Central Welland River Watershed Plan - Niagara Peninsula ...

CENTRAL WELLAND RIVER WATERSHED PLANwell developed slough and rise formation with diverse slough zone communities andvariously-aged upland deciduous supported on the ridges (Macdonald 1980). Alsoknown as Bismarck Bush, the wetlands in this area support the headwaters for ParkersCreek and as well as provide habitat for great blue heron, ruffed grouse and deer (Brady1980).Ridgeville Swamp Forest Life Science ANSI (regional)Also a regionally significant Life Science ANSI, the Ridgeville Swamp Forest is a wetlandcomplex comprised of 6 individual wetlands that are composed of 19 percent swampand 81 percent marsh (Littleton and Stuive 1985a). A portion of these wetland segmentsalso composes part of the Fonthill Kame Wetlands, which has been designatedprovincially significant. Positioned on the south-facing slopes of the Short Hills Kame,the terrain consists of rolling sandland and slough and ridge formations with a broadbasin supporting a poorly drained wetland. The vegetation communities includemanaged upland forest of maple-oak-beech and a well-developed swamp scrublandcomplex (Macdonald 1976).Salina Formation (Welland Canal) Earth Science ANSI (regional)A 20 foot section of the Salina Formation is visible from a road cutting beneath the newWelland Canal, making this site of a regionally significant Earth Science ANSI. The areadisplays a „grey, very finely crystalline, laminated, argillaceous dolostone with abundantshale partings and numerous gypsum veins and lenses with varying thicknesses‟reaching up to 18 inches (Telford and Tarrant 1975).Onondaga Escarpment Earth Science ANSI (regional)The Onondaga Escarpment is capped with Bois Blanc from the Devonian period. In frontof the Onondaga Escarpment is bedrock from the Silurian period; the Salina formationwhich is easier to erode than Bois Blanc. The location of this site is at a road cut onHighway 58, north of Port Colborne. The escarpment is approximately 5 meters high atthis site (Telford and Tarrant 1975).WetlandsWetlands are “among the most productive and biologically diverse habitats on theplanet” (MNR No Date). Wetlands provide numerous beneficial water quality andecological functions in a watershed, including naturally filtering water resources therebyimproving water quality, act like sponges by slowing the flow of water which reduces theimpact of flooding and allows for groundwater recharge, augments low flow by raisinglocal water tables, which in turn contributes to base flows of the watercourses, and alsoprovides valuable social and educational resources. In addition, “a high proportion ofOntario‟s fish and wildlife species inhabit wetlands during part of their life cycle. Many ofthe species at risk of extinction in southern Ontario are highly dependent on wetlands”[Environment Canada (EC) 2004].The Ontario Wetland Evaluation System (OWES) is a science-based ranking systemused by the Ministry of Natural Resources to assess wetland functions and societalvalues. Wetlands are evaluated and assigned a status of „provincially significant‟ or„locally significant‟. To date, almost 65 percent of the wetlands in the Central Welland43