Pale-bellied Frost Lichen Habitat Regulation Amendment
This document describes an amendment to the 2012 habitat regulation for the Pale-bellied Frost Lichen. The amendment reflects several new local populations of the species discovered outside of the geographic area for this regulation.
In March 2010 Pale-bellied Frost Lichen was classified as an endangered species on the Species at Risk in Ontario (SARO) List. On July 1, 2012 a habitat regulation came in to force for Pale-bellied Frost Lichen. Since that time, several new local populations outside of the current geographic area of application for this regulation have been discovered, indicating a wider geographic distribution of the species in Ontario than previously understood. As a result, an amendment to the geographic area of application of the habitat regulation for Pale-bellied Frost Lichen has been finalized.
The amended regulation applies where the lichen occurs in the following areas:
Algonguin Provincial Park; the counties of Haliburton, Hastings, Lanark, Lennox and Addington, Peterborough and Renfrew; the townships of Central Frontenac, North Frontenac and South Frontenac within the County of Frontenac; the townships of Athens, Elizabethtown-Kitley, Merrickville-Wolford and Rideau Lakes within the county of Leeds and Grenville; and the township of South Algonquin within the District of Nipissing.
Supporting rationale
- Inclusion of the additional geographic areas is based on species observations as well as habitat suitability and potential for presence of the lichen. Several geographies are included within which no observations have yet been documented but in which Pale-bellied Frost Lichen is considered likely to occur given the pattern and distribution of the new 2012 observations. Habitat protections under the Endangered Species Act (2007) would only apply to a particular area if and when the species is documented as present.
Amendment to area of application of the Habitat Regulation
Figure 1: Sample application of the habitat regulation for Pale-bellied Frost Lichen.
Enlarge Figure 1: Sample application of the habitat regulation for Pale-bellied Frost Lichen.
The content of this summary is provided for convenience only. For accurate reference and the most recent version of the regulation, please view Ontario Regulation 242/08 on e-laws at http://www.e-laws.gov.on.ca/index.html.