The Woodend Conservation Area is located on the Niagara peninsula, on Taylor road in Niagara-on-the-Lake. This unique and beautiful area has an old growth forest with limestone escarpment and boulders and hills going through it. It is host to many species, such as the Black Cherry, Flowering Dogwood, Black Oak, and even Paw-Paw trees. It is also home to such species as the Flying Squirrel and Fowler's Toad (May, May, & Kanter, 2008). It is a prime green space for nature lovers to go bird watching, hiking and dog walking, and even skiing and snowshoeing in the winter months. The Woodend Conservation area was famously used in the war of 1812. It was useful to both sides as a vantage point because of its location on the Niagara escarpment. This area also hosted many battles such as Beaver Dam battle, Queenston Heights battle and Lundy's Lane battle. But the colonial roots of the woodend conservation area date back to 1780, when a British Loyalist by the name of Peter Lampman was granted 1600 acres in Niagara-on-the-Lake. Him and his family started a homestead in this area and farmed for many generations. In 1931 they built a house on the east side of the property. The house and 150 acres of surrounding land makes up the Woodend Conservation area. The house is used as an outdoor education center (Exploring Niagara, 2014). Since then the area has experienced minimal change, as it is protected. Human induced changes in the area have made more hiking trails in the area.

Municipality: St. Catharines

Local area name: Niagara-On-The-Lake

Other identifying names or descriptions Bruce Trail, Niagara Region

Latitude and longitude: 43.1432698921 and Longitude -79.16735540360

Physical Dimensions

Length: 0.9km

Width: 1.3km

Surface Area: approximately 1km2

Elevation: 152.016 m

The Woodend conservation area is a protected natural area located in the Niagara Peninsula on Niagara-On-The-Lake. It is South of Lake Ontario, North of Lake Erie, and West of the Niagara River. Running alongside the Niagara escarpment, the Woodend Conservation Area is on a slope that makes it privy to unique and varied topography. It contains a deciduous forest that is home to a wide variety of local, as well as introduced wildlife (Niagara Green Belt, n.d.). The Woodend Conservation Area is best known to locals as a beautiful place to hike and spend outdoor time.

Map 1:

Source: All Trails, n.d.

i) Map shows the location of the Woodend Conservation Area in the Niagara region

Map 2:

Source: All Trails, n.d.

ii) This maps shows the area of which the woodend conservation area stretches

Located on the south side of the Niagara Escarpment area, the Woodend Conservation Area is host to a wide range of flora and fauna. This area is a woodland, making it an "important habitat for a variety of animals and birds." (Hough, 2004, p. 126). The forest of this area is deciduous, meaning the trees lose their leaves in the autumn and remain barren throughout the winter. One can find beech, red oak, flowering dogwood, paw paw, and Canada's famous sugar maple. (Niagara Green Belt, n.d.)

Image: Deciduous forest of Woodend Conservation Area

Source: Author

Discovered in this area is also the oldest living creator of Eastern North America, the White Cedar. These remarkable trees grow out of cracks in rock, where they are able to survive in spite of little nutrients or water. Other species of vegetation include sycamore, black walnut, black cherry, and the tulip tree, as well more than 50 species of ferns (Ontario's Niagara Escarpment, n.d.). Also found here are a variety of orchids, some of which are found nowhere else in the world, including the Calypso Orchid and Ram's-head Lady-slipper.

Image: Calypso orchid

Source: Ontario's Niagara Escarpment, n.d.

The Niagara Escarpment area is host to a wide range of wildlife, with more than 300 species of birds, 55 mammals, and 34 species of reptiles and amphibians. One quarter of the endangered and threatened species in Canada are found in the Niagara Escarpment area. Some of these species include the nocturnal Southern flying-Squirrel, Eastern Massasauga Rattlesnake, and the Jefferson Salamander (Ontario's Niagara Escarpment, n.d.).

Image: Southern Flying-Squirrel

Source: Chesapeake Bay Program. 2020.

The biodiversity of the Woodend Conservation Area is inhibited by the human disturbance. It is surrounded on all sides by roads and development, making it a fragmented forest. While wildlife interaction and gene flow is less inhibited by fragmentation if the forest "island" is large (Hough, 2004). However, the Woodend Conservation Area is relatively small, and therefore more prone to biodiversity loss on account of this.

Located directly on the escarpment, the Woodend Conservation Area has a ranging elevation. The trails are natural but maintained. There are crags of exposed mudstone visible, demonstrating the composition of the rock of the escarpment.

Image: Exposed bedrock demonstrating mudstone layers

Source: Author

The greatest geomorphological impacts on this area were the ones that created the escarpment itself. This occurred about 23 000 years ago, when the Wisconsin glaciation receded and eroded the land, creating the depression along which the escarpment runs (Straw, 1968). This glacial period also brought about the rich topsoil that the Niagara region is known for. The rock in the area of the Woodend Conservation Area, including the DeCew formation, is primarily dolomite, characterized as grey, dense, and very finely crystalline. It is also composed of mudstone and calcium carbonate (Hewitt, 1971, p. 25).

Image: Escarpment Bedrock Composition

Source: Gasparini, 2018

The Woodend Conservation Area is surrounded by several significant hydrological bodies, including Lake Ontario to the North, Lake Erie to the South, and the Niagara River to the East. The most significant change to the hydrogeology of this area in recent times was the construction of the Welland Canal in 1829, followed by construction of the Welland Canal Syphon in 1929 (Welland Recreational Canal Corporation, 2016). However, development in this area also resulted in much of the natural streams in the area either being diverted or placed underground.

Image: Major waterways in the Niagara region

Source: Agyle, 2007

Historically, the most significant hydrogeological event was the melting of the Wisconsin glaciation following the last ice age, 23 000 years ago (Straw, 1968). Today, the face of the escarpment has many waterfalls, springs and caves. With the mudrock being considerably soft, it is prone to collapse zones (Stenson, 1991). The conservation area is a watershed, making it critical for providing and storing water for both humans and wildlife. Urbanization in the areas of watershed can increase the risk of flooding, which is a hazard that must be actively responded to. Urbanization and development also decreases habitat, which increases the critical necessity of preserving watersheds such as the Woodend Conservation Area (Alberti, 2008).

Forests tend to absorb heat better than urban areas, which leads to a discrepancy in average temperature that one will see in the city versus in an outlying area. Being a protected woodland, the Woodend Conservation area is cooler than the developing areas surrounding it. However, being relatively small, its micro climate is affected by the fact that the surrounding areas are less effective at absorbing sunlight, and are therefore warmer. (Hough, 2004, p. 190) Likely the biggest human-caused impact on this area's microclimate is global warming, which is primarily being caused by the accumulation of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Because this area is a drainage basin and has pockets of water, the most effective method the microclimate has of neutralizing a temperature increase is through the evaporation of water. (Hough, 2004, p. 202) Southern Ontario has also been known to experience acid rain as the result of the accumulation of pollutants in the atmosphere. This can negatively impact the health of vegetation and wildlife in this area, as well as erode buildings and limestone. (Acid Rain FAQ, 2013).

• All of the land of Canada belonged originally to the Indigenous people that lived and prospered here. The Woodend Conservation Area is no exception, with the land on which it is located once used and cared for by the Anishinaabe, Attiwonderonk, Haudenosaunee and Mississauga First Nations. (Lindz, 2020). The land among which they lived on was called "Onguiaahra" which meant the Niagara River. The Attiwonderonk were named "Neutrals" by French explorers because this tribe acted as peacekeepers between two warring Native American nations, the Huron's and Iroquois (also known as Haudenosaunee). The Attiwonderonk led ten other tribes, governed by "Jikonsaseh", who maintained the group's neutrality and kept peace in the area. The First Nations of this area were historically hunter-gatherers, although they had advanced hierarchical political and economic systems. Their use and care for the land could be described overall as a sustainable and reciprocal relationship, resulting in an undegraded landscape. (Niagara Falls Info, 2020). The tribes of this area have a complex history of warfare and alliances, and ultimately the Iroquois obtained dominance. Five, and later six, of the prominent Iroquois nations banded in a confederacy approximately between the years of 1450 and 1660. However from 1867, the year of Canada's confederation, onward, they have been disestablished (Wikipedia, 2020). Image: League of 6 Nations Iroquois Confederacy FlagSource: Aboriginal Peoples in Ontario, 2017.
  
  
• Land use history: The first European in the Niagara region was Etienne Brule, who arrived in 1626. This was the beginning of a slew of settlement by French Canadians and British alike. At the end of the 1700's, the area on which the Woodend Conservation lies was settled by United Empire Loyalist families (Lindz, 2020). One of these was Peter Lampman's family, who was granted 1600 acres in 1779. They used it for agriculture purposes, and built a house on it in 1931 (Exploring Niagara, 2014). Image: House built by Lampman family, now used for educational purposesSource: AuthorIn 1974 the Niagara Peninsula Conservation Authority purchased the land, converting it into a conservatory. The buildings located on the land are now used by the District School Board of Niagara as a centre for environmental education, with programs targeted at the conservation and management of Niagara Peninsula's natural resources. (Lindz, 2017). Running through this area is a portion of the Laura Secord Legacy Trail. This marks the route that Laura Secord took from the Secord Homestead to the DeCew House in June of 1813. She embarked on this trek to warn the British military that the Americans were preparing to attack (Niagara Green Belt, n.d.)

Education / Interpretation

• The house located on the land was built by the original settlers, the Lampman family. It has been converted into the Woodend Environmental Centre, and operates as an outdoor education centre (Niagara Green Belt, n.d.) . In 2009 this centre was updated, with the District School Board of Niagara's constructing a full campus called the Walker Living Campus that offers a wide range of outdoor programs for students (Walker Living Campus, n.d.). There are also numerous internet resources about the woodend conservation area and other local landscapes.

Recreational Uses

• There are an abundance of recreational activities available in the Woodend Conservation Area, including trail hiking, dog walking and bird watching, as well as cross-country skiing and snowshoeing in the winter months. It is best known for its hiking because of the famous Bruce trail that crosses through it. The Bruce trail is the oldest and longest marked trail in Canada, spanning 900 kilometres of the Niagara Escarpment from Niagara to Tobermory. (Bruce Trail Conservancy, n.d.). These trails are controlled and maintained at the municipal level, by the Niagara Peninsula Conservation Authority. Image: Hiking trail on Woodend Conservation AreaSource: Author

The Woodend Conservation Area was first owned by Peter Lapman, whose family used it for farming for many generations. It came under the control of the Niagara Peninsula Conservation Authority when the government purchased it in 1974 (Niagara Green Belt, n.d.) . This authority is composed of a Board of Directors that represent their respective municipalities, cities and counties. This area is part of the UNESCO World Biosphere Reserve, and is zoned as a conservatory. It is therefore subject to programs that aid in protecting it from development or degradation. They also maintain the trails and provide general upkeep (NPCA, 2017). Alongside the NPCA, the District School Board of Niagara runs programs out of the campus located in the conservation area, which involve beekeeping, garden maintenance, and other landscaping (Walker Living Campus, n.d.). Although this area is under government jurisdiction, it can be accessed by anyone for recreational use

Typical of an urban landscape, the area surrounding the conservation area is highly heterogeneous (Alberti, 2008, p. 93). It is surrounded on all sides by roads. The Welland canal runs by the Western side of the conservation area. This area is also linked to surrounding areas by the Bruce Trail, which runs through it. The Northeastern corner of the conservation area is used as a golf course (Google Maps, 2020). As a result of increased traffic through the area, the trails, and conservatory in general, experience heightened usage. They are consequently more manicured and tamed than they would be if the area was able to be conserved entirely for wildlife. The drainage is also affected, with much of the water that would otherwise be above ground instead flowing underground.

CONTACT INFORMATION

Niagara Peninsula Conservation Authority:

250 Thorold Road West; 3rd Floor, Welland, ON L3C 3W2

Phone: 905-788-3135,

Fax: 905-788-1121,

Email: info@npca.ca

Aboriginal Peoples in Ontario. (2017). "Teachings." Children and Youth Services Planning Committee. Retrieved from: https://kflachildrenandyouthservices.ca/indigenouslearningcircle/aboriginal-peoples-in-ontario/

Acid Rain FAQ. (August 7, 2013). Environment and Climate Change Canada. Retrieved from: https://www.ec.gc.ca/air/default.asp?lang=En&n=7E5E9F00-1

Agyle. (Aug. 4, 2007). Map of the Welland Canal. WikiMedia. Retrieved from: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Map_of_the_Welland_Canal.png

Alberti, M. (2008). Chapter 4: Landscape Signatures. In Advances in Urban Ecology, pp. 93-112. (1st ed. 2008.). Springer US. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-75510-6

Alberti, m. (2008). Chapter 5: Hydrological Processes. In Advances in Urban Ecology, pp. 133-16. (1st ed. 2008.). Springer US. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-75510-6

All Trails. (n.d.) Woodend Conservation Area. Retrieved from: https://www.alltrails.com/trail/canada/ontario/woodend-conservation-area

Brown, D.T., Middleton, J. & Vaughan K.S. (2010). The land between the lakes: An overview of the Niagara Region. In J.E. Black & K.E. Roy (Eds.),Niagara Birds. St. Catharines, ON: Brock University Printing and Digital Services.

Bruce Trail Conservancy. (n.d.). "History of the Trail". Retrieved from: https://brucetrail.org/pages/about-us/history-of-the-trail

Chesapeake Bay Program. (2020). Southern Flying Squirrel. Retrieved from: https://www.chesapeakebay.net/S=0/fieldguide/critter/southern_flying_squirrel

Exploring Niagara. (2014). Retrieved from https://www.exploringniagara.com/places_to_explore/conservation_areas/woodend.html#:~:text=At%20the%20top%20of%20the,brow%20of%20the%20Niagara%20Escarpment

Gasparini, N. (2018). Deglaciation and formation of a knickpoint: Niagara Falls. Vignettes. Retrieved from: https://serc.carleton.edu/vignettes/collection/25474.html

Google Maps. (2020). Niagara Region. Retrieved from: https://www.google.com/maps/@43.1479981,-79.2270321,12z?hl=en

Hewitt, D.F. (1971). The Niagara Escarpment. Industrial Mineral Report No. 35. Retrieved from: http://www.geologyontario.mndmf.gov.on.ca/mndmfiles/pub/data/imaging/IMR035/IMR035.pdf

Hough, M. (2004). Chapter 3: Plants and plant communities. In Cities and Natural Process: A Basis for Sustainability, pp.86-129. New York, NY: Routledge.

Hough, M. (2004). Chapter 4: Wildlife. In Cities and Natural Process: A Basis for Sustainability, pp.86-129. New York, NY: Routledge.

Hough, M. (2004). Chapter 6: Climate. In Cities and Natural Process: A Basis for Sustainability, pp. 189-218. New York, NY: Routledge.

Lindz. (Sep. 17, 2020). Woodend Conservation Area: A great natural spot in Niagara. Retrieved from: https://ivebeenbit.ca/woodend-conservation-area-photos/

May, K., May, N., & Kanter, M. (2008). Caring for Nature in Niagara. Retrieved from https://caroliniancanada.ca/legacy/Publications/Niagara_Final.pdf

Niagara Green Belt. (n.d.) DeCew House. Retrieved from: https://brocku.niagaragreenbelt.com/listings/55-historic-sites/195-decew-house.html

Niagara Green Belt. (n.d.) Woodend Conservation Area. Retrieved from: http://brocku.niagaragreenbelt.com/listings/76-parks-gardens-a-conservation-areas/193-woodend-conservation-area.html

Niagara Falls Info. (2020). Native American Settlement in Niagara. Retrieved from: https://www.niagarafallsinfo.com/niagara-falls-history/niagara-falls-municipal-history/the-chronicles-of-settlement-in-niagara/native-american-settlement-in-niagara/#:~:text=The%20first%20record%20of%20human,called%20themselves%20the%20%E2%80%9COnguiaahra%E2%80%9D.&text=Other%20tribes%20included%20the%20Seneca,Petun%2C%20Erie%20and%20the%20Susquehannock

NPCA. (2017). About The NPCA. Retrieved from: https://npca.ca/about

Ontario's Niagara Escarpment. (n.d.) Flora & fauna. Retrieved from http://escarpment.org/about/ecology/flora/index.php

Stenson, R.E. (Nov. 1991). "Recent bedrock geomorphology of the Niagara Escarpment, Niagara, Ontario." Atlantic Geology, 27(3). Retrieved from: http://archives.datapages.com/data/meta/atlantic-geology-journal/data/027/027003/pdfs/244_firstpage.pdf

Straw, A. (1968, July 1). "Late Pleistocene Glacial Erosion Along the Niagara Escarpment of Southern Ontario." GSA Bulletin 79(7): 889–910. doi: https://doi.org/10.1130/0016-7606(1968)79[889:LPGEAT]2.0.CO;2

Walker Living Campus. (n.d.). DSBN. Retrieved from: https://www.dsbn.org/walkerlivingcampus/about.html

Welland Recreational Canal Corporation. (2016). Brief history of the Welland Canal and the Welland Recreational Canal. Retrieved from http://www.canalcorp.ca/files/BriefHistoryoftheWellandCanal.pdf

Wikipedia. (2020, Nov. 9). "Iroquois". Retrieved from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iroquois

This Local Landscape Report was prepared by Oskars Rugelis for the Brock University course TMGT 2P94: Human Dominated Ecosystems on November 12, 2020.

All copyrights for cited material rest with the original copyright owners.