Bruce Trail Guide to Exploring the Forests of the Niagara Escarpment Bruce Trail & Niagara Escarpment Forests Contents Map: Exploring Forests along the Bruce Trail . 3 Walking under the cool shade of a hundred foot high forest canopy Forest Regions . 5 is one of the many delights of the Bruce Trail. In fact, on almost Carolinian Forests . 7 any hike along the Bruce Trail, you will find yourself in a forest. Coniferous, Deciduous & Mixed Forests . 9 Treed Talus & Cliffs . 11 To the observant hiker, the wonderful treed oases of the Niagara Forest Layers . 13 Escarpment are a joy to explore. May this booklet help you become Forest Succession . 15 more familiar with diversity of forest life along the Bruce Trail. Stewarding Escarpment Forests . 17 Common Escarpment Trees . 21 Making the most of your forest hike: DECIDUOUS American Beech (Fagus grandifolia) . 25 • Take this booklet with you for handy reference. Black Walnut (Juglans nigra) . 27 Butternut (Juglans cinerea) . 29 • Slow down and look beyond your boots. There is much to see Northern Red Oak (Quercus rubra) . 31 at every level of the forest. Sugar Maple (Acer saccharum) . 33 • Pick up a trail map at brucetrail.org Trembling Aspen (Populus tremuloides) . 35 White Ash (Fraxinus americana) . 37 • Head out on an organized Bruce Trail hike. White Oak (Quercus alba) . 39 • Seek out a Bruce Trail Heritage Tree (pg. 59-60). White Birch (Betula papyrifera) . 41 DECIDUOUS / CAROLINIAN Sassafras (Sassafras albidum) . 43 Shagbark Hickory (Carya ovata) . 45 Tulip Tree (Liriodendron tulipifera) . 47 CONIFERS Balsam Fir (Abies balsamea) . 49 Eastern Hemlock (Tsuga canadensis) . 51 Eastern White Cedar (Thuja occidentalis) . 53 Eastern White Pine (Pinus strobus) . 55 White Spruce (Picea glauca) . 57 Heritage Tree Scavenger Hunt . 59 Resources . 61 1 Exploring the Forests of the Niagara Escarpment 2 3 Exploring Forests Along the Bruce Trail The Niagara Escarpment is a massive forested ridge of ancient dolostone stretching through southern Ontario from Niagara to Tobermory. The Bruce Trail runs along its length for over 885 km, making it the oldest and longest public footpath in Canada and the best way to explore the Escarpment’s treasures. The Bruce Trail Conservancy (BTC) protects and stewards over 7,600 acres of land on the Niagara Escarpment as part of its mission to establish a conservation corridor along the Niagara Escarpment. Roughly 77% of that protected land is forest habitat. This map shows just a few of the many forest types you can explore on your next trip along the Bruce Trail. Find out more about each of these forest types and the trees that call them home in the pages to follow. For details of the locations highlighted in this guide, visit brucetrail.org or call 1.800.665.4453 4 Forest Regions of the Niagara Escarpment The Niagara Escarpment runs through two major forest regions in Ontario: Carolinian (or Deciduous) Forest Region The Carolinian Forest Region reaches its northern limit in Ontario at an imaginary line running between Grand Bend and Toronto. Although it covers less than 1 percent of Canada’s land mass, the region is now home to more than 25% of Canada’s population. In this warm region, the forest life is the most diverse in Ontario. A number of nationally rare species of mammals, birds, plants and insects can be found here. On the Bruce Trail, you hike in this forest region from Queenston to Burlington. Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Forest Region From the Bruce Peninsula south to Burlington, most of the Niagara Escarpment is in this region. It is a transition zone between the Carolinian Region to the south, and the colder Boreal Region farther north and as such supports a mixture of landscapes and plant and animal species. On the Bruce Trail, you hike in this forest region from Burlington to Tobermory. 5 Exploring the Forests of the Niagara Escarpment 6 Carolinian Forests These amazingly diverse deciduous forests are unique in Canada. Named for North & South Carolina, where similar forests are more common, only a small portion of this forest region reaches into Canada. Even though the Carolinian zone is small compared with other Canadian vegetation zones, it boasts: 1) More flora and fauna species than any other ecosystem in Canada, including; • 70 species of trees • 64 species of ferns • 400 species of bird 2) One-third of the rare, threatened and endangered species found in all of Canada, including forest species like: Tulip Tree, Pawpaw, Blue Ash, and the Kentucky Coffee-Tree Carolinian Forest Species • Trees: Tulip Tree, Sassafras, Shagbark Hickory • Shrubs & small trees: Flowering Dogwood, Spicebush • Bird: Hooded Warbler, Acadian Flycatcher • Mammals: Southern Flying Squirrel, Opossum Carolinian forests on the Bruce Trail G Niagara-on-the-Lake Easement 7 Exploring the Forests of the Niagara Escarpment 8 Coniferous Forests: Needles & Cones These forests are dominated by needle-bearing, cone-producing trees like White Cedar, White Pine or White Spruce. Coniferous forests on the Bruce Trail LHemlock Ridges LBoyne River School LMadill-Sattler LGutzmer-Wiese Deciduous Forests: Leaves & Flowers The canopies of these forests are formed by broadleaf trees that grow flowers and lose their leaves during the winter months. Common associated species: Sugar Maple-Beech; Oak-Maple- Hickory; Birch-Aspen Deciduous forests on the Bruce Trail G Burlington Easement G McNally G Pollock G Dinedune-Metheral Mixed Forests: A bit of everything Most of the forests you’ll walk through on the Bruce Trail are Mixed forests, so called because they have the right conditions to support a mixture of species from Coniferous and Deciduous forests. Mixed forests on the Bruce Trail I McKean I Hammer 9 Exploring the Forests of the Niagara Escarpment 10 Talus: Trees Among the Rocks Rare vegetation communities exist among the jumble of rocks called Talus at the base of the Escarpment’s cliff faces. Sugar Maple and White Cedar each form a “Treed Talus” community. Treed Talus on the Bruce Trail I Nelles Estates I Hunt I Malcolm Bluff Shores Cliffs: Forests Clinging to the Edge Above the rocky Talus slope, the oldest trees in eastern North America can be found clinging to the cliff face. The stunted White Cedars (pg. 53) that cling to the Escarpment face endure harsh conditions that prevent most other species from growing. Although they may not look it, some of these ancient trees are well over 1000 years old. Cliff forests on the Bruce Trail I Boundary Bluffs Although not technically forests because of the sparse canopy, treed talus and cliff communities are important and rare treed habitats on the Niagara Escarpment. 11 Exploring the Forests of the Niagara Escarpment 12 Forest Layers: Look up down and all around! Each layer of the forest from the tallest tree to the soil beneath your feet is filled with life. All the layers work together in a balanced partnership between plants, animals and habitat. Canopy: These are the tallest trees in the forest, receiving direct sunlight, and affecting much of what goes on below. Forests are often described by the trees that form the canopy. Common associated canopy trees: Sugar Maple-Beech; Oak-Hickory; Hemlock-Maple. Understory: Here young trees waiting for their chance to pop up into the canopy. They are the shade-tolerant plants that will form the future forest here. Shrub: These are the shrubs and small trees that live beneath the shade of the trees above. Ground: Our eyes are often drawn to this layer of wildflowers, grasses, ferns, mosses and lichen at our feet. Here we also find the nuts, cones, seeds and berries of the plants above. Soil: Forest recycling occurs here. Fungi, insects, bacteria, and earthworms are among the many organisms that break down organic material and provide nutrients to the forest layers above. 13 Exploring the Forests of the Niagara Escarpment 14 Forest Succession: Change over time In the natural growth of a forest, species replace each other over time through a process called succession. Shrub Stage: Un-mown fields can be quickly colonized by “Pioneer Species”, sun-loving shrubs and trees like Trembling Aspen and White Birch that grow quickly but have a short lifespan. Young Forest: Pioneer tree species create shade and a moister environment for the trees of a future forest growing in the understory. There are still plenty of gaps in the canopy. Mature Forest: Beneath the canopy created by the mixed woods, moderately shade-tolerant trees become established like Ashes, Oaks and Hickories. Climax Forest: The cycle of succession slows when the most shade-tolerant trees – like Sugar Maple, American Beech, Eastern Hemlock – are able to become established. Seedlings of these species thrive in the shade of their parents. Climax forests are relatively stable communities that will remain as such until a disturbance like fire, a falling tree, or human development begins succession anew. Early Successional Forests on the Bruce Trail N Springle N Valis Climax Forests on the Bruce Trail N Harshman 15 Exploring the Forests of the Niagara Escarpment 16 Stewarding Escarpment Forests The Bruce Trail Conservancy (BTC) protects and stewards over 5,900 acres of forest along the Niagara Escarpment by: 1) Creating Corridors As one of Ontario’s largest land trusts, the BTC purchases land in its mission to establish a conservation corridor for Niagara Escarpment flora and fauna that can be explored using the Bruce Trail. Conservation corridors provide uninterrupted areas of habitat to allow dispersal of plants, and safe access to food, shelter and breeding areas for wildlife. 2) Planting Trees To connect adjacent forests or increase the size of existing ones, the BTC has planted over 22,000 native trees on BTC-managed land since 2000. 3) Restoring Plantations Conifer tree plantations are stands of a single tree species, planted in rows.