Species at Risk on Agricultural Lands

About

The NSFA promotes the protection of species-at-risk and biodiversity in general on farmland. We have previously delivered the Species at Risk on Agricultural Land Partnership (SARPAL) program, funded by Environment and Climate Change Canada. This program educated the farming community on species-at-risk and offered financial assistance to implement management practices that can protect species-at-risk.

We continue to educate and support the conservation of biodiversity through our Environmental Farm Plan (link to new EFP webpage).

Funding

The province of Nova scotia provides funding for many BMPs that can help protect and encourage species-at-risk. You can find out more about their funding programs at https://novascotia.ca/programs/.

Perennia Food and Agriculture Corporation also provides funding for BMPs that can support species-at-risk through the On Farm Climate Action Fund. You can find out more about this program at https://ofcaf.perennia.ca/.

Legislation

Species listed by the province as a species-at-risk are legally protected under the NS Endangered Species Act.

Species listed nationally by the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC) are protected under the Species at Risk Act.

Additional legislation impacts how we interact with biodiversity though the NS Wildlife Act.

Permits are required for any alternation to a watercourses and water resources (stream, river, or natural water sources included group water or lakes). Information can be found on the province’s website.

Species at Risk

Nova Scotia has 63 species that are listed as endangered, threatened, or vulnerable. You can find the full list at https://novascotia.ca/natr/wildlife/species-at-risk/.

Many of those listed species are associated with farmland. They use the unique features of our farms to provide habitat, sources of food, and breeding grounds. Some of the species-at-risk that the NSFA has worked to protect include:

Wood turtles:

Wood turtles are one of the four species of turtles in Nova Scotia. The wood turtle has a bumpy, sculpted shell that is dark grey to brown, with orange markings that appear when the shell is wet. Unlike other turtles, the skin of the throat, tail, and limbs are orange-red. Hatchlings are light brown and about twoonie-sized, and adults are about 16-21 cm long.

Wood turtles are found in clear, moderately flowing rivers and streams in forests or flood plains. They also occur in terrestrial habitats including areas near wetlands and watercourses as well as forests, hayfields, and cropland. They are typically not found more than a few hundred meters away from water. They can be found basking in the sun by rivers and streams in spring; along roadsides in June & July (when females are laying eggs) and August & September (when travelling to overwintering sites). They can also be spotted swimming in waterways; or walking through nearby woods, in the spring, summer, and fall. June and July, during egg laying, is the time of year when wood turtles are most terrestrial and most at risk of being injured by cars and tractors.

Barn Swallows:

The barn swallow is a small swallow (15-18 cm long) with long pointed wings and a deeply forked tail. Its upper parts are cobalt blue, its forehead is a reddish brown and it’s under parts are a lighter orange-brown. There is a partial blue band across the chest. Males and females look very similar.

As its name might suggest barn swallows nest in barns, garages, houses, bridges and culverts near open areas and are often seen resting on power lines, light posts and other horizontal perches. They exist throughout Nova Scotia including all major agricultural areas. Generally they are observed from May to September in colonial groups near cropland, hayfields, riparian areas and wetlands where they hunt for flying insects. Barn swallows are a part of the agricultural landscape in Nova Scotia, but unfortunately, have experienced very sharp population declines.

Bobolink:

The bobolink is a small bird (16-20 cm long) with a short, conical bill. Breeding males are black with a distinctive, large pale yellow patch on the back of their heads and a white lower back and rump. Females are more sparrow-like with a crown alternating in dark and light stripes, a light brown breast, and brown, white and black patterning on the wings. Its song is bubbly and complex, which closely resembles “R2D2” from Star Wars.

The bobolink is found throughout most of Nova Scotia from May to September in open grassy habitats including hayfields, pastures, and abandoned farmland. It can also be observed in meadows near the coast. It is not usually seen in fields with short grasses, cropland, fragmented habitats, or areas near forest edges.

Nests are shallow cups built directly on the ground in fields and are often built near the base of a plant for better camouflage to prevent discovery by predators. Over half a million nests are unintentionally destroyed each year in Canada, often during haying. Bobolinks eat the seeds of weedy plants and help control pest insects in agricultural areas.

BENENFICIAL MANAGEMENT PRACTICES

There are many beneficial management practices (BMPs)that can be implemented on farm to help protect species-at-risk and biodiversity in general. Some of them are relatively simple and require little time and effort. Some of them require a greater investment of time and money. However, in some cases the costs can be off set through other benefits they can provide, such as increasing pollination and soil conservation. If you are interested in learning which BMPs might be suited for your property you can use the Nova Scotia Habitat Biodiversity Tool. Developed by CFGA, this process only requires a few minutes to input some information about your property then it will suggest which BMPs you could implement, including information on which ones could provide the greatest impact and how much effort they require.

Here are a few highlighted practices that the HBAT tool can provide:

1. Adopt Uneven-Aged Woodlot Management Systems

Implement uneven-aged forestry practices to allow farms to benefit from their woodlots while maintaining biodiversity.

Examples of uneven-aged management systems include selection harvesting and irregular shelterwood systems. When planning harvests, leave mast trees, and older trees with cavities and snags where safe to do so.

Uneven aged forests provide a variety of vegetative layers and tree sizes that are used as habitat for a wide variety of species. Standing dead trees (snags), logs and treetops on the forest floor may look messy, but provide excellent habitat for forest birds. The canopy openings created while managing an uneven aged forest may be beneficial for the growth of certain tree species.

2. Provide Barn Swallow Nesting Opportunities

Allow barn swallows to access building interiors for nesting, aiding in natural pest control.

Provide open access point(s) such as open windows, doors or hatches during the breeding season. To encourage nesting in specific areas, create a nesting ledge. Ledges should be 8-10 cm wide and placed approximately 15 cm below the ceiling and 3 m above the ground. Nesting can also be encouraged by installing nesting cups or platforms placed at least 15 cm below the ceiling/roof and 3 m above the ground.

Barn Swallows have adapted to living with humans and will typically nest in/on human-made structures, including barns, sheds, culverts, house eaves, and bridges

3. Create or Maintain Cavity Trees and Snags

Preserve cavity trees and snags in tree habitats to support birds, bats, and other wildlife.

Retain standing dead trees (snags) and cavity trees whenever safe to do so. Retain some large diameter (>30 cm) trees even as they begin to decline, to serve as future snags or cavity trees.

Bats and a variety of species of birds, including chimney swifts, use snags as roosting and breeding habitat. Tall, standing dead trees can serve as perches for birds. Snags also serve as a source of coarse woody debris, which helps to create high quality habitat for other wildlife, such as bees.

4. Delay Haying to Protect Grassland Birds

Delay haying until after July 15th to protect nests of grassland bird species at risk.

If this practice is not feasible for an entire field, delaying haying in a portion of the field will still provide some benefit; grassland birds prefer nesting in the centre of fields, to reduce the risk of predation from wildlife that using bordering habitats.

Avoiding activity in nesting habitat reduces losses of nests or young birds from collisions with farming equipment. This practice can benefit a number of grassland nesting bird species but is particularly important to consider if your farm provide habitat for species-at-risk, such as the bobolink.

5. Minimize Disturbance to Turtles

Avoid moving or disturbing turtles unless they are in immediate danger. If you must move a turtle (e.g. a turtle on a busy road), place it nearby in the direction it was travelling.

Turtles need to access different types of habitats for activities such as feeding, breeding, nesting, and overwintering and will travel long distances to access different patches of habitat. They are highly vulnerable to mortality or injury from vehicles when crossing roads and trails. Relocating a turtle or moving it back to where it was travelling from will force it to re-attempt its journey, putting it at continued risk.

6. Avoid Storing Attractants Near Turtle Habitats

Do not store food waste or other predator attractants that might attract predators such as raccoons near potential turtle nesting habitat.

Food waste attracts and supports higher numbers of predators than would naturally be found in an area. As a result, turtles and their nests are at greater risk of predation.

7. Establish Shelterbelts

Plant shelterbelts around cultivated lands to provide habitat for wildlife.

There are many factors that need to be considered when planning a shelterbelt, including the direction of prevailing winds, distance from buildings and access roads, features such as ditches, field tiles or utility lines, and available space. Shelterbelts can have 1 or several rows of trees, depending on the available space.

In addition to supporting biodiversity, shelterbelts can provide a number of benefits to farm operations. Documented benefits of shelterbelts include reduced pesticide drift, reduced odour plumes, protection of livestock, reduced noise pollution, and reduced heating costs (when planted around farm buildings).

8. Limit Livestock Access to Aquatic Habitats

Construct limited access ramps to minimize livestock impact on natural aquatic environments.

Install fencing and remote watering systems to prevent livestock from entering riparian areas and watercourses. There are a wide variety of watering system design options, such as nose pumps, cisterns, tubs, etc.

These important and sensitive areas are hot spots for biodiversity and are used by a wide variety of wildlife as habitat for breeding, travel, feeding, cover and overwintering. Restricting livestock access prevents shoreline erosion and nutrient input into the water and allows native plants to establish and grow in riparian areas.

9. Maintain Standing Hay for Habitat

Leave strips or blocks of standing hay throughout the summer to provide wildlife habitat.

A variety of species, including the at-risk short-eared owl, use agricultural fields for nesting and foraging. Areas of standing hay provide habitat that chicks can retreat to in order to avoid machinery and escape predators. These areas of habitat also support their prey species, helping to ensure food is available for them.

10. Connect Natural Habitats with Vegetated Areas

Preserve vegetated corridors that connect isolated natural habitats. Connect patches of forest habitat by maintaining existing or planting trees and shrub to allow the safe movement of wildlife between these areas.

Forested corridors are important for the movement and cover of many species. Creating treed corridors will allow wildlife to access different patches of habitat for breeding, foraging and other needs.

11. Maintain Riparian Buffers Around Aquatic Habitats

Keep a vegetated riparian buffer around rivers, streams, and lakes to protect water quality and biodiversity.

Vegetated riparian buffers limit runoff that may contain fertilizer or manure, protecting water quality. They can also prevent soil from eroding into the water, which not only improves water quality but keeps high quality topsoil on the farm. Riparian zones can also limit the impacts of flooding.

Many species use riparian areas for nesting, feeding, and protection. Flowering plant species in riparian zones can also increase services to farms such as pollination.

12. Preserve Forested Wetlands

Avoid clearing land that supports forested wetland habitats. Avoid forestry activities or road building in forested wetlands. Limit beaver trapping in areas where they are not damaging roads, cultivated fields or other infrastructure.

Forested wetlands provide important breeding habitat for a number of landbird species at risk, as well as other wildlife. These areas may also provide abundant insect prey for birds and bats. Road building can alter the way water moves through a wetland, which may lead to the loss or degradation of this type of habitat. Beavers play an important role in creating irregular wet habitats that many other species depend on.

13. Manage Grazing for Grassland Bird Habitat

Implement managed grazing practices to maintain suitable habitats for nesting grassland birds.

Design and implement a rotational grazing system that help to manage habitat for grassland nesting birds. Design your system so that central paddocks remain ungrazed until after nestlings have fledged.

Grassland nesting birds, such as the bobolink, tend to avoid nesting near edge habitats such as shelterbelts or woodlands, as these areas can support predators. Creating rotational grazing system and leaving central paddocks ungrazed during the nesting season will provide safe habitat and prevent livestock from trampling nests.

14. Reduce Cat Predation on Birds and Bats

If possible, keep your cat(s) indoors all the time, but especially at night, and at dawn and dusk.

In addition, fit your cat(s) with a Birdsbesafe collar cover and consider feeding your cat(s) food that is high in meat-protein content and lacks grain. Avoid placing bird attractants (e.g., bird feeders, bird baths, etc.) or bat houses where cats are known to wander.

Domestic and feral cats have powerful hunting instincts and are estimated to kill between 100 and 350 million birds per year in Canada. This makes predation by house cats likely the largest human-related source of bird mortality.

15. Store Manure Away from Aquatic Habitats

Establish adequate manure collection and storage systems following the Nova Scotia Manure Management Guidelines. Store manure away from aquatic habitats and wetlands. When appropriate, use a concrete storage pad or roofed facility.

Site manure storage facilities at least 100 meters away from lakes, rivers or streams, and at least 20 meters from wetlands.

When nutrients from animal manure are not managed properly, they can affect plant and animal life (including humans) negatively. Some of these impacts include algae blooms causing the depletion of oxygen in surface waters, pathogens and nitrates in drinking water, and the emission of odors and gases into the air. Manure storage facilities must be selected based on site specific needs with considerations made to nutrient concentration, proximity to water sources, and manure form and consistency.

16. Use Buffer Strips for Beneficial Insects

Implement buffer strips or conservation headlands to create pesticide-free habitats for beneficial insects and wildlife.

In operations where pesticides are used, leave a 6 meter width margin (headland/buffer) where no pesticides are applied around cereal crop fields. Some herbicide application may be considered to control alien invasive species or weeds that may pose serious threat to the operation.

Conservation headlands have greater species richness and diversity when compared to fields where pesticides are applied. Conservation headlands are particularly beneficial to invertebrates and plants.

17. Use Soil Conservation Practices

Use soil conservation practices such as cover crops, crop rotation, reduced tillage or conservation tillage, contour ploughing and intercropping.

Soil conservation practices can help protect soil from the eroding forces of rainfall, melting snow, and wind. Conservation practices such as cover crops, crop rotation, reduced tillage, and intercropping help to improve soil structure and moisture, add organic matter, and reduce soil erosion.

18. Use Wildlife-Friendly Lighting

Design lighting systems that are wildlife-friendly to minimize disorientation and disruption.

Mount lighting fixtures as low as possible and use the lowest wattage necessary for the needed purpose. Use shields to direct light downward and inward to limit visibility from the sky.

Lights can disrupt the natural day-night cycle of wildlife, causing confusion and disorientation in animals that rely on darkness for essential behaviors like migration, foraging, and reproduction, potentially leading to exhaustion, collisions with obstacles, and reduced survival rates.

19. Implement Integrated Pest Management (IPM)

Use integrated pest management strategies to reduce the impact of pesticides on non-target species. This means using a combination of biological, physical, cultural and mechanical pest practices.

Decreased pesticide use coupled with adoption of IPM promotes the use of natural enemies as allies in pest control. It can also result in improved decomposition and nutrient cycling in soil, and improved pollinator populations (e.g., wild bees).

20. Prevent Sedimentation with Sediment Ponds and Grassed Waterways

Use sediment ponds and grassed waterways when appropriate to prevent sediment from entering natural aquatic habitats.

Sedimentation of natural watercourses and waterbodies can have a variety of negative impacts on biodiversity. Sediments can smother bottom-dwelling organisms, such as the brook floater (a freshwater mussel), or egg masses laid by fish such as the Atlantic salmon. Sediments can also transport bound nutrients and other pollutants into aquatic ecosystems. Grassed waterways have the added benefit of creating additional wildlife habitat.