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Blanding's turtle (Emydoidea blandingii) is an Endangered Species at Risk in Nova Scotia. Its total population in Nova Scotia is < 500 individuals and is disjunct from its main population in Quebec and Ontario. It is important to monitor status and trends in Blanding's turtle populations to inform recovery needs and provide information on the effectiveness of recovery initiatives. This involves regular observations of female nesting-age individuals following standardized capture and data collection protocols.

This report summarizes the progress made towards Pacific Leatherback Sea Turtle recovery for the period 2007-2012.

Georgian Bay Islands National Park uses point counts to monitor forest birds on Beausoleil Island; this measure focuses on the abundance of five common songbird species and overall diversity.

The park measures forest regeneration and succession on 15 EMAN plots in deciduous and mixed forests on Beausoleil Island. The surveys report on the number, height class and survival of tree seedlings and saplings.

This measure consists of 2 field measurements: Tree Crown Conditions and Stem Defects. These parameters are used to assess overall forest health in the park, as a reduction in crown cover can provide early warning signs of change in forest stand health and succession.

Presence of exotic species often represents a level of disturbance in an ecosystem.The park samples invasive wetland plants along coastal transects, which include submerged areas. The focus of this measure are Eurasian watermilfoil and European phragmites. Currently the park has sufficient data only on the watermilfoil.

This measure tracks changes of the lake water level in the coastal ecosystem of GBINP. This is significant in driving ecological processes as well as acting as a stressor in the the park’s costal wetland ecosystem - as it is hydrologically connected to the lake water body, both at the surface and below.

Stiff Yellow Flax (Linum medium var. medium) is considered as a representative shoreline species, its occurrence and presence are affected by water level fluctuations. The park surveys this species` area of occurrence and stem density at selected patches.

GBI monitors water quality in coastal wetlands to report on nutrient loads resulting from human use of day-use areas. The park uses Water Quality Index to assess this measure - which is also a part of the Great Lakes Shoreline monitoring network.

Abundance and diversity of frogs and toads is a good indicator for assessing ecological integrity. The park visually counts adult frogs and toads in coastal wetlands after the breeding season. This method does not permit assessment of early breeding species and may overestimate frog abundance because these surveys coincide with mass emergence of newly developed frogs, which are subjected to very high mortality rates.