Alvar environments boast ecological communities that are incredibly rare and worth protecting for future generations. Regionally, the globally-significant Carden limestone plain is an area of large, diverse, and relatively un-fragmented habitat including alvars, shrublands, grasslands, forests, and wetlands.
Protecting our lake’s lifelines
Headwaters are like the foundation of a building, and if they are compromised, so is the entire watershed. If the headwater stream stays cold year-round, it is of primary importance because it provides the larger, lower portions of the river with a steady base flow of clean water.
We have a group of volunteers testing these headwaters through a Water Quality Project.
Protecting a Species at Risk on the Carden Alvar
The Couchiching Conservancy, along with partners such as Earth Rangers, have been tackling threats which endanger Bobolinks. One of the greatest threats relevant to Carden is loss of critical grassland habitat. As southern Ontario becomes intensely developed, prime Bobolink habitat is at risk. Ecosystems within the Carden Alvar remain as a sanctuary where conservation efforts can be focused in order to preserve this critical bobolink habitat.
Exploring and learning on the alvar
Each year hundreds of people head to the Carden alvar in droves. They are drawn by the landscape and species, but also by two special events hosted by The Couchiching Conservancy featuring the alvar and taking place in late May and early June – Carden Challenge and Carden Alvar Nature Festival.
Continuing to bring key habitat under protection
One of the organization’s key goals is to move beyond isolated islands of green by linking protected areas to create critical masses of natural habitat with connecting corridors.
In other words: bridge building.
For years now, the Conservancy has been at work with various partners on the Carden Alvar to protect this globally-rare ecosystem. The alvar — a limestone plain with shallow soil or no soil at all — lies just east of Lake Dalrymple and it has garnered interest around the world. Protecting it would be a good thing, but if it is isolated with no solid linkages to the northern shield territory, it will be devalued.
Geology around “Prairie Smoke” on the Carden Alvar
The following article has been prepared by Derek Ford, with photos by Heather Ewing and Ulrich Kretschmar. It looks at the geology of the alvar, with pictures of many of the unique features of the area.
The Carden Alvar…”a bit north east of here”
The Carden Plain is part of the “Land Between,” an area bordered by the Canadian Shield and Great Lakes Lowlands. An alvar is characterized by a limestone base with a small or no amount of soil. The birding in this area is world renowned and it is recognized as an Important Birding Area. Also, it supports unique plants that adapt to the harsh conditions of wet springs and very dry summer conditions. An open alvar vista in bloom will take your breath away with its delicate, harsh beauty.
A brush with the bluebird of happiness
The bluebird is doing well in Carden, thanks to two things: first, a local man named Herb Furniss has spent the last few decades building and distributing white bluebird boxes throughout the region, quietly making a huge difference for these little birds; second, Wylie Road rolls through an area where more than 6,000 acres of grassland, forest and wetland has been conserved as natural habitat.
Water Quality: Testing Our Assumptions
For a decade now the Conservancy has been building fences on the properties we manage to keep cattle out of streams, and then creating alternative watering sources for cattle to access. We’ve also been helping other ranchers in the area to do the same.
The Kris Starr Sanctuary; richly diverse
At its south end, the Sanctuary takes in a small piece of the Carden Alvar, and the steep limestone slope created by the rough caress of the glaciers. At the foot of this slope, the Head River meanders across the reserve, its spring floods nourishing a rich floodplain forest. Beyond that is a band of mixed forest of oak, pine and birch on pockets of drier soils. But the northern half of the Sanctuary, north of Monck Road, is classic granite barrens with scattered trees and a mosaic of beaver ponds and wetlands. All on this one property, the ecological transition known as The Land Between is fully on display.