Description

Uninhabited Middle Island -- Canada's most southerly landmass and one of the few undeveloped islands in western Lake Erie -- has bedrock of solid limestone, which gives it its distinctive shoreline of rocky, weathered slabs. The limestone shore is also unusual for its fossils, including one coral almost three metres in diameter.

This 46-ha island supports rare plant communities (mature hackberry forest, hop-tree scrub) and rare species of animals and plants (Lake Erie Water Snake and Wild Hyacinth, for example). The chain of islands of which it is a part provides important "stepping stones" for bird migration and perhaps also acts as a corridor for northward plant migration -- the several southern plant species known from the Erie Islands and nowhere else in Canada suggest that this is indeed the case.

Middle Island was privately owned until 1999 by an American who preserved it almost entirely in a natural state. When the island went up for sale, the Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC) led a campaign to "repatriate" Canada's southernmost landmass and to protect it in perpetuity as a national jewel. This spirited drive resonated with donors large and small -- some of whom were inspired, no doubt, not simply by the island's rich natural history but also by its cultural heritage as disputed territory during the War of 1812 and as a smuggling route during the Prohibition Era.

Following NCC's successful purchase, ownership was transferred to Parks Canada. Middle Island is now part of Point Pelee National Park -- the only national park in the Carolinian life zone (taken from the Carolinian Canada Signature Sites Guide by Lorraine Johnson 2005).

Vegetation

This site supports several lowland forest community types on shallow soil over limestone, including hackberry, hackberry-black maple, hope-tree-blue ash-hackberry-chinquapin oak communities, scrub and pond communities (Klinkenberg, 1984 in Eagles & Beechey, 1985).

Landform

The Island's bedrock is solid limestone, with the shoreline mainly composed of weathered limestone slabs. At the west end a sand and gravel spit juts into Lake Erie. The Island's limestone bedrock shore is a distinctive feature, being found in Essex County only on Middle and adjacent islands (Oldham, 1983 in Eagles & Beechey, 1985).

References

* Allen, G.M., P.F.J. Eagles and S.D. Price (eds.) 1990. Conserving Carolinian Canada: Conservation Biology in the Deciduous Forest Region. University of Waterloo Press, Waterloo. 346 pp.

* Eagles, P.F.J. and T.J. Beechey (eds.) 1985. Critical Unprotected Natural Areas in the Carolinian Life Zone of Canada. Final Report, Identification Subcommittee, Carolinian Canada. The Nature Conservancy of Canada, The Ontario Heritage Foundation and World Wildlife Fund (Canada). 400 pp.

* Klinkenberg, R. 1984. Life Science Areas of Natural and Scientific Interest in Site District 7-1: A Review and Assessment of Significant Natural Areas in Site District 7-1. Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources, Parks and Recreational Areas, Southwestern Region, London. OFER 8403. vii + 22 pp. + appendices.

* Oldham, M.J. 1983. Environmentally Significant Areas of the Essex Region: A Background Report to the Essex Region Conservation Plan. Essex Region Conservation Authority, Essex, Ontario. viii + 426 pp.

© Natural Heritage Information Centre, 1998

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