Peterborough Natural Areas: The net gains and losses in natural heritage features from 1996-2016

Description

By Vanessa Potvin, Date of Project Submission: April 2015., Completed for: Peterborough Field Naturalists; Supervising Professor: Heather Nicol; Trent Community Research Centre, - Community-Based Research Project, The Peterborough Natural Areas Strategy was developed in 1996 to establish a natural areas corridor for the citizens of Peterborough. Ten natural areas were mapped. Within each site, core areas were identified for a total of 24 natural areas throughout the city. The environmental status of the areas has not been assessed since the development of the original strategy. This report examines each natural heritage area to determine the net gains and losses in ecological features over the past twenty years. ArcGIS was used to digitize the maps, and map analysis tools were used to determine the net gains and losses in natural heritage features. As a result of this study, it was determined that there has been no statistically significant change in the natural areas since 1996. However, an assertive conclusion cannot be made, due to the variety of limitations that pertained to this study. Instead, further studies should take place to support the claim of this research.