The rocks of the Earth’s crust contain the remarkable story of our planet – how it came to be, how solid land developed, and eventually how life, and finally human life, came to occupy it. When we look at the crust today, we see two kinds of rocky materials – hard and soft. The hard rocks are calledbedrock, while the softer, broken-up material is referred to asoverburden. Wherever bedrock is visible at the surface, it is called an outcrop. Most of the overburden found in Ontario was deposited by the glaciers and, especially in large lowland regions away...

The province of Ontario, because of its large size (over 1 million km²), great range of habitats, and variety of climatic conditions, is rich in species diversity. Approximately 2,900 species of vascular plants, 458 species of birds (of which 287 are breeding species), 57 species and subspecies of herpetofauna, 86 species of wild mammals, 158 species of fish, 137 species of butterflies, and many other species of plants and animals live in Ontario. These numbers constantly change, as naturalists and professional biologists continue to gather field observations that enhance our understanding of the province’s wildlife. The main cause for changes...

The Carolinian Forest Region in Canada lies more or less south of a line extending from Grand Bend on Lake Huron eastward to just south of Kitchener and along the northern edge of Metropolitan Toronto to the Rouge River. The area marks the northern limit of the Deciduous Forest, a region that continues southward into the United States. The relatively warm climate and rich soils in this area support a great diversity of wildlife and natural habitats. The Carolinian zone in Canada is noted for its numerous rare species, many with southern affinities. Spiny Softshell, Spotted Turtle, King Rail, and...

The intensely developed Golden Horseshoe extends in an arc from the eastern edge of Toronto around the head of Lake Ontario to the Niagara River. Topographically the region is dominated by the Niagara Escarpment. Most of the Golden Horseshoe lies within the Carolinian Forest Region, although elements of the Great Lakes–St Lawrence Forest Region are found within the northern and northeastern portions.

The cold and snow which we have had has given way today to weather so warm that I have been obliged in walking to throw off shawl after shawl and at last find myself over-clad … The...

This area lies in the Great Lakes–St Lawrence Forest Region. It extends southward from the shores of Lake Huron and Georgian Bay to the northernmost edge of the Carolinian Forest zone in Canada. Within the region described in this chapter, a prominent topographic feature, the Niagara Escarpment, runs north from Orangeville to Collingwood and thence northwest, approximately following the Georgian Bay shoreline, to the tip of the Bruce Peninsula. From the crest of the escarpment the land slopes to the west and south through highlands, rolling hills, and level sand, clay, or till plains. Numerous glacial features are visible,...

From the Lake Ontario shoreline, relatively narrow lowland sand and clay plains slope upward to the sand-and-gravel-based Oak Ridges moraine. Beyond it, a broad, rolling till plain is dominated by numerous drumlins and eskers. Stony soils, steep slopes, and wet swampy hollows are common in this plain. To the north and east of it lie rough, stony landscapes or limestone plains overlain by shallow soils. The granite rocks of the Canadian Shield form highlands across the northern and northeastern portions of the counties in the region. Along the southern edge of the shield, numerous finger-like lakes and connecting waterways create...

The Canadian Shield and its extension the Frontenac Axis sweep into this region from the northwest. One-billion-year-old Precambrian bedrock covers large portions of Lennox and Addington, Frontenac, and Lanark counties, crossing the St Lawrence River between Gananoque and Brockville in the United Counties of Leeds and Grenville. Typical of shield country in southern Ontario, this area is marked by numerous lakes and rivers and extensive tracts of woodland.

The lands adjacent to the shield in eastern Ontario are part of the Great Lakes–St Lawrence Lowland. South of the shield, the Napanee plain spreads across the southern portions of Lennox...

Except for the Ottawa valley and the limestone-based extension of the Niagara Escarpment that forms Manitoulin Island, this entire area lies on the Precambrian rocks of the Canadian Shield. The Algonquin Highlands dominate the central portion of the region, sloping westward to Georgian Bay and eastward to the lowlands of the Ottawa River valley. In general, thin soils barely cover the gneissic bedrock, and the rugged landscape is dominated by lakes and forests. Logging and recreational tourism are the main activities.

All counties and districts covered in this chapter fall within the Great Lakes–St Lawrence Forest Region, a large...

The vast region covered in this chapter stretches from the District of Sudbury and the Quebec border in the east to the Manitoba boundary in the west. The area is bounded on the south by Georgian Bay, Lake Superior, and the United States; northern limits are defined by Hudson and James bays. Except for the Hudson Bay Lowland, the entire region is underlain by the granitic rocks of the Canadian Shield.

The forested landscape undergoes a transition from south to north, with Great Lakes–St Lawrence Forest dominating the southern regions east and west of Lake Superior. To the north,...