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Article: Identifying Ontario's biodiversity: how field guides help conserve endangered species.(Backyard Biodiversity)
- Article from:
- ROM Magazine
- Article date:
- September 22, 2009
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2009 Royal Ontario Museum Governors. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Ontario is blessed with a wealth of biodiversity, hardly surprising considering its size and diverse habitats. The province's more than a million square kilometres stretch from Pelee Island in the south--at the same latitude as northern California--to Fort Severn in the far northwest--at about the same latitude as Glasgow, Scotland. Some 66 percent is forested, close to 30 percent is covered in water or wetlands, and much of the remainder is designated urban or agricultural.
More than 30,000 recognized species of plants and animals inhabit Ontario, and many others, particularly insects, plants, fungi, and micro-organisms, await discovery. Little is known about ...