Lake Huron Grasshopper

Species information

The following is a report on progress made towards the protection and recovery of Lake Huron Grasshopper (Trimerotropis huroniana) in Ontario from 2007 to 2023, based on Ontario’s species-specific recovery policy. This report meets the legislative requirement for a review of progress under the Endangered Species Act, 2007  (ESA or “the Act”). Lake Huron Grasshopper is listed as threatened on the Species at Risk in Ontario (SARO) List under the ESA.

Lake Huron Grasshopper was listed as a threatened species under the ESA on June 2, 2017.

The species-specific recovery policy for Lake Huron Grasshopper, known as the government response statement (GRS) was published in 2019 and includes the government’s recovery goal for the species and the actions and priorities it intends to lead or support to help achieve that goal. The GRS considers science advice provided in the recovery strategy (published in 2018), regarding things such as the species biology, habitat needs, threats to survival, knowledge gaps and approaches to recovery when developing recovery actions for the species. As legislated in the Act, the purpose of this review is to report on progress made towards implementing the protection and recovery actions in the GRS. The review can also help identify opportunities to adjust and adapt the implementation of protection and recovery actions to achieve the recovery goal for the species.

Further information about Lake Huron Grasshopper, including the threats that it faces and actions being taken to help protect and recover this species, is available on the Government of Ontario webpage for Lake Huron Grasshopper. A summary on the progress towards the protection and recovery of Lake Huron Grasshopper and an annual update on the broader species at risk program (i.e. the Introduction to the 2024 Review of Progress report) is available on the Review of Progress towards the Protection and Recovery of Ontario’s Species at Risk webpage.

Snapshot: Progress towards the protection and recovery of Lake Huron Grasshopper

Progress towards meeting the recovery goal

• The recovery goal in the government response statement (GRS) for Lake Huron Grasshopper in Ontario is to “maintain existing populations within the species’ distribution in Ontario, and where feasible, enable natural increases in abundance by improving habitat and reducing threats.”
• Progress has been made towards implementing the majority of the government-led actions. Progress has been made towards implementing two of the government-supported recovery objectives and several of the associated actions. Examples of progress include:
  • removing or controlling invasive species in Lake Huron Grasshopper habitat by supporting landowners and municipalities with on-the-ground invasive species control actions, including almost completely eliminating European Common Reed, also known as invasive Phragmites (Phragmites australis subsp. Australis) from nine of the Lake Huron Grasshopper populations on Manitoulin Island
  • collaborating with local groups and land managers to identify candidate areas for habitat enhancement and/or restoration, prioritizing currently occupied habitat
  • promoting local stewardship and awareness of Lake Huron Grasshopper and its habitat
• In alignment with the GRS, further work is required to:
  • develop and implement a standardized survey protocol, prioritizing surveys at historical sites and under or un-surveyed areas with suitable habitat
  • develop a standardized long-term monitoring protocol and monitoring schedule to be implemented at subpopulations through the species’ range
  • collaborate with local organizations and initiatives to minimize threats to the species and its habitat, including trampling and dune vegetation removal

Occurrences and distribution

• Fifteen populations of Lake Huron Grasshopper have been documented in the southern area of Ontario along the shores of Lake Huron, Lake Michigan and Lake Superior. Currently, 13 of these populations^{footnote 1[1]} are extant^{footnote 2[2]}, whereas the remaining 2 are considered historical^{footnote 3[3]}.
• All 15 populations of Lake Huron Grasshopper have been newly-identified since 2008. The most recent previously-undocumented population of Lake Huron Grasshopper was identified in Lake Superior Provincial Park in 2023.

Government-supported stewardship projects

• Through the Species at Risk Stewardship Program, the Government of Ontario has enabled its stewardship partners to conduct one project that has supported the protection and recovery of multiple species at risk, including Lake Huron Grasshopper, through landscape-level habitat restoration in shoreline and wetland habitats where Lake Huron Grasshopper and other species at risk occur. Through this project, invasive Phragmites has been almost eliminated from the habitat of nine of the Lake Huron Grasshopper populations on Manitoulin Island. 

Supporting human activities while ensuring appropriate support for species recovery

• To date, no permits have been issued for this species.
• No activities have been undertaken in accordance with a conditional exemption that requires registration under the ESA.

Reporting on the progress towards the protection and recovery of Lake Huron Grasshopper

The implementation of government-led and government-supported actions demonstrates progress towards reaching the desired objectives and the recovery goal set out in the GRS.

Progress towards implementing government-led actions

Progress has been made towards implementing majority of the government-led actions identified in the GRS. Common actions for the government to lead as it works towards achieving a species’ recovery goal include:

• Continue to implement the Ontario Invasive Species Strategic Plan (2012) to address the invasive species (e.g. Phragmites) that threaten Lake Huron Grasshopper.
• Continue to implement Ontario’s Invasive Species Act to control the spread of invasive species (i.e., Phragmites) that threaten Lake Huron Grasshopper by restricting the importation, deposition, release, breeding/growing, buying, selling, leasing or trading of Phragmites.
• Educate other agencies and authorities involved in planning and environmental assessment processes on the protection requirements under the ESA.
• Encourage the submission of Lake Huron Grasshopper data to the Ontario’s central repository through the citizen science project that they receive data from (i.e., iNaturalist.ca) and directly through the Natural Heritage Information Centre.
• Undertake communications and outreach to increase public awareness of species at risk in Ontario.
• Continue to protect Lake Huron Grasshopper and its habitat through the ESA.
• Support conservation, agency, municipal and industry partners, and Indigenous communities and organizations to undertake activities to protect and recover Lake Huron Grasshopper. Support will be provided where appropriate through funding, agreements, permits (including conditions) and/or advisory services.
• Encourage collaboration, and establish and communicate annual priority actions for government support in order to reduce duplication of efforts.
• Conduct a review of progress toward the protection and recovery of Lake Huron Grasshopper within five years of the publication of this document.

Key progress made towards implementing these actions is described in the following sections.

Invasive species in Ontario

The Government of Ontario is committed to continuing its efforts to prevent, detect, respond to and manage invasive species in order to reduce their harmful impacts in the province, including to species at risk and their habitats. The GRS for Lake Huron Grasshopper indicates that invasive species (e.g., invasive Phragmites and Spotted Knapweed (Centaurea stoebe ssp. Micranthos)) pose a threat to the survival and recovery of this species in Ontario through their effects on dune habitats.

To prevent the further spread and introduction of invasive Phragmites, it was listed as a restricted species under the Invasive Species Act in 2016. It is now illegal to import, deposit, release, breed/grow, buy, sell, lease or trade this restricted invasive species in Ontario. It is also illegal to bring a restricted species into a provincial park or conservation reserve and to possess, transport, deposit or release them in these protected areas.

Through collaborative efforts with our partners to identify innovative solutions to control invasive Phragmites, Ontario continues to take action to advance the management of this invasive plant. For example, the Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR) provided funding to support the development of A Strategic Framework for Coordinated Management of Invasive Phragmites in Ontario (PDF) by the Green Shovels Collaborative, and is currently providing funding to support a newly established Invasive Phragmites Control Fund. Notably, this includes a recent (2024) investment of $16 million in grant funding over three years to be administered by the Invasive Species Centre and the Nature Conservancy of Canada, the majority of which is specifically dedicated to enabling community-led action on invasive Phragmites. MNR is also investigating potential biological control agents for invasive Phragmites with federal partners, the University of Toronto, and Ducks Unlimited Canada.

Guides and resources

The Government of Ontario recently supported the development of Invasive Phragmites Best Management Practices (2021) (PDF) geared specifically to improving species at risk habitat through the management of invasive Phragmites.

Occurrences and distribution

Tracking the occurrences and distribution of a species is a useful way to monitor and view where a species is found and how it is doing. Ontario’s Natural Heritage Information Centre (NHIC), the government’s central data repository, gathers and manages this type of biodiversity information. NHIC tracks and maps this data as species observations and individual element occurrences, where an element occurrence is an area of land and/or water where a species or plant community is or was present, and has a practical conservation value. For the purposes of this report, ‘population’ is an alternative name for element occurrence.

Fifteen populationsof Lake Huron Grasshopper have been documented in Ontario. Thirteen are considered to be extant (i.e., observed within the past 20 years), and two are considered to be historical. The extant populations are located on the shores of Manitoulin Island, northern Lake Huron and southern Lake Superior. Since 2017, the government’s central conservation data repository at the NHIC has received 105 records of the species. These records are based on observations between 1901 and 2023 and come from a variety of sources. Records submitted have helped to refine where the species is known and has been known to occur and have provided additional information on the species’ habitat and threats.

In 2023, a new population of Lake Huron Grasshopper was identified in Lake Superior Provincial Park. The newly identified local population is likely the result of increased search effort and education about Lake Huron Grasshopper and likely does not represent an actual population increase, but rather increased knowledge about the distribution of the species.

It is possible that there are observations of Lake Huron Grasshopper that have not been submitted to the government. Encouraging the submission of observations of this species is included in the GRS as a government-led action. Submission of species observations increases our knowledge of where they occur and can play an important role in assessing the viability of species populations.

Everyone is encouraged, or may be required by an authorization or condition of a regulatory exemption, to submit observations of Lake Huron Grasshopper, and any other species at risk observed, to the NHIC for incorporation into the provincial record of observations.

Government-supported stewardship projects

An important government-led action in the GRS for Lake Huron Grasshopper is to support partners to undertake activities to protect and recover the species. Through the Species at Risk Stewardship Program the government has supported one project designed to contribute to the protection and recovery of Lake Huron Grasshopper.

The remainder of this section highlights this project and the corresponding government-supported recovery actions for the species.

A project initiated by Winter Spider Eco-Consulting (WSEC) in 2020 demonstrated progress on multiple government-supported recovery actions for Lake Huron Grasshopper through work on Manitoulin Island that addressed the threat of invasive Phragmites to Lake Huron Grasshopper and many other species at risk that occur on the Island.

Throughout this multi-year project, WSEC coordinated the planning and management of on-the-ground invasive species removal in collaboration with several partners, beginning in 2020 with the Nature Conservancy of Canada and Ontario Parks, and growing to include the Escarpment Biosphere Conservancy, Manitoulin Streams, Manitoulin Island municipalities and Wiikwemkoong Unceded Territory. In 2022, WSEC also began providing local outreach on the threat of invasive Phragmites through radio station commercials, advertisements in a local Manitoulin newspaper and on Facebook, and webinars.

Invasive species control work targeting invasive Phragmites was conducted at 45 sites over 2020 to 2022, nine of which had Lake Huron Grasshopper present, through the work of WSEC, their partners and volunteers. Multiple methods were used to remove invasive Phragmites from these areas including spading, hand cutting, brush cutting, spraying pesticide, and using Truxors^{footnote 4[4]}. These efforts have had a significant effect on the eradication of invasive Phragmites from Manitoulin’s dune habitat, home to Piping Plover (Charadrius melodus), Pitcher’s Thistle (Cirsium pitcheri), Blanding’s Turtle (Emydoidea blandingii), Least Bittern (Ixobrychus exilis), Hill’s Pondweed (Potamogeton hillii), and other species at risk. Many of these sites continue to be stewarded by volunteers to ensure invasive Phragmites remains under control.

Lake Huron Grasshopper GRS actions that were addressed through this work are: remove or control invasive species in the habitat of Lake Huron Grasshopper by implementing best management practices for invasive species control and providing on-the-ground invasive species control actions (Action No. 6); collaborate with local groups and land managers to identify candidate areas for habitat enhancement and/ or restoration, prioritizing currently occupied habitat (Action No. 7); and promote local stewardship and awareness of Lake Huron Grasshopper and its habitat (Action No. 8 – High Priority).

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  project including Lake Huron Grasshopper

Supporting human activities while ensuring appropriate support for species recovery

Supporting partners through authorizations and their associated conditions is an important government-led action. To date, no permits have been issued for Lake Huron Grasshopper.

No activities that pertain to Lake Huron Grasshopper have been registered for the purposes of Ontario Regulation 242/08 under the ESA since the registry was established in 2013.

Progress towards implementing government-supported actions

Government-supported actions are organized under overarching recovery objectives. Progress has been made towards achieving two government-supported recovery objectives and implementing several of the associated actions identified in the GRS for Lake Huron Grasshopper.

Objective: Maintain or improve habitat and reduce threats to Lake Huron Grasshopper and its dune habitat in Ontario:

• Action No. 6 – Remove or control invasive species in the habitat of Lake Huron Grasshopper. Actions may include:
  • developing and implementing best management practices for invasive species control
  • supporting landowners and municipalities with on-the-ground invasive species control actions
  • encouraging the use of invasive species prevention protocols such as the Clean Equipment Protocol (PDF)
• Action No. 7 – Collaborate with local groups and land managers to identify candidate areas for habitat enhancement and/or restoration, prioritizing currently occupies habitat. This may involve identifying site-specific restoration needs and goals, developing restoration plans, and evaluating the species’ response to habitat restoration practices and techniques.

Under this objective, progress has been made towards implementing Action No. 6 and No. 7 through the Winter Spider Eco-Consulting project supported by the Species at Risk Stewardship Program described above. Action No. 6 has been addressed through the removal of invasive Phragmites from Lake Huron Grasshopper habitat on Manitoulin Island, and Action No. 7 through the collaborative identification and prioritization of species at risk sites in Manitoulin Island’s dune habitat.

Objective: Increase public awareness of the species, its habitat requirements and ways to minimize threats:

• Action No. 8 (High Priority) – Promote local stewardship and awareness pf the Lake Huron Grasshopper and its habitat which may include:
  • Developing social marketing strategies to help influence public perception and behaviours. For example, increasing awareness of how landowners can benefit from protecting and restoring dune habitat.
  • Producing stewardship publications to highlight success stories and engage the public in dune conservation and provide these materials to nature centres, tourist operations, libraries, and other public sites.
  • Hosting events where the public can assist with stewardship and habitat improvement.
  • Supporting landowners to steward their dunes.
  • Providing educational materials about dunes for municipal and public use during the planning process.
  • Partnering with schools to conduct outreach.

Under this objective, progress has been made towards implementing Action No. 8. This action has been implemented through the project led by Winter Spider Eco-Consulting, supported by the Species at Risk Stewardship Program, which provided outreach on the threat of invasive Phragmites and how it can be addressed, through advertising, social media and webinars. Local volunteer stewards were also engaged to continue the upkeep of the habitats of Lake Huron Grasshopper and other species at risk.

Summary of progress towards meeting the recovery goal

The recovery goal for Lake Huron Grasshopper is to “maintain existing populations within the species’ distribution in Ontario, and where feasible, enable natural increases in abundance by improving habitat and reducing threats”. Effort made towards the government-led and government-supported actions has helped to make progress towards this goal. For example, a Species at Risk Stewardship Program project to control invasive Phragmites around Lake Huron has almost eliminated invasive Phragmites from the habitat of nine of the Lake Huron Grasshopper populations.

In addition, the provincial record of observations indicates efforts to increase awareness and reporting of the species has been effective. The NHIC has received over 100 records which has improved our knowledge of the distribution of Lake Huron Grasshopper in the province. Additionally, it is likely that increased search efforts for the species resulted in a new population being found in 2023 at Lake Superior Provincial Park.

Recommendations

As stated in the GRS, this review of progress can be used to help identify whether adjustments to the implementation of GRS actions are needed to achieve the protection and recovery of the species. Based on progress to date, the overall direction provided in the GRS for Lake Huron Grasshopper, particularly the implementation of actions identified as high priority, should continue to guide protection and recovery of the species.

Although progress has been made on Manitoulin Island towards the actions to remove or control invasive species in Lake Huron Grasshopper habitat, to collaborate with local groups and land managers to identify candidate areas for habitat enhancement and/or restoration, and to promote local stewardship and awareness of the Lake Huron Grasshopper and its habitat, further work is required to implement these actions in other locations where Lake Huron Grasshopper is present.

While there has been much focus on the progression of other actions, further work is required to develop and implement a standardized presence/absence survey protocol, and to develop a standardized long-term monitoring protocol and schedule to assess sub-populations throughout the species range. Further work is also needed to investigate the severity and extent of known and suspected threats to Lake Huron Grasshopper and its habitat, and the effectiveness of mitigation measures for these threats. As well, efforts are required to investigate the biology and ecology of Lake Huron Grasshopper, such as interactions with other species, microhabitat requirements, the affects of changing lake levels and behaviours of the species. Collaboration with local organizations and initiatives to minimize threats to the species and its habitat should also remain a priority going forward.

Protecting and recovering Lake Huron Grasshopper will continue to be a shared responsibility that will require the involvement of many individuals, organizations and communities. Financial support for the implementation of actions may be available through the Species at Risk Stewardship Program. The government can also advise if any authorizations under the ESA or other legislation may be required to undertake a project. By working together, progress can continue to be made towards protecting and recovering Lake Huron Grasshopper in Ontario.