Figure 10: natural heritage system18
The Old Lincoln Street Woodlot is a 58 hectare sitecharacterized by a slough-ridge terrain over Welland claysoils. This woodlot acts as a water storage and recharge areafor tributaries of Tee Creek. The vegetation species found atthis site consists mainly of red and black maple; Americanbeech; swamp white, red, pin and white oak; shagbark hickory;and white elm. Other species found in this woodlot include,for example, basswood; blue beech; trembling and largetoothaspen; serviceberry; domestic apple; and alternate-leaveddogwood. Nationally and provincially rare species at this siteinclude black gum, black oak, pin oak and swamp white oak.Located in <strong>Niagara</strong> Falls, the Willoughby Drive Woodlotis a 28 hectare woodlot situated on flat terrain with Wellandclay soils. During field work in 1980 there was virtually nounderstory, which could mean that this site floods in the spring,or there is little revegetation of the canopy. Canopy speciespresent at this site include, for example, swamp white, pin,black, red and white oak; American beech; silver, black, sugarand red maple; basswood; red, black and white ash; shagbarkand pignut hickory and willow. Nationally and provincially rarespecies recorded at this site include pin oak, swamp white oak,pignut hickory and black oak.Bayers Creek Bush is a 50 hectare woodlot containing a flatwetland with intermittent eutrophic ponds and streams. BayersCreek borders the southern edge of the woodlot. The dominantvegetation throughout the woodlot includes black and silvermaple; swamp white, white and pin oak; slippery, rock andwhite elm; shagbark and pignut hickory; red and white ash;basswood; black cherry; tupelo; hop-hornbeam; witch hazel aswell as others.The Waverly Woodlot is a 70 hectare woodlot containinga low lying wetland. Several small creeks that drain tothe <strong>Niagara</strong> River are found throughout the woodlot. Thedominant vegetation is red maple; slippery and white elm;and red and pin oak. Other species occupying the site include,for example, sugar, black and silver maple; black, red and whiteash; swamp white oak; basswood; shagbark hickory, and blackcherry. The understory vegetation consists of, for example,serviceberry, common elder and dogwood. Rare species found atthis site include the provincially rare pin oak and the nationallyand provincially rare swamp white oak.Upper’s Woodlot straddles the border of Tee Creek andBlack Creek subwatersheds. The 81 hectare site has been dividedinto 3 sections by agricultural fields and Troup and Neff Roads.The site has a slough-ridge terrain on poorly drained clay soils.The dominant vegetation throughout the woodlots includeamerican beech, silver, red and black maple, blue-beech andpin oak. Several other species are also present including forexample, shagbark hickory, trembling aspen, peach-leaf willowand cottonwood, as well as several others.Bill’s Bush sits on the border of Tee Creek and Lyons CreekDrain subwatersheds. This 166 hectare natural area is alsodivided into 3 sections and consists of open marshes and aslough-ridge terrain. Throughout the 3 sections shagbarkhickory, red and pin oak, white elm, as well as several otherspecies can be found. In addition the endangered easternflowering dogwood and butternut walnut have been noted.Conservation AreasWilloughby Marsh Conservation AreaThe Willoughby Marsh Conservation Area protects 232 hectaresof marsh and forest habitat. The most common plant speciesat this site include red, white, swamp white, black and pinoak; red, silver and black maple; and white, slippery and rockelm. This site also helps to protect the water source for Black,Usshers and Tee Creeks.Smith-Ness Conservation AreaThe Smith-Ness Conservation Area is a 29 hectare wildliferefuge area of wetland and forest habitat. There is no publicaccess for this site.Carolinian CanadaThe Carolinian Life Zone, also known as the Eastern DeciduousForest Region, stretches across southwestern Ontario fromToronto to Grand Bend. It is estimated that approximately onethird of Canada’s rare and endangered species are found in theCarolinian Life Zone. For example, even though the CarolinianLife Zone makes up less than one percent of Canada’s total landarea, it contains a greater number of species than any otherecosystem in Canada and many of these species are not foundanywhere else in the country (Johnson 2005). As part of itsBig Picture project, Carolinian Canada identified considerablelands within the South <strong>Niagara</strong> Falls watershed as a “CarolinianCore Natural Area” (Figure 11).A core natural area is defined as: an intact natural area withlarger habitat blocks; regions with a high overall percentage ofnatural vegetation cover; viable occurrences of globally rarespecies and vegetation community types, and concentrations ofrare species and vegetation; should exceed 200 hectares wherepossible with smaller high-quality sites in areas with loweramounts of natural vegetation cover; as well as having minimumcorridor widths of 200 metres plus any adjacent areas of naturalcover (Riley et al 2003).19