Southern Ontario
Southern Ontario has a very different climate from the rest of the country. It is the only area of Canada that has Carolinian forest. Many trees, plants, and wildlife in Southern Ontario are not found anywhere else in Canada. Some rare trees to Canada in this region include the tulip tree, pawpaw fruit tree and the cucumber tree. The Carolinian forests of Southern Ontario have in large part been destroyed by development sprawl. Very few original growth areas remain.
Keddy Nature Sanctuary
The original forests were predominantly sugar maple, beech, white pine and hemlock, which is typical for land on the Canadian shield in eastern Ontario. These forests were heavily logged in the 1800s and then often cleared for pastures and fields. White pine was removed for ship building, hemlock was removed for tanning leather, and most other species of trees were burned to produce potash which was exported to Europe. Thus, the current forests have altered species composition, with smaller trees, and reduced soil fertility.