuous soil over shallow limestone/dolostone bedrock.

The property is also part of the Carden Plain Important Bird Area (Coxon and Reid 2001) because of the national significance of the grassland birds that nest in this area.

The property has been identified in The Couchiching Conservancy’s Natural Heritage Action Plan (Reid and Peterson 1994) as a deer yard, waterfowl production and staging, fish spawning and nursery area and a corridor area. A corridor identifies an area that provides a connection to the larger landscape for migratory birds, butterflies and fish; they increase the home range of resident predators and increase the dispersal for re-population.