Sandbanks Draft Veg Mgmt Plan - Ontario Parks

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The park staff has controlled Purple Loosestrife in the panne habitat near the Sandbanks Beach Day Use parking lot since 1990 in order to prevent its spread into this unique ecosystem. Anecdotal observations in other nearby similar natural areas suggest that Purple Loosestrife numbers eventually stabilize without control. Small test plots in which Purple Loosestrife is not removed have been established to document the true threat of this species at this site. If the results show that Purple Loosestrife is unlikely to spread into the pannes, time and resources can be devoted to controlling other species instead. • Test plots should continue to be monitored to determine the threat of Purple Loosestrife Many non-native species can exist in an area for several years before their populations increase dramatically. For this reason, park policy states that non-native tree or shrub species must not be used for landscaping or restoration. The use of non-native ornamental plants for gardening purposes near buildings should be stopped completely, or limited to species that cannot reproduce or spread in Ontario. • Many ornamental shrubs, periwinkle (myrtle), ground ivy, euphorbias, bellflower, orange day lily, and sweet violet must not be used in landscaping and will be removed where established. Sandbanks Vegetation Management Plan 21 of 28 Ontario Parks, SE Zone 2009
4.0 Vegetation Management Units and Management Prescriptions The Vegetation Management Units (VMU) described in the following tables and shown in Figure 2 indicate where specific vegetation management prescriptions and techniques will be applied. The natural communities described in section 2, combined with existing park zoning and management requirements, form the basis for the VMU designations. These VMU have been assigned with the intent to provide protection to important natural values. In development zones, the protection of natural values will be balanced with the need for access, recreational uses, and operational facilities. Areas that do not require specific management actions have not been assigned to VMU and will be managed under the general policies outlined in section 3. Zones Management Objectives Management Guidelines Vegetation Communities Comments 4.1. Beaches and Dunes • Outlet Dunes • Beach/Bar Ecosites (Natural Environment Zone) • Outlet Beach & Wellington Bay Day Use area (Development Zone) • West Lake Dunes (Nature Reserve Zone) • To maintain existing open dune, beach, and panne communities and their natural successional processes, and to restore these values where they have been degraded from past or current human impacts • To prevent further damage through the education of park visitors and the enforcement of current policies prohibiting certain activities in the dunes and on the beaches. • A complete dune management plan based on the most current scientific knowledge and research available is required to guide the management, restoration, and monitoring of the beach and dune environments in the park (see Section 8.0 for resources). • Recreational use should not be expanded in any of the dune areas until a dune management plan is completed. Efforts are needed to limit pedestrian traffic to a small number of defined trails. Laying down brush has been effective in preventing trampling at other dune sites and may be used at Sandbanks. Trails should use designs that have worked in other protected areas to limit the effects of erosion, and should not cause the destruction of any significant species. • Destabilized dunes, especially those encroaching on parking areas and other recreational facilities, will be the focus of restoration. Planting programs must be well-designed and use native stock only. Sandbanks currently has two Marram Grass nurseries 13 . • The beach-side campsites between sites 19 – 38 in Outlet Campground are causing vegetation destruction and subsequent foredune destabilization. The 1993 management plan calls for the closure of these popular sites. Until detailed guidelines are provided, the installation of wooden posts in campsites on the foredune may help to control trampling, and planting beach grass on the windward side may help restore the dunes. • Sand Dune Ecosites • Meadow Marsh Ecosites (Pannes) • A dune management strategy is currently in preparation through an agreement with Wilfrid Laurier University. • The dune management strategy addresses: Appropriate recreational uses Mitigation of impacts from existing uses Guidelines for future uses Education 4.2. Plantations • West Lake Plantation Dunes (Natural Environment Zone) • Richardson Campground (Development Zone) • To encourage succession to natural forest composition, while maintaining existing level of cover for stabilization, wildlife, and aesthetic purposes • To prevent invasion and spread of non-native tree species • A detailed prescription for renaturalizing the plantation areas and reducing fire risk will be developed with the assistance of relevant experts (Implementation Schedule B). This plan may recommend the use of prescribed burning. The prescription will address the problem of rapid die-back of trees due to Pine Shoot Beetle and other invasive non-native insects • Park staff will continue to monitor natural areas near plantations for recruitment of non-native species. Where cover of Scots Pine or Black Locust seedlings or saplings becomes substantial, young trees will be cut or girdled when possible. Cut material will be left in place. • All plantation ecosites • The large Scots Pine plantation in the West Lake Dunes sector is in poor health and has been affected by Pine Shoot Beetle. Diseased trees are dying, creating openings in the canopy and contributing organic matter to the soil; however, dieback may be occurring too quickly. 13 A Marram Grass nursery of stock from Pinery Provincial Park was established in 2 plots, encompassing approximately 0.5 ha, in the West Lake Dunes in 1989. The Pinery stock was initially obtained from Michigan. There is concern that these plants may be geneticially different from the native Sandbanks stock, and may therefore weaken the local stock through cross-breeding. There is also some concern that the West Lake Dunes nurseries are affecting dune processes, although this has not been confirmed (Brownell 1999). A nursery also exists on the tile bed next to the park store – these plants are used for restoration in the Outlet Dunes area. Although the history of this particular nursery is unclear, it is unlikely to be Pinery stock (Y. Bree, pers. comm.) Sandbanks Vegetation Management Plan 22 of 28 Ontario Parks, SE Zone 2009
Page 1 and 2: Sandbanks Vegetation Management Pla
Page 4 and 5: Summary of Key Management Recommend
Page 6 and 7: 1.0 Introduction This vegetation st
Page 8 and 9: Outlet Sector and the former “sug
Page 10 and 11: 2.0 Vegetation Communities - Descri
Page 12 and 13: sector receive much heavier visitat
Page 14 and 15: Shallow Marsh Ecosites A few small
Page 16 and 17: 2.5. Plantations The current versio
Page 18 and 19: Hazardous Trees and Windthrows Safe
Page 20 and 21: Prescribed burning is the deliberat
Page 22 and 23: Table 3.1. Provincially rare specie
Page 24 and 25: disturbances in accordance with the
Page 28 and 29: Zones Management Objectives Managem
Page 30 and 31: 6.0 Funding/Linkages The projects i
Page 32 and 33: Norris, T. and D. Cuddy. 1990. An E
Page 34 and 35: APPENDIX A - Hazardous Tree Treatme
Page 36 and 37: IMPLEMENTATION SCHEDULE B - Plantat
Page 38 and 39: IMPLEMENTATION SCHEDULE B - Plantat
Page 40 and 41: APPENDIX D - Invasive Species Monit
Page 42 and 43: APPENDIX E - Invasive Species Infor
Page 52 and 53: APPENDIX F - Woodlands Monitoring P
Page 58 and 59: IMPLEMENTATION SCHEDULE G - Restora
Page 66 and 67: APPENDIX H - Sandbanks Species List
Page 72: APPENDIX H - Sandbanks Species List

Sandbanks Draft Veg Mgmt Plan - Ontario Parks

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