Editing Point Pelee National Park (section)

==Geography==
[[File:Pelee Island map.png|thumb|250px|Pelee Island location]]
Located in the western parts of the [[St. Lawrence Lowlands]], the park is a sandspit formation that extends {{convert|15|km|mi}} into Lake Erie and is up to {{convert|70|m|ft}} thick.<ref name = TCE /> With an area of only {{convert|1564|ha}}, it is Canada's smallest national park.<ref name = PC2010 /><ref name = PRFO /> Most of the park (about {{convert|1113|ha}} or 70% of the park consists of marsh, dominated by [[cattails]] and ponds although forested areas make up a significant portion of the park, covering about 21% of the park.<ref name = PC2010 /><ref name = wetland /><ref name = PRFO>{{cite web | url = http://casiopa.mediamouse.ca/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/PRFO-1998-Proceedings-p225-238-Crowe-Ptacek-McCrea-Huddart-Longstaffe-Coakley-Mayer-Thompson-Shikaze.pdf | title = An Overview of Environment Canada's Groundwater Research Activities at Point Pelee National Park, Ontario | work = Parks and Protected Areas Research in Ontario | year = 1998 | pages = 225–238 | access-date = 13 April 2013 | archive-date = 4 March 2016 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160304102414/http://casiopa.mediamouse.ca/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/PRFO-1998-Proceedings-p225-238-Crowe-Ptacek-McCrea-Huddart-Longstaffe-Coakley-Mayer-Thompson-Shikaze.pdf | url-status = dead }}</ref> This sandspit is dominated by [[till plain]]s which were formed during the last ice age during the advance and retreat of the Wisconsonian ice<ref name = wetland /> on a submerged limestone ridge. As the glacier melted and retreated northward, the Lake Erie basin began to fill with water. The movement of sediments altered the coastline, resulting in the present-day shape of Point Pelee.<ref name = PRFO /> Subsequently, over the centuries, a thin but rich soil has formed.<ref name = TCE /> Mineral soils in the park were mapped as well to rapidly drained Eastport sand, which has insignificant profile development.<ref>{{cite web |title=Soil Survey of Essex County |url=http://sis.agr.gc.ca/cansis/publications/surveys/on/on11/on11_report.pdf |publisher=Dominion Department of Agriculture and The Ontario Agricultural College |page=54|access-date=26 November 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130601041548/http://sis.agr.gc.ca/cansis/publications/surveys/on/on11/on11_report.pdf |archive-date=1 June 2013 |date=1949}}</ref> The marshes began to form about 3,200 years ago, based on carbon dating.<ref name = PRFO /> This was also the same time when the sands began to deposit, forming the present day [[shoal|barriers]].<ref name = PRFO /> The marsh has a closed drainage system owing to the separation of it by two barriers along the east and west side, which usually prevents the free exchange of water.<ref name = wetland /><ref name = PRFO /> However, when lake levels are higher, the marsh water levels fluctuate with the lake's water levels.<ref name = wetland /> The distinctive triangular shape at the southern tip of Point Pelee is caused by the convergence of these two barriers (this spit or tip is the southernmost point of the Canadian mainland).<ref name = PRFO /> Middle Island, which is located south of the Point Pelee peninsula has an area of approximately {{convert|18.5|ha}} and is the [[Extreme points of Canada|southernmost point in Canada]].<ref name = PC2010 /> Virtually all of Middle Island is forested.

===Flora and fauna===
[[File:Hirundo rustica PP.jpg|thumb|right|[[Barn swallow]]s (''Hirundo rustica'') at Point Pelee National Park in May 2010]]
Owing to its southernly location and the moderating effects of Lake Erie, the climate in the park is slightly warmer than the rest of Canada<ref name = TCE /> and many [[Carolinian forest|Carolinian]] faunal species, which are rare in Canada are located here.<ref name = wetland /> Examples include the [[Pantherophis gloydi|fox snake]] and the [[Eumeces fasciatus|five-lined skink]].<ref name = TCE /> Because of its location at the crossroads of two major migration flyways, about 347–360 different species of migratory birds have been recorded in the park and more than 100 species stay there for breeding.<ref name = wetland /><ref name = TCE /> This total includes 102 waterfowl and shorebird species.<ref name = wetland /> Dominic Couzen's ''Top 100 Birding Sites of the World'' lists Point Pelee as #66.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Top 100 Birding Sites of the World|last=Couzens|first=Dominic|publisher=New Holland Publishers Ltd|year=2008|isbn=978-1847731098|location=London|pages=310}}</ref> [[Northeastern coyote|Coyotes]] are also present within this park.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Dhaliwal |first1=Arvind |title=Point Pelee National Park - Animals |url=https://pointpeleenationalpark5.weebly.com/animals.html |access-date=26 November 2018}}</ref> Many Carolinian floral species that are rare in Canada occur within the park boundaries. Point Pelee has six different habitats: beach, cedar, savanna, dry forest, wet forest, and freshwater marsh.<ref>{{Cite book|title=National Geographic Guide to the National Parks of Canada|publisher=National Geographic Partners|year=2017|isbn=978-1-4262-1756-2|pages=153}}</ref> The park contains more than 750 native plant species,<ref name = PC2010 /> of these 8 species are considered to be rare, endangered or threatened in Canada.<ref name = wetland /> Nearby Point Pelee is Middle Island which is designated provincially as an [[Area of Natural and Scientific Interest]] (ANSI) due to its unique and rare assemblages of plants and animals.<ref name = PC2010 /> Middle Island is home to plants and animals that are characteristic of the Carolinian ecozone of which nine species are at risk.<ref name = PC2010 /> The diversity of vegetation in the marsh is the highest along the edge of the marsh ponds and in the transitional zones between the terrestrial environments and the marsh.<ref name = wetland /> Four different vegetation communities dominate in the marsh.