Bio-Inventory Results of DUC Carp Hills Property

Holly Bickerton, consulting ecologist, conducted a site assessment of Ducks Unlimited Canada's 440 acre Carp Hills property from June through September 2018. She presented a summary of her findings in a public meeting on 27 November 2018:

• She showed an aerial photo from 1954. It showed that the 40 acre portion of the property (immediately behind Glenncastle Drive) used to be a farmed field, but the remaining 400 acres was uncultivated. The 40 acre former field area had the lowest diversity and no significant species.
• Geology of the site - granitic Canadian Shield - is what creates the unique ecology of the Carp Hills. The rock is not permeable, allowing for the creation of an acidic wetland complex.
• Most common habitat is rocky upland oak forest, which is interspersed with wetlands and beaver ponds.
• She found 297 native plant species - this is high for property that is relatively homogenous. If she had been on site earlier in the spring she would have found well over 300 species.
o One - Hooker’s Orchid - is Provincially Significant.
o 15 species are Regionally Significant.
o Very high level of ecological integrity.
o 11 bird species were found that require deep, interior forest habitat (e.g. Wood Thrush, which is a Species at Risk).
o Notable for Ottawa: Tunnels of the Hairy‐tailed Mole (Parascalops breweri) were found and the Smoky Shrew (Sorex fumeus) was observed in an adjacent property.
o Blanding’s turtles and a Milksnake were observed. Future amphibian and reptile surveys need to be conducted in April and May.
o 18 Regionally Significant species were found nearby on the adjacent Crazy Horse Trail property.

Ecological highlights
o Rock barrens and treed rock barrens are rare in the Ottawa area, are undisturbed, and contained many significant species.
o Provincially Significant Wetland Complex.
o Habitat for Species at Risk - rock barrens for ground nesting birds and ponds for turtles.
o Size of the property - good forest interior, undisturbed, connection with adjacent land.

Posted on December 1, 2018 12:25 PM by jlmason