Coordinates: Goodrich-Loomis Conservation Area, Trent Hills, Ontario Timeline: 2022 - 2025
Project Overview:
Over several seasons, the team at EcoStrategyPEC worked with Lower Trent Conservation to perform an extensive restoration effort at one of Ontario’s last vestiges of the native and endangered Tallgrass Prairie Savanna.
Description and Goals:
This project had many facets that needed to be addressed in succession:
develop a strategy to control and eliminate an onslaught of harmful invasive species that were encroaching and propagating on the site.
Make the site wildfire tolerant
Establish new trail infrastructure for controlled burns to occur in the future, per the Ontario provincial regulations.
Re-establish the native ecology through strategic planting.
Leverage our multifarious skill-sets to build unique, inviting infrastructure for the public to interact with the site; building bridges and contemplative seating.
Invasive Species Management.
Over a 3 year period, we undertook an intensive manual suppression regime for the extremely harmful Dog Strangling Vine (latin: Vincetoxicum rossicum).
Our approach included seedpod collection (which eliminated the ability for the plants to reproduce by natural dispersal), and physical removal of the vine in spring months, to damage and destroy the root systems at their most vulnerable stage after winter stress.
Invasive species typically encroach on sites via human-made vectors: roads, trails, footpaths and clearing.
Results:
By removing the invasive species threat, the predominate natural undestory (in this case, wild raspberry) was allowed to re-establish and thrive. Ongoing season maintainence is required to continually monitor for the invasives re-establishing, but this is focused work, and easy on the back end.