Pre-Settlement Landscape and Vegetation Modeling and Mapping


If we are serious about restoring ecosystem health and ecological integrity,
then we must first know what the land was like to begin with.
- Aldo Leopold, American Ecologist

Areas Modelled & Mapped  
Click on Thumbnail to Enlarge

York Region
Peel Region
GTA

Algonquin Park
Temagami Provincial Park
 
Hamilton Area

  • Have you ever wondered what southern Ontario's landscape looked like before European settlement?
  • What did vegetation look like two centuries ago before farms were established, and our cities, towns, subdivisions, schoolyards, factories and roads were built?
  • What was the structure and spatial extent of our forests prior to land clearing?
  • How much natural vegetation cover was lost, and from where on the landscape?
  • Do our parks, protected areas, conservation lands, ravines, remnant forests, woodlots, wetlands and grasslands resemble the historic vegetation of two centuries ago?
  • Have you ever wished you had maps of the pre-settlement vegetation and landscape to help you make informed resource management decisions?
 
Archives of Ontario. Series C 7-3.
Ontario Legislative Library print collection. 		Archives of Ontario. Series F 1125-1.
Ontario Legislative Library print collection.

These questions can be answered as we map southern Ontario's past, and begin to use this information to understand the present and shape our future.

Using statistical modeling and prediction techniques, historical information is converted into maps of pre-settlement vegetation and landscape condition, which can be used to support and inform conservation efforts and natural resource management. The process draws on information about historical vegetation and landscape condition from old land surveyors' records, historical maps, documents, and botanical records.
 
Land Surveyor Notes


Areas Modeled and Mapped in Ontario

York Region Algonquin Provincial Park 

Temagami Provincial Park (Puric-Mladenovic, D. and Pinto, F., 2005)

Other Maps

  • Pre-settlement vegetation mapping the Golden Horseshoe - Version 1 maps (2010)

Presentations


Partners / Team Members


Referencing this Document

When referencing a map, please indicate which map was used and reference as follows:
Puric-Mladenovic, D. 2011. (Product). Pre-settlement Vegetation Mapping for the Greater Toronto Area, including the Regions of Hamilton, Halton, Peel and York and the Credit Valley Watershed. Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources. Southern Science and Information Section. Peterborough Ontario. January 2011.
When referencing the document itself and not a specific data product, simply exclude the bolded part from the above reference.

Contact

Danijela Puric-Mladenovic