the gore countryside central - brampton · 2018-08-08 · the gore – countryside central . date...

THE GORE – COUNTRYSIDE CENTRAL

Date of this Site Summary: August 2013

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Region of Peel NAI Area # 2328 Toronto and Region Conservation Authority

City of Brampton Size: 16.12 hectares Watershed: Hu mber River Con 10 ND, Lot 14; west side of Clarkway Drive, south of

it’s intersection with Countryside Drive

Ownership: 100% private Subwatershed: West Humber River

General Summary The Gore – Countryside Central is a rural natural area in northeast Brampton, at the urbanizing edge of the city. The area is linear, consisting of a very narrow strip of naturalized riparian vegetation along the Gore Road Tributary, a tributary of the West Humber River, running through agricultural lands. The area’s narrow width limits its function to a corridor rather than a core habitat area. This area is within Secondary Plan Area 47, and the surrounding agricultural lands will be converted to urban residential and industrial subdivisions. Through future development, this narrow area will be delineated by both ecological features and environmental hazards, such as Regional Storm floodplain. By delineating this corridor, there will be opportunities to enhance this area’s ecological functions including: establishing a broader riparian zone, improving connectivity along the stream corridor, and by establishing naturalized linkage with another natural valley corridor in the same concession block. The area has been heavily impacted historically by agricultural land use, with the original forest vegetation having been completely removed. Invasive species are abundant and widespread at this site. An Ecological Land Classification vegetation community inventory was conducted over 17% of this area as access permissions allowed. A thorough inventory of the plant species was conducted in conjunction with the ELC work (Table 1). Fauna were recorded as incidental observations. There is no recent (within the last 20 years) fish species data for the stream in this natural area, indicating a data gap. It should be noted that most of the description and comments on this site refer only to the portion inventoried. Table 1: BNAI Field Visits Date Visited Inventory Type 9 Sept. 2011 ELC Natural Feature Classifications and Planning Areas Physical Features The Gore – Countryside Central is in the Peel Plain physiographic region (Chapman and Putnam, 1984), characterized by a relatively flat topography which gradually slopes toward Lake Ontario. This plain contains numerous rivers and streams with deeply cut valleys. Grey-green and grey-blue Georgian Bay shales form the bedrock at this site. In the area surrounding this site, clay and silt deposits of the Lacustrine-Wildfield Complex cover the bedrock. These deposits are fine grained, having settled out in a glacial lake, and are thus of low permeability. But along the stream here, a narrow band of Halton Till clayey silt and silt deposits cover the bedrock. The soils at The Gore – Countryside North Central are mainly Peel series clays, with no stones and imperfect drainage, on a gently undulating landscape. But soils at the tip of the west lobe and also at the south end of this site have variable alluvial soils. The Gore Road Tributary, a tributary of the West Humber River runs through the length of this area. The stream is the main hydrological feature of this site, as the area consists of a narrow vegetated riparian strip along the stream. The stream takes a natural course across the landscape.



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Human History The Gore – Countryside Central natural area is in the northeast portion of Brampton three kilometres southeast of the historical village of Wildfield and approximately two kilometres southwest of Coleraine. The land in this area was part of the second Mississauga Purchase in which lands were purchased by the government from the Mississauga First Nation in 1818. The purchased lands were surveyed from 1818-1819 as part of the Toronto Gore Township and opened for settlement in 1820. In the neighbouring townships of Chinguacousy, Albion and Caledon, parcels were available to settlers as free land grants, which included among other conditions requirements for clearing a percentage of the grant and establishing agriculture within a timeframe. In the Toronto Gore Township all of the available land was for sale. These different ways to dispense land balanced the government’s desire for settlement with the need for financial resources to build infrastructure projects such as roads and bridges. As land in Toronto Gore Township was expensive in comparison to the free land available in the adjacent townships, there was little interest from settlers to purchase and develop lands in the township, which delayed land clearing for agriculture by at least a decade. However, the relatively high cost of these lands did not deter speculators, and large tracts were maintained in their wild state until much later. By the 1830s land prices became more competitive and settlement and agricultural clearing increased until the 1850s when most of the available land in the township had been purchased. By the 1860s, three quarters of the land in Toronto Gore Township had been cleared (Mays, 1979). This delayed settlement pattern is reflected in cemetery records, with the first burial at the cemetery at Wildfield recorded in 1833 (www.lostcemeteries.blogspot.ca/2011/04/st-patricks-roman-catholic-church.html ) 13 years after the land was first made available for settlement. The type of farming practiced in this area changed over time from the initial settlement years when subsistence farming was practiced, to commercial agriculture as more land was cleared and access to markets (roads) improved. Wheat production boomed to meet strong demand from the 1830s to the 1880s when it generally declined in Ontario through the 1880s due to competition from other areas and insect pests. After that, farmers turned to mixed farming, dairying and animal husbandry (Unterman McPhail Associates, 2000). Population growth in the area was generally slow during the 1800s. In 1907 a one-room schoolhouse at Wildfield served the surrounding area. As the population grew slowly over the next 40 years a new 2-room school was built in 1950. By 1956 rapid population growth occurred, doubling the school population and a new 6-room school was built in 1966 (St. Patrick’s Research Committee, 1985). The Gore – Countryside Central is close to the edge of Brampton’s current urban area although it is still in a rural setting. It is likely that historically the area was grazed or cultivated as there is no tree cover. The natural area is flanked by Clarkway Drive to the east, an agricultural field to the west and rural residences to the north and south. Vegetation Communities This natural area is in the Carolinian Forest Ecoregion (Lake Erie – Lake Ontario Ecoregion; 7E). The general community types present here are cultural thicket (17%) and cultural savannah (83%). A single vegetation community was mapped over the 17% of this natural area that was inventoried (Table 2). This community (polygon 1121037) is a complex composed of two different vegetation types that are distributed in such a way that mapping is not possible. The dominant vegetation type (Table 2) is Exotic Cultural Thicket (CUT1-C) that runs along a shallow valley and the wetter parts of the valley have Willow Mineral Thicket Swamp (SWT2-2) vegetation. The Willow Mineral Thicket Swamp



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(SWT2-2) vegetation type is a TRCA regional Community Type of Urban Conservation Concern (L-rank L4). The complex community at The Gore – Countryside Central also contains a patch of vegetation different from the main complex types, but too small to map and recognize as separate communities. Although it is small, it still contributes additional habitat diversity and is noted as a Native Forb Old Field Meadow (CUM1-A) inclusion. Table 2. ELC vegetation communities surveyed

Polygon ID Size (ha) Community Type Canopy Sub-cano py Understory Ground Layer

Dominant Species at each height layer

1121037 2.66 (16.50%)

Exotic Cultural Thicket (CUT1-C)

Common Buckthorn,

English Hawthorn, Hawthorn species,

Canada Plum

Late Goldenrod, Panicled Aster

subspecies, New England Aster,

Creeping Thistle

Multiple Grass species

Common Buckthorn,

Avens species, Multiple Grass

species

Species Presence Vascular Plants A total of 89 vascular plant species occur in The Gore – Countryside Central, of which 47 (53%) are native. One plant species present here is regionally rare (Table 4), although it may have been planted. One of the plant species occurring in this natural area is a TRCA regional Species of Conservation Concern and seven additional plant species are TRCA regional Species of Urban Conservation Concern (Table 4). At this site there are at least five species that are planted, all of them native species including two regionally rare species, two TRCA regional Species of Conservation Concern and one TRCA regional Species of Urban Conservation Concern. Of the non-native plant species found at The Gore – Countryside Central, 22 are invasive. Five of these invasive species are considered to be transformers which exclude all other species and dominate sites indefinitely, three species are highly invasive which tend to dominate only certain niches or do not spread rapidly from major concentrations, seven species are moderately invasive which can become locally dominant given certain conditions and seven are minimally invasive species which do not pose an immediate threat to natural areas but compete with more desirable native species. Birds Two bird species were observed at this site, all of which are native. None are at risk or rare. Butterflies and Skippers Two native butterfly species occur at The Gore – Countryside Central. One, Monarch (Danaus plexippus) is a Species At Risk, considered Special Concern both nationally and provincially (Table 3). Monarch is also provincially rare (S-rank S2N,S4B). Table 3. Designated Species at Risk Scientific Name Common Name COSEWIC COSSARO S-Rank G-Rank Butterflies Danaus plexippus Monarch SC SC S2N,S4B G5



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Table 4: Regionally rare species (shown in bold) an d TRCA Regional Species of Conservation Concern (indicated by TRCA L-rank L1-L3) and TRCA R egional Species of Urban Conservation Concern (indicated by TRCA L-rank L4) (Kaiser, 2001 ; Toronto and Region Conservation Authority, 2007) Scientific Name Common Name S-Rank G-Rank TRCA L-Ra nk Vascular Plants Acer saccharinum Silver Maple S5 G5 L4 Juncus torreyi Torrey's Rush S5 G5 L4 Rudbeckia hirta Black-eyed Susan S5 G5 L4 Sagittaria latifolia Broadleaf Arrowhead S5 G5 L4 Salix petiolaris Meadow Willow S5 G5 L4 Schoenoplectus tabernaemontani Soft-stem Bulrush S5 G5 L4 Thuja occidentalis Eastern White Cedar S5 G5 L4 Viburnum cassinoides Northern Wild-raisin S5 G5T5 L2 Site Condition and Disturbances The Gore – Countryside Central has been highly impacted by past agricultural land use, which removed the original forest cover. A narrow strip of vegetation has been allowed to naturalize along the tributary stream; however, this riparian vegetation has been fragmented due to various disturbances over time. Invasive species have greatly impacted this site with non-native plant species abundant and widespread. In the part of the area that was inventoried, area has a moderate infestation of the problematic transformer-type invasive species Purple Loosestrife (Lythrum salicaria) and another invasive species, Common Crown-vetch (Coronilla varia). Other problematic invasive species occurring here are Common Buckthorn (Rhamnus cathartica), Garlic Mustard (Alliaria petiolata), Tartarian Honeysuckle (Lonicera tatarica) and Dame’s Rocket (Hesperis matronalis). Noise disturbance throughout this area is only slight. There are moderate amounts of tree and shrub brush that has been dumped into the natural area from the field edges. Some of the naturalizing vegetation has also been mowed. Ecological Features and Functions The Gore – Countryside Central includes the riparian area of the Gore Road Tributary, tributary of the West Humber River, providing a transitional zone between terrestrial and aquatic habitats, helping to maintain the quality of the stream, and providing a movement corridor for plants and wildlife. This area is best connected upstream, to the north and across Countryside Drive with riparian habitat along the Gore Road Tributary corridor. Agricultural land use restricts the width of the riparian corridor to a narrow strip that is maintained along the shallow stream valley at The Gore – Countryside Central site. The Countryside Road bridge over the stream spans the watercourse and a small strip of stream bank / riparian zone. Traffic on Countryside Drive is generally low to moderate, and the rural setting allows for relatively easy movement of wildlife across much of the landscape. In the downstream direction, the stream has virtually no riparian zone as it passes through an area of rural residences. Manicuring occurs to the stream’s edge, and although wildlife movement may be possible, little vegetative cover and / or foraging opportunities are provided. The valley to the south across the intersection of The Gore Road and Castlemore Road is naturalizing and has a wider riparian strip. The relative close proximity of other areas of natural habitat creates potential for wildlife movement between natural areas, species dispersal and recovery from disturbance, creating some resilience for the ecosystem. This natural area supports a butterfly Species At Risk that is also provincially rare and one regionally rare plant species.



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Based on the above features, this area should be evaluated to determine if significant wildlife habitat is present, in accordance with the Provincial Policy Statement, Region of Peel Official Plan, and Brampton Official Plan. Recommendations 1. Riparian Area Improvement: Planting native tree and shrub species along the creek where riparian vegetation is lacking would improve the stream and riparian ecosystems. Trees and shrubs provide shade that helps to maintain cooler water temperatures and prevents heating and evaporation. Native Willow (Salix spp.) and Dogwood (Cornus spp.) shrubs are well suited because they are hardy, fast growing and have extensive fibrous root systems which are well suited to stabilize shorelines. Plantings of taller species will also help to filter dust and reduce noise from adjacent land use. Establishing a wide, well-vegetated buffer along and stream will enable the stream corridor to better withstand the disturbances that will come when surrounding lands are converted to urban development. Increasing the width of a naturalized riparian zone along the Gore Road Tributary would also enhance the ecological functions of this area. Cessation of mowing to the stream edge and allowing natural vegetation to establish on the banks will also help to improve the quality of the stream. Natural riparian vegetation helps to stabilize soils and prevent erosion during high water events, helps the valley to absorb water and provides habitat structure for fauna. 2. Corridor or Core Area: This area currently functions as a narrow natural connecting corridor along the Gore Road Tributary. Its narrow width limits its function to supporting wildlife movement between larger areas of greater biological diversity and ecological complexity that support breeding of diverse species. For species with limited mobility, long, narrow corridors that simply provide cover / shelter for passage through the landscape are inadequate for supporting dispersal and gene flow if the species cannot breed along the corridor. Wide corridors are generally better at providing breeding habitat for many species. Thus, increasing the width of the corridor would help to enhance its connectivity function. Alternatively, if long narrow corridors can be punctuated by wider patches habitat that can function as breeding habitat for a variety of species, species with limited mobility can still have gene flow and linkage between large natural areas is possible because species can move along the corridor over time and multiple generations. This type of corridor-widening could be realized by retiring several fields or parts of fields from agricultural production so that they can naturalize to provide nodes of breeding habitat. 3. Enhance Connectivity With Other Natural Areas: Maintenance and enhancement of natural vegetated connections with other natural areas upstream and downstream of this site is desirable, as it facilitates the movement of wildlife species along the valley corridor. Movement and dispersal corridors allow for gene flow among breeding populations and contribute to ecosystem resilience. Enhancement of connectivity can be accomplished by restoration plantings of native species, particularly at points where there are bottlenecks or barriers (such as roads). There is another narrow natural valley corridor that is traversed by the Clarkway Drive Tributary, to the southeast of The Gore - Countryside Central, in the same concession block. Establishment of linkage between the Clarkway Drive Tributary and The Gore – Countryside Central / Gore Road Tributary corridor would benefit the sustainability and resilience of both natural areas, particularly as urban conversion occurs and connectivity across agricultural fields is lost. 4. Invasive Species Control: As this natural area is entirely privately owned, support should be provided to landowners in the control of invasive species at The Gore – Countryside Central, should they be interested.

a) Control plan: This site is impacted by invasive species (problematic invasive species present, a variety of different invasive species, dense populations of invasive species). A detailed assessment of invasive species at this site and a control plan is recommended as a high priority, in order to limit the impact.



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b) Transformer-type invasive species: Some of the invasive species at this site are transformer-type, and thus pose a significant threat to the native plant communities due to their aggressive nature. Although this type of invasive species can be difficult to eliminate, any progress that can be made to control it is beneficial in reducing the impact on the natural community.

c) Common Buckthorn removal: Common Buckthorn could be removed, followed by dense plantings of fast growing tree and shrub species which could help to speed up the transition of this area to native forest.

d) Purple Loosestrife removal: Purple Loosestrife could be hand-pulled in early summer when in flower but before it has gone to seed to help limit its spread.

5. Species At Risk Habitat: A Species At Risk was found in this natural area and a detailed assessment of the habitat condition is recommended, in order to identify actions that may help to retain or enhance the habitat for the SAR. 6. Additional Inventory Work: Additional inventories at The Gore – Countryside Central are recommended.

a) ELC: Access for the whole natural area was not available at the time this field work was done. Knowledge about this natural area as a whole would benefit if additional access could be obtained and ELC completed for these portions of the area with data gaps.

b) Fish: A fish inventory is recommended for this portion of Gore Road Tributary as this represents a data gap.

Literature Cited Chapman, L.J. and Putnam, D.F. 1984. The Physiography of Southern Ontario . 3rd ed. Special Volume 2. Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources, Ontario Geological Survey, Toronto. Kaiser, Jeff. 2001. The Vascular Plant Flora of the Region of Peel and the Credit River Watershed . Prepared for: Credit Valley Conservation, the Regional Municipality of Peel, Toronto and Region Conservation Authority. Mays, H.J. 1979. Families and land in Toronto Gore Township, Peel County, Ontario, 1820-1890. Open Access Dissertations and Theses – Paper 653. http://digitalcommons.mcmaster.ca/opendissertations/653 St. Patrick’s Research Committee, 1985. St. Patrick’s Wildfield, 150th Anniversary. www.dpcdsb.org/PATRK/School+History/ Toronto and Region Conservation Authority. 2007. Terrestrial Natural Heritage Program Data Collectio n Methodology. Unterman McPhail Associates, 2000. Thematic Overview of the Euro-Canadian Settlement of Brampton. (unpubl. Prepared for the City of Brampton)



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Vascular Plant Species at The Gore – Countryside Ce ntral

R= regionally rare

T-SCC= TRCA regional Species of conservation Concern, T-SUCC= TRCA regional Species of Urban Conservation Concern

Invasive Score: 1=Transformer, 2=Highly Invasive, 3=Moderately Invasive, 4=Minimally Invasive, 5=Potentially Invasive

See "CVC Priority Invasive Plants" list for additional information about invasive score

*Planted species have been denoted with an asterisk unless additional natural specimens occur

Native Vascular Plant Species

Scientific Name Common Name

Acer saccharinum Silver Maple SUCC Acer saccharum ssp. saccharum Sugar Maple Alisma plantago-aquatica American Water-plantain Ambrosia artemisiifolia Common Ragweed Asclepias syriaca Common Milkweed Bidens frondosa Devil's Beggar-ticks Bromus sp. Brome species Carex vulpinoidea Fox Sedge Chenopodium simplex Giant-seed Goosefoot Echinocystis lobata Wild Mock-cucumber Epilobium ciliatum ssp. ciliatum Hairy Willow-herb subspecies Euthamia graminifolia Flat-top Goldentop

Fraxinus pennsylvanica Green or Red Ash (no var. recorded)

Geum sp. Avens species Impatiens capensis Spotted Touch-me-not Iris sp. Iris species Juglans nigra Black Walnut Juncus torreyi Torrey's Rush SUCC Juniperus sp. Cedar species Leersia oryzoides Rice Cutgrass Mentha arvensis Wild Mint Oenothera biennis Common Evening-primrose Panicum sp. Panic Grass species Phalaris arundinacea Reed Canary Grass Picea glauca* White Spruce Pinus resinosa* Red Pine Populus balsamifera ssp. balsamifera Balsam Poplar Populus deltoides* Eastern Cottonwood Populus grandidentata* Large-tooth Aspen Prunella vulgaris Self-heal Prunus virginiana ssp. virginiana Chokecherry Rubus occidentalis Black Raspberry Rudbeckia hirta Black-eyed Susan SUCC Sagittaria latifolia Broadleaf Arrowhead SUCC Salix eriocephala Heart-leaved Willow Salix petiolaris Meadow Willow SUCC Schoenoplectus tabernaemontani Soft-stem Bulrush SUCC Scirpus atrovirens* Dark-green Bulrush Solidago altissima var. altissima Late Goldenrod Symphyotrichum lanceolatum ssp. lanceolatum Panicled Aster subspecies Symphyotrichum novae-angliae New England Aster



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Symphyotrichum puniceum Swamp Aster Thuja occidentalis Eastern White Cedar SUCC Tilia americana American Basswood Ulmus americana American Elm Verbena hastata Blue Vervain Viburnum cassinoides Northern Wild-raisin R, SCC Vitis riparia Riverbank Grape Xanthium strumarium Rough Cocklebur Non-native Vascular Plant Species Scientific Name Common Name Invasive Score Alliaria petiolata Garlic Mustard 1 Anthemis cotula Mayweed Arctium minus ssp. minus Common Burdock Asparagus officinalis Garden Asparagus Cichorium intybus Chicory Cirsium arvense Creeping Thistle 2 Cirsium vulgare Bull Thistle Coronilla varia Common Crown-vetch 2 Crataegus monogyna English Hawthorn 3 Daucus carota Queen Anne's Lace Epilobium hirsutum Great-hairy Willow-herb Glechoma hederacea Ground Ivy 3 Helianthus tuberosus Jerusalem Artichoke Hesperis matronalis Dame's Rocket 1 Inula helenium Elecampane Flower 4 Lilium lancifolium Tiger Lily Linaria vulgaris Butter-and-eggs 4 Lithospermum officinale European Gromwell Lonicera tatarica Tartarian Honeysuckle 1 Lysimachia nummularia Creeping Jennie 3 Lythrum salicaria Purple Loosestrife 1 Malus pumila Common Apple Mentha spicata Spearmint Mentha x piperita Peppermint 4 Nasturtium officinale True Watercress Nepeta cataria Catnip 4 Phleum pratense Meadow Timothy Plantago major Common Plantain Polygonum persicaria Lady's Thumb Rhamnus cathartica Common Buckthorn 1 Rumex crispus Curly Dock Saponaria officinalis Bouncing-bet 3 Solanum dulcamara Climbing Nightshade 3 Sonchus arvensis ssp. arvensis Perennial Sowthistle Syringa vulgaris Common Lilac 3 Tussilago farfara Colt's Foot 4 Typha angustifolia Narrow-leaved Cattail 2 Verbascum thapsus Great Mullein Viburnum opulus Guelder-rose Viburnum 4 Vicia cracca Tufted Vetch 3



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Fauna Species at The Gore – Countryside Central Type Common Name Scientific Name

Bird American Goldfinch Carduelis tristis Bird Black-capped Chickadee Poecile atricapillus Butterfly, Skipper Monarch Danaus plexippus Butterfly, Skipper Viceroy Limenitis archippus

*Designated Species at Risk and provincially rare s pecies shown in bold



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the gore countryside central - brampton · 2018-08-08 · the gore – countryside central . date...

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