Indicators of Natural Cover Quality: Management Applications in the City of Toronto

A Capstone Project submitted in conformity with the requirements for the degree of Master of Forest ConservationToronto’s natural heritage system is surrounded by the built environment and exposed to various human activities which stress its capacity to maintain natural diversity and ecological functions. To help understand the existing state of natural cover, this study investigated the floristic quality of Toronto’s natural areas and woodlands. This study used natural cover indicators Mean Coefficient of Conservatism (MeanCC) and WEEDless to perform this investigation. The analysis is based on monitoring data collected using the Vegetation Sampling Protocol (VSP) method, from about 200 plots distributed across the city. The results indicate that floristic quality of natural areas, measured using Coefficient of Conservatism, is in a predominantly middle to low-quality range, pointing to two centuries of sustained pressures. This was further supported by an observed pervasiveness of invasive plant species, constituting another major threat to ecological health and native biodiversity in Toronto