Reptiles and amphibians are experiencing global declines of 20 and 40 percent respectively. In Ontario, 75 percent of reptiles and 35 percent of amphibians are listed as nationally and provincially at risk. Thus, it is important to have good records of where these species are found in Ontario. This atlas presents maps of where 54 species of reptiles and amphibians have been found in Ontario from 1800 to 2019.
Further details on each species are provided in Ontario Nature's 444-page book "The Ontario Reptile and Amphibian Atlas: 2009 to 2019." This book, which was published in 2023, is available in full text online and in hard copy. Contributing authors explain the contents of the publication in a 90-minute webinar celebrating its launch. See also this StoryMap to read six stories about Ontario’s reptiles and amphibians based on data collected through the atlas.
A total of about 470,000 records on these 54 species are used to create these maps. Since the exact locations of these observations is often sensitive information, this atlas shows these records by dividing Ontario into about 11,000 10-kilometer squares and showing only the 10-kilometer square to which each observation belongs. We have recorded data on these 54 species from about 3,200 of these 11,000 squares, so there is much more data to collect. The atlas data was last updated in November 2023.
Boundaries of counties and similar entities are shown in the background of these squares. The computer files defining these areas are from Ontario's Land Information Office and contain information licenced under the Open Government Licence - Ontario. We thank Bird Studies Canada for providing the computer files defining the 10 km squares.
Ontario Nature ceased collecting data for this project in 2019. These maps only include data up to that time. We urge the public to continue to record sightings of reptiles and amphibians and submit them as described under the "Contribute Data" tab.
In publications or other research use of this data, use the following citation for this online atlas:
Ontario Nature, 2020. Ontario Reptile and Amphibian Atlas: a citizen science project to map the distribution of Ontario’s reptiles and amphibians. Ontario Nature, Ontario. Available: https://www.ontarioinsects.org/herp; Accessed: MONTH, DAY, YEAR.