The Land Between is not just an organization, but it is a unique and important region in central Ontario.
The region extends across 9 counties, skirting the Algonquin Dome and situated between the St. Lawrence Lowlands and the Canadian Shield. It is what many refer to as “Cottage Country”.
The Land Between region boasts the only rock barrens in the province and the highest percentage of shoreline to area in Ontario. However these abundant lakes, rivers, wetlands, and ponds are easily polluted and damaged due to the lack of soils and buffering capacity. The region also has the highest mix and diversity of habitats in Ontario. Due to these features, unique and rare species are found here and are reliant on the area, such as the five linked skink, the majority of Ontario’s turtles and snakes, rare birds, and fishes.
The Land Between region is what ecologists call an ecotone: An ecotone is an area of transition between ecoregions. Ecotones are known for their biodiversity. IN this region species from the north and the south all meet here: the raven and crow, moose and deer, blueberry and strawberry, chorus frog and mink frog, river otter and woodchuck, and blackfly and mosquito etc. Because of this diversity the region has a greater buffering capacity against climate change effects; many overlapping food-webs provide resiliency through ensuring ecosystem services such as pollination, seed dispersal, diversity are still functioning, while other ecoregions may not have sufficient buffers.
However this landscape is fragile and development and pollution have far reaching and long lasting impacts, because of the starker climates and exposure and susceptibility of lands and waters.
Find out more by visiting http://www.thelandbetween.ca/theregion
