Willow Bunch Lake (11501)
Canada, North America
Site overview
KBA status: confirmed
Global KBA criteria: D1a
Year of last assessment: 2008
National site name: Willow Bunch Lake
Central coordinates: Latitude: 49.4407, Longitude: -105.4637
System: freshwater, terrestrial
Elevation (m): 665 to 686
Area of KBA (km2): 152.13934
Protected area coverage (%): 9.48
KBA classification: Global
Legacy site: Yes
Site details
Site description: Willowbunch Lake is located in the Missouri Coteau region of Saskatchewan, 8 km north of the town of Willowbunch. It is a 30 km long and 1-2 km wide saline lake. Extensive mudflats usually develop at the east and west ends of the lake in the early summer, providing substantial Piping Plover habitat. Much of the land immediately adjacent to the lake is native prairie. Many intermittent creeks drain into Willowbunch Lake from the surrounding uplands, many of which contain steep coulees. Most of the outlying and less rugged areas have been converted to agriculture.
Rationale for qualifying as KBA: This site qualifies as a Key Biodiversity Area of international significance that meets the thresholds for at least one criterion described in the Global Standard for the Identification of KBAs.
Additional biodiversity: breeding pairs (124 plovers in total) were recorded at Willowbunch Lake. This total represents 2.1% of the worlds Piping Plover population, a population that has been identified as globally vulnerable. In Canada, Piping Plovers are designated as nationally endangered. The nesting population at this site represents about 7.4% of the Canadian Northern Great Plains population; and in 1996 it was one of the three largest breeding concentrations in the Canadian prairies (the other two being Chaplin Lake and Big Quill Lake, both of which have also been identified as IBAs). Substantial numbers of Piping Plovers were also recorded at this site during the 1991 International census, when 16 pairs were observed.
Delineation rationale: 2011-06-06 (BL Secretariat): site area updated from 2400 ha to 15000 ha, following GIS analysis of site polygon by Bird Studies Canada (J. Moore & S. Marquez in litt. 2009).
Habitats
Land use: agriculture | rangeland/pastureland
| IUCN Habitat | Coverage % | Habitat detail |
|---|---|---|
| Wetlands(Inland) | 100 |