Order summary: Critical habitat of the Western Chorus Frog, Great Lakes / St. Lawrence, Canadian shield population

Critical habitat of the Western Chorus Frog (Pseudacris triseriata) Great Lakes / St. Lawrence – Canadian shield population order

The objective of the Critical Habitat of the Western Chorus Frog (Pseudacris triseriata) Great Lakes / St. Lawrence – Canadian Shield Population Order (the Order) is to support the survival and recovery of the Western Chorus Frog (GLSLCS) through the legal protection of its critical habitat on federal lands in Ontario and Quebec. In Canada, the Western Chorus Frog (GLSLCS) occupies lowland habitats in south-central and eastern Ontario as well as southwestern Quebec.

The Order was made under section 58 of the Species at Risk Act (SARA). It came into force on August 22, 2018 and applies to all federal lands^{Footnote 1} located within Western Chorus Frog (GLSLCS) critical habitat, as identified in the Recovery Strategy for the Western Chorus Frog (Pseudacris triseriata), Great Lakes/ St. Lawrence – Canadian Shield Population, in Canada. An overview map of the Western Chorus Frog (GLSLCS) critical habitat area, including federally owned lands, is provided in Figure 1 below.

Figure 1: The map shows the Western Chorus Frog, Great Lakes / St. Lawrence – Canadian Shield Population’s critical habitat on Federal Crown Land.

Prohibitions and scope of the order

The Order applies the prohibition against the destruction of critical habitat set out in subsection 58(1) of SARA to the portions of the critical habitat of the Western Chorus Frog (GLSLCS) on federal land. The Recovery Strategy describes the types of activities that would be likely to result in the destruction of critical habitat, and how those activities, if undertaken, could destroy the suitable habitat.

Examples of these activities include, but are not limited to:

• construction and maintenance of linear features (e.g. roads, pipelines, energy corridors)
• construction of housing units and other urban infrastructure (e.g. commercial and industrial buildings, playgrounds)
• reshaping (levelling and/or filling), drainage or channelization of wetlands (temporary and permanent)
• intensification of agricultural practices

There are seven federal government organizations that administer properties that overlap with portions of the critical habitat for the Western Chorus Frog (GLSLCS) and that are subject to the Order:

1. National Capital Commission
2. Public Services and Procurement Canada
3. Department of National Defence
4. Parks Canada Agency
5. Transport Canada
6. Fisheries and Oceans Canada
7. Montreal Port Authority

It is important to note that within each federally-administered property, only those areas that satisfy the description of critical habitat in the Recovery Strategy, rather than the entirety of each federally-administered property is subject to this Order. The environment and its ecosystems are dynamic. It is the responsibility of federal land managers to verify whether critical habitat is present on a federally-administered property.

Western Chorus Frog description

The Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC) status report of 2008 describes the Western Chorus Frog as a small amphibian, ranging in colour from brown to olive grey, that weighs about 1 gram (g) and measures about 2.5 centimeters (cm) long as an adult. It has three dark lines along its back, one wider line on each flank, and a broad line that runs across the eyes. It can be distinguished from other frogs in Canada by its call, a long cre-ee-ee-ee-eek, similar to the sound of running a fingernail across the teeth a metal comb.

In Quebec, the Western Chorus Frog (GLSLCS) was historically present in the southern part of the province, from the Ottawa Valley to the foothills of the Appalachians and west of the Richelieu River (Bonin and Galois 1996; Picard and Desroches 2004; Figure 3). Currently, the species is estimated to occupy only 10% of this former distribution (Bonin and Galois 1996). In the Montérégie region, the species is thought to have been reduced to just over 800 highly fragmented sites within a narrow 20-kilometers (km)-wide band between the municipalities of Beauharnois to the south and Contrecoeur to the north (Bonin and Galois 1996; COSEWIC 2008; Rioux 2008). The presence of the species is also confirmed in slightly more than 220 sites in the Outaouais region along a band 10 km wide and 100 km long that stretches east to west along the Ottawa River between Gatineau and Île-du-Grand-Calumet (St-Hilaire and Belleau 2005; COSEWIC 2008). The Western Chorus Frog recovery team in Quebec (WCFRTQ 2010) estimates that the species occupies a total of at least 102 square kilometres (km²) of habitat (60 km² in the Montérégie region and 42 km² in the Outaouais region).

The Recovery Strategy for the Western Chorus Frog (Pseudacris triseriata), Great Lakes / St. Lawrence - Canadian Shield Population, in Canada identifies critical habitat for the species. Within a given critical habitat unit, critical habitat corresponds to areas of suitable habitat (i.e., areas possessing the biophysical attributes of habitats where individuals can meet the needs associated with the various stages of their life cycle such as mating, egg-laying, tadpole metamorphosis, foraging, hibernation, and dispersal). These include:

• wetlands
  • temporary wetlands or shallow portions of permanent wetlands (i.e., usually where water is present until the end of June); and
  • vegetation structure and composition: generally herbaceous with occasional; shrubs or partially submerged trees forming an open or discontinuous canopy, although some local populations breed at the edge of closed-canopy habitats; and
  • absence or limited presence of fish or other aquatic predators
• terrestrial
  • vegetation structure and composition correspond to those of breeding wetlands
  • (hibernation only)
    • vegetation structure and composition correspond to those of wetlands used as breeding and foraging habitat; and
    • availability of soft substrate with dead leaves, woody debris or burrows

Status of species under SARA

The Western Chorus Frog (GLSLCS) was listed as “threatened” under SARA in 2008. As the species is listed on Schedule 1 of SARA, when it is on federal lands in the provinces, it is protected by the general prohibitions in section 32 (individuals) ^{Footnote 2} and section 33 (residences) of SARA. Therefore, on these lands it is prohibited to:

• kill, harm, harass, capture or take an individual Western Chorus Frog (GLSLCS)
• possess, collect, buy, sell or trade an individual Western Chorus Frog (GLSLCS) or any part or derivative of such
• damage or destroy a residence of the Western Chorus Frog (GLSLCS) (breeding site and hibernating site)

In Quebec, the Western Chorus Frog (GLSLCS) is listed as “vulnerable” under the Act Respecting Threatened or Vulnerable species. In Ontario, the species is not currently listed under the Endangered Species Act, 2007^{Footnote 3}.

In addition to the Order, two distinct emergency orders under s.80 of SARA exist for this species, targeting the La Prairie area (2016), and the Longueuil area (2021) in Quebec.

Applying for an agreement or a permit under SARA

If you plan to undertake activities on the federal land to which the Order applies, and those activities could affect the Western Chorus Frog (GLSLCS) or destroy any part of its critical habitat, then you will need to apply to Environment and Climate Change Canada for an agreement or permit under section 73 of SARA.

An agreement may be entered into or a permit issued, only if the competent minister is of the opinion that:

1. the activity is scientific research relating to the conservation of the species and conducted by qualified persons
2. the activity benefits the species or is required to enhance its chance of survival in the wild; or
3. affecting the species is incidental to the carrying out of the activity

The competent minister must also be of the opinion that the following pre-conditions have been met:

1. all reasonable alternatives to the activity that would reduce the impact on the species have been considered and the best solution has been adopted
2. all feasible measures will be taken to minimize the impact of the activity on the species or its critical habitat or the residences of its individuals; and
3. the activity will not jeopardize the survival or recovery of the species

To apply for a permit, please refer to the Species at Risk Permit System. ^{Footnote 4}

Offences and punishment under SARA

Enforcement officers designated under SARA may conduct inspections, investigations and search and seizure operations to verify compliance with the law. In the event of a contravention of the Act, SARA provides for penalties, including liability for costs, fines or imprisonment or both, alternative measures agreements, seizure and forfeiture of things seized or of the proceeds of their disposition. For example, under the penalty provision of the Act, a corporation, other than a non-profit corporation found guilty of an indictable offence, could found liable to a maximum fine of $1,000,000.

For more information

Western Chorus Frog information and recovery documents are available on the Western Chorus Frog, Great Lakes / St. Lawrence - Canadian Shield population Profile page and on the Species at Risk Public Registry. For more details on SARA and how it may affect you, please visit the Species at Risk Education Centre.

Appendix

The following table provides an overview of the key federally-administered lands subject to the Critical Habitat of the Western Chorus Frog (Pseudacris triseriata) Great Lakes / St. Lawrence – Canadian Shield Population Order.