| Land
Designation
Ecological Reserve
Landscape
Description
Little George Island Ecological Reserve is 15
hectares in size. The island lies in the north basin of Lake Winnipeg, about 40 km
due west of Poplar River First Nation. The island is generally flat with
few trees. Extensive areas of willow shrubs and
grassland meadows occur in some areas.
Outstanding Features
Ecological
reserves play a key role in Manitoba’s Protected Areas Initiative by protecting
unique, rare and representative examples of
plants, animals, geological features and
ecosystems. They are the most protected of the provincially
designated sites within the network of protected
areas in Manitoba.
Little George Island is special because it is a
prime nesting site for colonial nesting birds,
including Caspian and Common Terns and Greater
Scaup, a diving duck. The birds nest in shallow depressions in
the sand. Thousands
of nests occur on the island each year during
breeding season which normally begins in June and
extends into August. Nesting birds are most vulnerable to
disturbances at this time. Visitation to the island is discouraged
during this sensitive period as a disturbance
could cause adults to abandon nests or young.
Little George Island is the most southerly documented breeding site for
Greater Scaup in Manitoba. Scaup
populations have steadily declined since the
1980s. Contaminants,
lower female survival, and reduced recruitment due
to changes in breeding habitat or food resources
are thought to be the primary factors contributing
to the decline. In 1999 the Caspian Tern was removed
from the list of species-at-risk in Canada, in large part due to the healthy
state of Manitoba’s populations.
Back to Network of Protected
Areas Page |
