Mammals of the Mixedwood Plains Ecozone

• Main Authors: Smith, Andrew, Smith, Donald A.
• Format: Text
• Language: unknown
• Published: DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln 1996
• Subjects: Zoology; Rattus rattus
• Online Access: https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/museummammalogy/1; https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/context/museummammalogy/article/1000/viewcontent/ASSESSMENT_OF_SPECIES_DIVERSITY.pdf

Ontario and Quebec were totally covered with ice during the last glaciation. Deglaciation was followed by gradual post-glacial repopulation of these two provinces (and others) by mammals from source areas in the United States. Thus most range expansions were from south to north east of the Great Lakes. The mammalian fauna of the Mixedwood Plains Ecozone has been steadily changing since deglaciation about 10 000 years ago. During this period a succession of species assemblages has moved through this ecozone as the climate warmed. Several of the larger mammal species known from this area became extinct during this period of change. These included giant beavers, woolly mammoths, mastodons and species of deer and bison (Harington, 1989). Throughout this period there have been steady, gradual changes in the biodiversity of the Mixedwood Plains Ecozone, but the most rapid changes have occurred over the last 300 years. The best sources of information on the ranges of the mammals of the Ontario and Quebec parts of this ecozone are Peterson (1966) for both parts; Dobbyn (1994) and Peterson (1957) for Ontario; and Prescott and Richard (1982) for Quebec. Currently in the Mixedwood Plains Ecozone there are about 59 species of mammals in 44 genera and 16 families. This does not include four species recorded in this ecozone, but not established as part of its mammal fauna. An Evening Bat (Nycticeius humeralis) accidently occurred in the Lake Erie Lowland Ecoregion once. Black Rats (Rattus rattus), Coypus (Myocaster coypus), and Domestic Ferrets (Mustela putorius) have all been introduced but have not persisted. Although the species richness of mammals has increased since European settlement, biodiversity has decreased in the Mixedwood Plains Ecozone through the reduction in population size of many ecologically important species and the complete disappearance of others. Wolverines, Cougars and Wapiti have all been extirpated from this ecozone. Many species of mammals have been extirpated from much of their former ranges in ...