Bruce Peninsula National Park and Northern Bruce Peninsula, Ontario

 

 

This park is situated near the tip of Bruce Peninsula in Ontario, Canada. Once completed, the park will comprise of 15,600 hectares; presently ca. 1/4 of the land is still privately own. Although marginally located within the Eastern Great Lakes Lowland Forests, it is one of the largest protected areas in the ecoregion. Niagara Escarpment shapes the Georgian Bay side of the park and provides some of its most spectacular scenery, including sea caves. The climate is influenced by both Georgian Bay and Lake Huron, which significantly moderate temperatures. Summers are warm and humid (mean temperature ca. +17°C), and winters are cool (ca. -7°C). Annual precipitation is ca. 900 mm.

Almost no forest in the park remains in pristine condition, except some old-growth Eastern White Cedar (Thuja occidentalis) found on precipitous cliffs on the Georgian Bay side. Several intensive fires swept through the area in the early 20th century, burning nearly all forest. The rest were logged, some as recently as 1980s. The present-day park forests are mostly mixwoods, dominated by Eastern White Cedar, White Spruce (Picea glauca), Trembling Aspen (Populus tremuloides), Paper Birch (Betula papyrifera), and Balsam Fir (Abies balsamea). White Pine (Pinus strobus), formerly a dominant species, remains in reduced numbers. Deciduous stands, mostly of Sugar and Red maples (Acer saccharum, A. rubrum) are found primarily in the east and southeast. Jack Pine (Pinus banksiana) forests grow on shallow soils on the Huron Lake side. Wetlands are represented by fens and marshes. Alvars (pavement barrens) are typical of this park, and amount for up to 1% of the area. Old hay fields remain within the boundaries.

Bruce Peninsula National Park is most notable for its plant life and herpetofauna. Its flora encompasses over 900 species of vascular plants, including 33 species of orchids, and also several Great Lakes endemics, such as Lakeside Daisy (Tetraneuris herbacea), Hill’s Thistle (Cirsium hillii), and Dwarf Lake Iris (Iris lacustris), and carnivorous plants (pitcher plants, butterwort, bladderworts, and sundews). The park is home to the second largest population of Eastern Massasauga rattlesnake (Sistrurus catenatus) in Ontario, and a sizable population of Eastern Milk Snake (Lampropeltis t. triangulum). A small American Black Bear (Ursus americanus) population of the Bruce Peninsula has been isolated from the rest of Ontario for nearly one hundred years. There is a wintering congregation of White-tailed Deer (Odocoileus virginianus). Bird fauna is typical of the ecoregion, but while some species, e.g., Pileated Woodpecker (Dryocopus pileatus), Black-throated Green Warbler (Dendroica virens), and American Redstart (Setophaga ruticilla), are very common, others are noticeably scarce or absent. Recreational pressure on this park is severe, and vehicle related wildlife mortality, e.g., of snakes and turtles, is common.

Apart from the national park the Northern Bruce Peninsula encompasses a village of Tobermory, Cabot Head Provincial Nature Reserve, some crown and private lands, including reserves owned by Nature Conservancy of Canada, Escarpment Biosphere Conservancy, and Ontario Nature.

 

		D32645 Coastal cliffs Bear Rump Island Fathom Five National Marine Park Ontario, Canada Copyright © Michael Patrikeev All Rights Reserved
		D41661 Crane River Bruce Peninsula National Park Ontario, Canada Copyright © Michael Patrikeev All Rights Reserved
		D44948 Coastal cliffs Bruce Peninsula National Park Ontario, Canada Copyright © Michael Patrikeev All Rights Reserved
		D41036 Beaver pond and white cedar forest Bruce Peninsula National Park Ontario, Canada Copyright © Michael Patrikeev All Rights Reserved
		D45524 Coastal cliffs, Bruce Peninsula Ontario, Canada Copyright © Michael Patrikeev All Rights Reserved
		D41477 Dry wetland, Bruce Peninsula Ontario, Canada Copyright © Michael Patrikeev All Rights Reserved
		D41087 Alvar Bruce Peninsula National Park Ontario, Canada Copyright © Michael Patrikeev All Rights Reserved
		D41086 Dry coniferous forest Bruce Peninsula National Park Ontario, Canada Copyright © Michael Patrikeev All Rights Reserved
		D41662 Crane River Bruce Peninsula National Park Ontario, Canada Copyright © Michael Patrikeev All Rights Reserved
		D41092 Mineral fen Bruce Peninsula National Park Ontario, Canada Copyright © Michael Patrikeev All Rights Reserved
		D49166 Flowerpot formation Fathom Five National Marine Park Ontario, Canada Copyright © Michael Patrikeev All Rights Reserved
		D41032 Mixed forest Bruce Peninsula National Park Ontario, Canada Copyright © Michael Patrikeev All Rights Reserved
		D41465 Dry beaver pond, Bruce Peninsula Ontario, Canada Copyright © Michael Patrikeev All Rights Reserved
		D41030 Deciduous forest in spring Bruce Peninsula National Park Ontario, Canada Copyright © Michael Patrikeev All Rights Reserved
		D49070 Lake Huron in winter Tobermory, Bruce Peninsula Ontario, Canada Copyright © Michael Patrikeev All Rights Reserved
		D41485 Mineral fen Bruce Peninsula National Park Ontario, Canada Copyright © Michael Patrikeev All Rights Reserved
		D44614 Old field in spring Bruce Peninsula National Park Ontario, Canada Copyright © Michael Patrikeev All Rights Reserved
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