Integration of Tallgrass Communities in Open Space Systems of Southern Ontario Municipalities: Development of a Site Selection Process
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University of Calgary PRISM: University of Calgary's Digital Repository Graduate Studies Legacy Theses 2000 Integration of tallgrass communities in open space systems of southern Ontario municipalities: Development of a site selection process Long, Krista Long, K. (2000). Integration of tallgrass communities in open space systems of southern Ontario municipalities: Development of a site selection process (Unpublished master's thesis). University of Calgary, Calgary, AB. doi:10.11575/PRISM/15361 http://hdl.handle.net/1880/41221 master thesis University of Calgary graduate students retain copyright ownership and moral rights for their thesis. You may use this material in any way that is permitted by the Copyright Act or through licensing that has been assigned to the document. For uses that are not allowable under copyright legislation or licensing, you are required to seek permission. Downloaded from PRISM: https://prism.ucalgary.ca The University of Calgary Integration of Tallgrass Communities in Open Space Systems of Southern Ontario Municipalities: Development of a Site Selection Process By Krista Long A Master's Degree Project submitted to the Faculty of Environmental Design in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master's of Environmental Design (Environmental Science) Faculty of Environmental Design The University of Calgary Calgary, Alberta March 2000 Q Krista D. Long 2000 National Library BibliotMque nationale 1+1 .Canada du Canada Acquisitions and Acquisitions et Bibliographic Services services bibliographiques 395 Wellington Street 395. rue Wellington OltawaON KlAW -warn K1AW Canada CaMde v~mvmwhma Our me Norre rolk.ncr The author has granted a non- L'auteur a accorde une licence non exclusive licence allowing the exclusive pennettant a la National Library of Canada to Bibliotheque nationale du Canada de reproduce, loan, distribute or sell reproduke, pr&ter,distn'buer ou copies of this thesis in microform, vendre des copies de cette these sous paper or electronic formats. la forme de microfichelfilm, de reproduction sur papier ou sur format electronique . The author retains ownership of the L'auteur conserve la propriete du copyright in this thesis. Neither the droit d'auteur qui protege cette these. thesis nor substantial extracts fiom it Ni la these ni des extraits substantiels may be printed or otherwise de ceIle-ci ne doivent &e imprimes reproduced without the author's ou autrement reproduits sans son permission. autorisation. Integration of Tallgrass Communities in Open Space Systems of Southern Ontario Municipalities: Development of a Site Selection Process By Krista Long Rich Revel. Supervisor March 2000 Submitted in partial fillfiIlrnent of the requirements for the degree of Master's of Environmental Design (Environmental Science) Tallgrass prairie and oak savanna communities occupied approximately 800 km2to 2000 km' of southern Ontario prior to European settlement: now less than 3% or 21 km' remains. These communities are some of the most endangered ecosystems in Canada, at one time forming part of a vast system of tallgrass prairie and oak savanna communities that formed a rough triangle extending north into southern Manitoba, south into northeastern Texas. and east into Indiana. southern Michigan and Ontario. The destruction of tallgrass prairie and oak savanna communities has been a result of urban development. agriculture. pollution and mismanagement. Remaining vestiges of tallgrass prairie and oak savanna occur in isolated patches. mostly less than 2 hectares in size. Many of these remnants occur in and around the open and abandoned spaces within the highly urbanized landscape of southern Ontario and face the risk of continued destruction or damage from uninformed planning decisions. Interest is growing in southern Ontario to preserve and restore these endangered communities as they are becoming recognized as important elements of southern Ontario's natural heritage. The Natural Heritage Information Centre has identified provincially significant tallgrass prairie and savanna remnants for inclusion in a system of provincially recognized and protected areas of natural and scientific interest (AN SIs). Municipalities have an important role to play in the preservation and restoration of these communities as well. The identification and creation of a system of focally significant sites for the presenation and re-creation of tallgrass prairie and savanna communities can work with the provincially established sites to preserve and recover this vanishing natural heritage. Urban open space areas may provide the forum for this to happen if the scope and definition of urban open space areas is broadened and the planning and use of those areas is adapted to incorporate policies and by-la~vsfor the preservation and re-creation of tallgrass prairie and oak savanna communities. A shift has been occurring over the years to broaden the scope of open space planning, from its traditional role of identieing areas for recreational use to incorporating natural areas, utility corridors. and transitional use areas within its breadth, These changes can be expanded to include land-use designations identifying remnant tallgrass communities for protection and areas where tallgrass communities can be restored and/or re-created. This project outlines a process for identieing and selecting sites for the preservation. restoration andor re-creation of tallgrass communities and provides recommendations for integrating that process into the existing open space planning framework. It also provides general recommendations for the implementation of selected sites for restoring and/or re-creating tallgrass communities and the selection of species for use on those sites. The site selection process involves two stages: landscape analysis and site prioritization. Four keg steps have been identified within these stages including: i) The identification of existing tallpass remnants to form the basis of a system of preserved tallgrass communities; ii) The identification of potentially compatible land-use areas. based on a set of identified Iand-use criteria. for the restoration of tallgrass communities: iii) The selection of sites for restoring andor re-creating tallps communities based on bio- physical suitability of the selected sites: and iv) The prioritization of those sites for implemention in a system of tailgrass communities. The identification and designation of selected sites should form part of a greenspace masterplan for the municipality and function as a layer in the land-use planning process that guides planning and development decisions. To be successful at guiding land-use planning decisions, changes will need to be implemented \%pithinmunicipal official plans and planning by-laws that reflect the goal of achieving a system of preserved and re-created tallgrass communities and address the needs of those communities uithin the fabric of urban open space areas. Recommendations have been provided that address this issue within the context of municipal official plans, zoning by-laws and open space masterplans. The site selection process. together with the recommendations. will form a coordinated strategy for integrating and maintaining a system of tallgrass communities within the open space systems of southern Ontario municipalities. Key Words: tallgrass communities. natural heritage. preservation, restoration. re-creation. integration. urban open space areas. municipal land-use planning, site selection process Acknowledgements This project was possible with the help of many people. I would like to thank Kim Delaney. Wayne MacMillan. Lindsay Rodger. Allen Woodliffe, Lloyd Burridge, Paul Pratt. Faye tangmaid. Corrine Goldrup. Maureen Sinclair, Don Radford. Wasyl Bakowsky. tarry Harder and all the people from Ontario and beyond involved in the expert consultation and information collection stage of this project. IVithout their insight and knowledge this project would not have been possible. Extra thanks to Wayne blacbt illan for reviewing and providing comments on the final drafi and Lindsay Rodger for her support. enthusiasm and words of wisdom throughout the development and review of this research, I would also like to thank Rich Revel who's suppon and encouragement began with his infamous ecoloa course and has continued throughout this project. Thanks for everything. Acknow.ledgements are also given to the Faculty of Environmental Design for providing funding for this research and to Dr. Michael Quinn for his role as my academic advisor during my stay at EVDS. The acknow.Iedgernents would not be complete without recognizing my family and friends. I have had the opponuni~-to make some w-onderful friends in Calgary and share our ideas about the differences we belie\.e each of us can make. My work and my life has been forever shaped by each one of you. Thanks. And last. but definitely not least - my family. Much thanks to Watly and Miriam for your support and encouragement: Ron for being my photographer and ever willing travel companion; Trish for setting the esampIe: and Jim. for your patience and shared enthusiasm for learning. This is for each of you. Abstract .......................................................................................... i ... Acknowledgements .................................................................................................. 111 Table of Contents ...................................................................................................... v ... List of Tables