Legacy of a lost lake - PDF Free Download

Legacy of a lost lake Natural history and conservation in the Lake Iroquois Plain Mark Stabb Central Ontario Program Director Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC) May 2014

Nature Conservancy of Canada National not-for for-profit private land conservation organization Founded in 1962 Protected >2.6 million acres (765,000 hectares) across Canada With lots of help Thank you.

Legacy of a lost lake Chapter in Great Lakes history Influence on habitats and settlement Conservation stories and legacy Conservation Targets and Priorities

Ideas? Questions?

Legacy of a lost lake

The Trent Embayment

Iroquois Its dammed history Harry Fenn 1893

What s s so special about the Lake Iroquois Plain? During the past two years the increase in building operations in Toronto has caused the opening of a number of sand and gravel pits in beach deposits and the finding of fossils in some of them has made it worth while to give the Iroquois shore more careful study than it has hitherto received. A.P. Coleman 1898

What s s so special about the Lake Iroquois Plain? Top Federal Priorities for Biodiversity Conservation in the Mixedwood Plain Iroquois Plain Napanee Plain Lake Erie Spits Huron Fringe St. Clair Clay Plains Bryan et al. 2011

First Nation management from glaciers to Governor Simcoe Hunter-gatherer communities Iroquois Homeland Large Huron and Neutral settlements Significant modifications for agriculture For firewood and game

Yonge Street - 1795

Toronto - 1834

Toronto - 1834 Arthur Cox 1875

Discovering the lost lake Ancient shoreline identified Thomas Roy, civil engineer Charles Lyell

Discovering the lost lake Roy s s paper read by Lyell in London in 1837; toured with Roy in 1842 Charles Lyell

Discovering the lost lake Named by geologist J.W. Spencer 1882 After the Indian confederation who used it as a trail J.W. Spencer

Discovering the lost lake Reinforced by geologist G.K. Gilbert 1887 A chapter in the history of Lake Ontario G.K. Gilbert J.W. Spencer

Discovering the lost lake History unravelled by geologist and professor Arthur Philemon (A.P.) Coleman (1899)

Discovering the lost lake

Iroquois legacy on the land

Discovering the lost lake A. P. Coleman 1899

Other land marks

Iroquois legacy on the land Shore bluff and cliffs Gravel beaches, spits, bars and islands

Iroquois legacy on the land Sand plain Clay plain

Toronto - 1834 Arthur Cox 1875

Iroquois legacy on the land Davenport Ridge Spadina Ave. and Road Ishpadinaa - "high hill or sudden rise in the land"

Iroquois legacy on the land

Iroquois legacy on the land Casa Loma. Photo: TripAdvisor

Iroquois legacy on the land

Nick Eyles, U. of T. Lake Iroquois shoreline and beaches became a significant source of sand and gravel Gravel pit - Homer Watson 1903

Iroquois Plain

iroquois Cootes Paradise Burlington Heights Source: Karrow et al. 1961

Iroquois legacy on the land

Niagara s Benches Source: Brock University Dept of Geography

Niagara s Benches Source: VQA Ontario

http://www.galafilm.com/1812/e/events/q ueen_iroq.html

natural heritage studies

Ideas? Questions?

Rome Sand Plain

Trent Embayment

The Trent Embayment

Recognized in natural heritage studies Sager Conservation Area, Lower Trent Conservation

The Trent Embayment

Iroquois legacy on the land Groundwater resources Thousands of wells Groundwater discharge Stream refreshment

Iroquois legacy on the land Wetlands Wildlife habitat Ecological corridors

Iroquois legacy on the land Sand and clay plain Gravel beaches, spits and bars 25 m 60 m shore bluff and cliff Scarborough Bluffs 100 m

Shoreline recognized in natural heritage and planning studies

Shoreline recognized in Greenbelt Plan

NCC and Lake Ontario

A Conservation Legacy for the Lake Iroquois Plain

Coastal Wetlands Second Marsh Rattray Marsh Credit Valley Conservation Cranberry Marsh, Central Lake Ontario Conservation Authority

NCC Nature Reserves Willenroth Woods (Brighton) Donated for conservation by the late Arnold Boes

Distinctive Coastal Habitats Sand dunes Beaches Colonial bird nesting sites

Distinctive Coastal Habitats Sand dunes Beaches Colonial bird nesting sites Bond Head Bluffs Area of Natural and Scientific Interest, Durham Region

Iroquois ecodistricts

Migratory bird stopover habitat

The Trent Embayment Inland Wetlands Murray Marsh

NCC Nature Reserves Mary West donation Campbellford

Migratory bird stopover habitat

Migratory bird stopover study Expert birder/volunteers Surveyed patches of woodland habitat Shoreline to 60+ km inland Spring and fall Forested, urban, agricultural landscapes

Migratory bird stopover habitat More abundant with greater woody cover and patches of woody cover close to lake Concentrated in isolated patches near urban areas and agricultural areas. Parks and other small islands of habitat close to Lake Ontario were more heavily used than those far from the shoreline.

Iroquois Plain

iroquois ther eis now a dawn of light upon the theory and origin of the great lakes of north america science 1888 jw spencer The southern part of the park was flooded between 12,500 and 12,000 years ago by Lake Iroquois, an ice-dammed, ancestral Lake Ontario that had water levels up to 60 metres above present lake levels. The old Lake Iroquois shoreline passes through the Metro Toronto Zoo and the Beare Road landfill. Most of the shoreline has been removed by aggregate extraction or covered by landfill. The shoreline consisted of shingle beaches, sandy bays and a

Iroquois plain stats Barrier beaches bronte credit etobicok creek humber done sand and gravel worked out now Slightly sloping plain sands Proximity to lake milder climate

Iroquois plain stats Toronto harboaur in natural state protected by toronot island bar of sand derived from undercutting of schaborough bluffs Old beach, steep bluff 75 ft at casa loma Don umber cut to original lake base levels sand and gravel bars

iroquois Scarbnorough bluffs 350 ft Sands and deposits below the original shore Now well drained cedaer thicket Loam soils good for ag apples near newcastle Iroquois lake plain flat building sites East of newcastle drumlins were islands in the lake sandy areas were outlier of tobacco belt North along 401 high shoreline baltimorearea

Trent embayment undundated bay with many islands Wave wahed hilssides X people now live in the iroquois plain most densely populated? Old lake plain first settled Easy grades easy connections to settlements markets along th elake Specialty agriculture climate and favourable lake based soils Old sandbars, offshore aprons of sand important acquifers for farms etc. garvel bars sourc of road metlan building Clays of old lake bed manufacturing brick iroquois

Iroquois ecodistricts Oshawa cobourg 6e-13 7e-4 The Town ofwhitby recently adopted a Grimsby 7E-3 secondary plan for the Taunton North area that gives an exemplary 3 slides maps and overview level of attention to the protection of the lake Iroquois shoreline aquifer and wildlife Protected areas lynde shores, habitats. Based on an environmental cranberry marsh, rattray marsh, audit, the plan designates areas that are second marsh, too sensitive to develop, areas that require Inland/shore woods an environmental impact study, and areas that can be Darlington pp, bronte creek, developed without further study. thicksons woods, NCC willenroth woods Better farmland on varved silts and clays deposited on lake bottom

Iroquois Plain features Beaches, ridges, bluffs earth science interest benefits to groundwater etc Coastal wetlands Iroquois plain terrestrials and wetlands migratory bird stopover habitat Shore bluff wetlands/seeps significant? Water source for a number of small watersheds CLOCA says the Iroquois Beach area (important for its groundwater recharge and discharge functions, significant cedar swamp wetlands and minimally disturbed valley lands),

Migratory bird stopover habitat

Visiting the Iroquois Plain Waterfront Trail Bronte Creek and Darlington Provincial Parks Darlington Provincial Park

Visiting the Iroquois Plain Waterfront Trail Bronte Creek and Darlington Provincial Parks Bronte Creek Provincial Park

Visiting the Iroquois Plain Conservation Areas Municipal Parks Seaton Trail, Pickering

Visiting the Iroquois Plain Land Trust properties Cora s s Woods

Visiting the Iroquois Shoreline Conservation Areas Municipal Parks Iroquois Shoreline Hawkwatch Site Heber Down Conservation Area, Brooklin Central Lake Ontario Conservation Authority

Visitingthe theiroquois IroquoisShoreline Plain Visiting Conservation Areas Municipal Parks Stephen s Gulch, Barrier beach Central Lake Ontario Conservation Authority Ontario Region

Visiting the Iroquois Shoreline Riverwood Park City of Mississauga

Visiting the Iroquois Shoreline Insert your favourite Credit Valley spots here!!

Migratory stopover studies Large exodus from forest fragments not from urban areas, or agricultural areas Concentration areas were in areas of higher forest cover but not necessarily large forest blocks Birds select forests near water and avoid ag and urban areas Preserving islands of natural habitat in developed and agricultural landscapes should be a priority for conservation plans addressing the stopover requirements of migratory land birds. bonter et al 2008 SAR recovery strategies and migratory bird habitatlake Iroquois Shoreline The Lake Iroquois Shoreline is an ancient geological landform that was formed by post-glacial Lake Iroquois. Distinctive features of the Lake Iroquois Shoreline are its extensive sand and gravel deposits. It is the headwaters for many smaller creeks and is characterized by a high water table, which makes this area a significant groundwater resource. The sand deposits store and then discharge cool water to the creeks. Between the south edge of the moraine and the present urban

Priority: Coastal wetlands

Ideas? Questions? as%

Ideas? Questions?

The Trent Embayment