St. Lawrence College
OP-10: Biodiversity

St. Lawrence College - Kingston Campus:

The table below summarizes the list of provincially rare and Species at Risk known from the campus property and surrounding area. The source of the record is provided.

Based on the Biodiversity Assessment completed, out of the 33 recorded Species at Risk plants and wildlife in the general area, 1 reptile, 3 bird, 1 mammal, and 2 insect provincially significant species were identified as having potential to occur on the Kingston Campus. No Species at Risk were confirmed to occur on the Kingston Campus. 

Note: A legend of abbreviations can be found at the end of the last table in this entry. 

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St. Lawrence College - Brockville Campus:

The table below summarizes the list of provincially rare (S rank 1-3), possibly extirpated (SH), and provincial Species at Risk (SAR) known from the campus property and surrounding area. The source of the record is provided. Note that many of these species’ records are from lands outside of the Brockville Campus as suitable habitat is either not available, or is limited, on campus. However, one (1) species was recorded on campus and is denoted with an asterisk (*) in the table below. Additionally, some of these species are migrants that do not breed in Ontario and could be using the campus and surrounding area as foraging or resting areas during migration.

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St. Lawrence College - Cornwall Campus:

The table below summarizes the list of provincially rare (S rank 1-3) and provincial Species at Risk (SAR) known from the campus property and surrounding area. The source of the record is provided. Note that many of these species’ records are from lands outside of the Cornwall Campus as suitable habitat is either not available, or is limited, on campus. However, seven (7) species were recorded on or near campus and are denoted with an asterisk (*) in the table below. This could include species that were observed in the St. Lawrence River or flying overhead. Additionally, some of these species are migrants that do not breed in Ontario and could be using the campus and surrounding area as foraging or resting areas during migration.
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Preamble: 
A two-day public BioBlitz was held at St. Lawrence College's campuses (Kingston campus from October 13-14th, 2022; Cornwall campus on September 18-19th, 2023, and the Brockville campus on September 20th-21st). The purpose of the Bioblitzes was to record as many plant and wildlife species as possible, encompassing the entire campus grounds and better understand the level of biodiversity on each site, and from this build the Sustainable Landscape Management Plan to support and promote biodiversity levels and build ecological resilience and diversity. 

For the Bioblitz (an iNaturalist project: https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/st-lawrence-college-bio-blitz) was created to group and compile the observations. The event was open to the public and St. Lawrence College students were invited to participate in the BioBlitz.

Biodiversity at SLC - Monitoring Results:

Kingston Campus:
The Kingston Campus of St. Lawrence College is approximately 26 hectares in size. It is
located in the Portsmouth area of Kingston. The Campus consists of buildings, internal roads, parking areas, and manicured grounds. In total over the two days of the BioBlitz event, 348 observations were made by 10 observers, resulting in 153 species being documented. 

Observers included consultants (NSE, Wentworth) and St. Lawrence staff, faculty, and students. To
date, 78 iNaturalist identifiers have aided in the identification and vetting process. Some species
observations have not yet been identified, so there is the potential that additional species will be
confirmed. Table below summarizes the total confirmed species observed by taxa group:

Brockville Campus: 
St. Lawrence College’s Brockville Campus, located at 2288 Parkedale Avenue, Brockville in the Flanders Heights area is 14.4 hectares in size. The campus consists of buildings, internal roads, parking areas, manicured grounds, a watercourse, and naturalized areas.

In total over the two days of the BioBlitz event, 400 observations were made by 4 observers and 2 students resulting in 222 species being documented on iNaturalist. Observers included consultants (NSE) and St. Lawrence staff, faculty, and students. To date, 75 iNaturalist identifiers have aided in the identification and vetting process. Some species observations have not yet been identified, so there is the potential that additional species will be confirmed. Table below summarizes the total confirmed species observed by taxa group: 

Cornwall Campus:
St. Lawrence College’s Cornwall Campus, located at 2 St. Lawrence Drive, Cornwall is 11.2 hectares in size with 0.7 ha of waterfront on the St. Lawrence River (Figure 1). The campus consists of buildings, internal roads, parking areas, manicured grounds, and waterfront area with semi-naturalized shoreline including Windmill Point and an inlet.

In total over the two days of the BioBlitz event, 438 observations were made by 30 observers, resulting in 188 species being documented on iNaturalist. Observers included consultants (NSE) and St. Lawrence staff, faculty, and students. To date, 90 iNaturalist identifiers have aided in the identification and vetting process. Some species observations have not yet been identified, so there is the potential that additional species will be confirmed. Table below summarizes the total confirmed species observed by taxa group:

A two-day public BioBlitz was held at each campus at St. Lawrence College to record as many plant and wildlife species as possible, encompassing the entire campus grounds. Observed species were documented using iNaturalist (inaturalist.org), a community-science program where users upload observations (photo or audio recording), record spatial information, and identifications are vetted by the community of naturalists and scientists. North-South Environmental Inc. (NSE) was retained to lead the Bioblitzes (their team of ecologists were on-site to lead the monitoring), to prepare a Biodiversity Assessment Report for each campus of St. Lawrence College, to build recommendations for biodiversity support moving forward, and to provide recommendations for continued monitoring of species on each site.

An iNaturalist project (https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/st-lawrence-college-bio-blitz) was created to group and compile the observations. The event was open to the public and St. Lawrence College students were invited to participate in each BioBlitz.

The survey method involved walking the campus grounds and watching and listening for species. All species that were encountered were recorded, and this included records of species that were observed, and species that were heard calling (e.g., birds). Species were observed visually and auditory (i.e., birds), and samples were taken when needed or for demonstration purposes. Other survey methods such as night-lighting for moths, insect trapping, camera traps, and monitoring for bats using recorders were used where weather conditions allowed. 

Each Biodiversity Monitoring event (Bioblitz) was held over a two-day period and included both daylight and nightime observations. A team of ecologists and St. Lawrence College staff and students surveyed the campus grounds and recorded their observations. Each of the Bioblitzes included the entire campus boundaries. 

Moving forward, St. Lawrence will host BioBlitz events twice annually, in the spring and fall and we will continue to build on the results of our initial Bioblitzes as descirbed in the sections above. In this way we will build more outdoor engagement, species information, and data gathering for external conservation and environmental organizations who monitor biodiversity and species health locally, provincially, or nationally. In this way SLC contributes to both citizen science initiatives and broader initiatives to help support life on land.  

Areas excluded include the campus building footprints and parking lots. 

Sustainable Landscape Management Plan:

The college has developed a plan to implement a list of recommendations developed from our biodiversity assessments with the aim of positively affecting the species, habitats, and ecosystems that are on St. Lawrence College. Our over-arching goals for this plan include:

• To protect vulnerable and endangered species and remove invasive species.


• Enhance biodiversity and ecological health to promote a sustainable environment for future generations.


• Act as stewards of this land and manage grounds through a sustainable and thoughtful process and with the guidance and input from our Indigenous partners.


• Create outdoor spaces at SLC that promote increased engagement with the outdoors and green spaces that serve the needs of our SLC community.

A detailed overview of the Kingston Sustainable Landscape Management Plan process, along with examples of the projects we are undertaking can be seen in ‘Pre-2 Points of Distinction’, under ‘Second Point of Distinction’.

Highlights of the plan geared towards supporting our natural environment include the implementation of the following projects:

• Grass to Meadow (Reduced Mowing, Over-Seed to Create Meadow Space).


• Helping Habitats (Log/Woody, Pollinator & Bird-focused Gardens, Bird and Bat Boxes, Micro-habitats.


• Trees and Plants (Building Biodiversity through High Value Plants, Mass Planting with Perennial Designs, Increased Shade (Tree Planting), Woodland /Miyawaki concepts)


• Enhancing Indigenous Garden Plantings.


• Increasing Shade on Campus (Trees, shelters, pergolas). 

The full biodiversity assessments for each campus + the recommendations for Kingston (Brockville and Cornwall's are in the consultation phase), can be viewed in this drive: 
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1LZFGvrq8aovmivW0P-PiZ-1eotn9uEG-?usp=sharing