ONTARIO

PineryPARKS

Cedar Trail Map

Centre

Welcome to the Cedar Trail. You are about to discover oneof North America's rarest habitats; the Oak Savanna.

The numbered sections in this guide correspond to numberedposts along the trail. Each stop will explore one aspect of thisunique habitat.

Plan at least one hour to explore this 2.3 km trail. The loopportion of the trail is wheelchair accessible. You may also wishto extend your hike and follow the extension to the shore of LakeHuron. Take your time and quietly enjoy your surroundings.

Post 1: Sand,Trees & GrassesParl

• Centre

Pinery, the name conjures up images oftowering pine trees, blue lakes and

reddish-pink granite rocks. One look at yoursurroundings and you know that Pinerypaints a very different picture; a picture ofsand, scattered oak trees and sun drenchedmeadows.

Much of Pinery is Oak Savanna. This termdescribes a plant community of widely spacedtrees with open crowns that allow muchsunlight to reach the ground. This lightsupports a rich ground cover of prairiegrasses, shrubs and flowers. Oak Savanna is

Oak Savanna,

a globally rare

ecosystem

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The OakSavanna is

neither prairie

nor forest, but

a combination

of each

often considered to be a transitionzone between western prairies and theeastern deciduous forests. While OakSavanna is neither prairie or forest, itis the combination of the two habitatsthat give the Oak Savanna its ownunique identity.

Oak Savanna developed in Ontario4000-8000 years ago during a period referredto as the "hypsithermal interval." The globalclimate at this time was 3°C warmer and drierthan what we experience today. These climac-tic conditions encouraged the expansion ofthe prairies from central North America intosuitable sites in Southern Ontario.

When cooler, moisterconditions returned,forests again domi-nated and prairie vege-tation remained onlywhere conditions weresuitable. Infertile, well-drained sandy soilsand regular litter fireshave maintainedPinery's Oak Savannaover time.

Fragrant Sumac is a common shrub in Pinery'sSavanna.

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Post 2: Tug of War r:<

yn front of you is a grassy, open area with1 scattered trees. The sun loving prairiegrasses and oak trees you see here areconstantly competing with each other. Giventhe chance, the trees and shrubs will quicklyoutgrow the sun loving grasses and flowers.Low amounts of rainfall and poor soil help tocheck the growth of trees and shrubs in aSavanna, but there is another force thatprevents the trees from dominating thesystem. That force is fire.

Oak Savanna

needs regular

fires to keep it

healthy.

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Fires have occurred in Pinery for thousands ofyears. Started by lightning, regular, low inten-sity ground fires maintain the open, grassymeadows by removing small shrubs andtrees. The more often a fire occurs, the moreopen the Savanna becomes. Infrequent firescause the Savanna to have a more "scrubby"appearance with dense thickets of oaks andshrubs inside a meadow.

Consequently, because of this tug of warbetween forest and prairie, Oak Savanna is aplant community that will gradually changeits appearance over time. This variableappearance creates confusion about what OakSavanna actually looks like. As you walk thistrail, you will see Savanna that is very open aswell as Savanna that is thick with shrubs andscrubby in its appearance.

Prescribed burns are started by trained Ministry staff to keep the savanna healthy.

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Post 3: What's in a Name?

"0ak barrens," "orchard like" and "scrubsavanna" are some of the names given to

Oak Savanna by early European settlers. IfOak Savanna has so many different names,how do researchers know what they are look-ing at? At this stop there are several clues tohelp you identify what you are observing.

Pinery's Oak Savanna is referred to as a "dry"savanna or a savanna that forms on sandysoils. As in all other habitats, there will becertain plant species that are more abundantin a dry savanna than others. These speciesare referred to as "indicator species." Two of

Oak Savanna is

about 40%

trees and 60%

open meadows.

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Two indicator

species for a dry

savanna are

Black Oak and

Red Cedar

the indicator species for a drysavanna are Black Oak and EasternRed Cedar.

Black Oak is easily identified by itsdeeply grooved square barksegments. In Ontario, Black Oak isalmost wholly confined to extremesouthwestern Ontario. If you travelany further north of Pinery, you willsee fewer and fewer of these oaks, ifyou see any at all.

Dotted along the trail are EasternRed Cedar trees. This cigar shapedevergreen grows in the same habitatas the Black Oak, but is also farmore widespread throughout east-ern North America. It is found as farwest as Manitoba and as far east asNova Scotia.

The name that is used to describe aplant community reflects the pres-ence and abundance of plants aswell as the relationships betweenthem. Hopefully, when you thinkabout the name Oak Savanna thiswinter, you will be able to picturethe sun drenched landscape that isaround you at this stop.

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You Can't See theSavanna for the Trees!

fri

Take a seat. This area is a naturally occurringmature red pine stand that was under-

planted with White and Red pines during theearly 1960's. At that time, it was believed thatthe ravages of logging and wild fire haddegraded Pinery. To rehabilitate the park, over3 million pines were planted in Pinery and allforest fires were extinguished. In this pinestand, planting increased the number of stemsfrom 3000 to 6000 per acre. Far too crowdedfor a healthy pine stand to survive.

In the open savanna areas, planted pines soonstarted to over grow and shade out the sun

Dense pine

plantations

shade out other

plants.

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White Pine has five needles

per bunch.

loving oak trees and savanna plants. Eventually,the sun loving flowers and shrubs disappear.Even the hardy prairie grasses are gone.

Without the shrubs, trees and flow-ers, both shelter and food are gonefor many animals. In a pine planta-tion, you may see the occasional redsquirrel, but the total number andvariety of plants and animals, thebiodiversity, is greatly reduced.

By now you're probably shakingyour head and thinking, "whatpossessed them to do such a thing?"Hindsight is always perfect. In the1950's very little was known aboutOak Savanna. Based on the knowl-edge of the time, planting pinesseemed a reasonable solution.Today, with an increased knowledgeof forest communities, many plantedpines, like the smaller ones that oncedominated the understory in thisarea, are being thinned to supportsurvival of all the plants and animalsfound in this area. The pattern ofopen Oak Savanna interlaced withnatural stands of Red Pine and scat-tered white pine like this area willalso be protected. At the next stop,

you may continue your guided walk on theCedar trail or travel the extension to the beach.

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Take a moment to look at the rolling dunes,carpeted in prairie grasses and oak trees.

Although a 15m dune may not seem like a bighill to us, imagine how it would appear tosome of the smaller forest creatures, like ants!That same dune would appear as a formidablemountain, with cooler temperatures in itsshadows and on its peak. The hills andhollows of Pinery's Oak Savanna form manysmall communities called "microhabitats."

These microhabitats have slightly differentmoisture and temperature conditions thanthe areas around them, and often support

The temper-

ature can

change from

the top to the

bottom of a

forested dune.

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slightly different types of animals and plants.For example, the prairie flower YellowPuccoon usually grows on the lower slopesbetween dunes, so their roots are closer to thewater table.

Deer use these hills and hollows too. In thewinter they use the warmer south-facingslopes to lay in the sun and at other times beddown in the shelter of evergreens in thehollows between dunes for shelter. In thewarmer months, they use cooler north-facingslopes, and prefer higher areas that affordthem a better view of the surrounding area.

Pinery's hills and hollows form a mosaic ofmicrohabitats, a patchwork quilt of slightlydifferent temperature and moisture condi-tions, with different flora and fauna adaptedto these conditions.

Yellow Puccoon grows on the lower slopes of dunes, closer to the undergroundwater table.

10 Cedar Trail

Post 6: The Waves of Time

Lake Huron is truly awe-inspiring. Thishuge body of fresh water has sculpted

Pinery over the last 6000 years, and continuesto affect the park daily.

Water absorbs and releases heat very slowly.As a result, the lake has a moderating effecton the local climate, cooling the land in thespring and warming it in the fall. The lakealso affects weather patterns. On a hotsummer day, up to an inch of water can evap-orate out of Lake Huron, the water vapourbuilding as clouds in the sky and creatingthunderous storms. As hot air rises over the

Each wave

deposits sand

on Pinery's

shore.

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Marram grass holds sand in place

with its roots, forming sand dunes.

land, the cooler air over the lakerushes in, creating an on-shorebreeze, and churning the waterinto waves.

Waves carry sand along thelakeshore in a process calledlongshore drift. Sand erodedfrom cliffs north of Grand Bendis moved by the water anddeposited on Pinery's beach,where it is blown inland by thewind. Initially, the dune vegeta-tion acts like a giant, living snowfence slowing the wind andcausing the sand to pile up.Stimulated to grow by burial,dune grasses then push upthrough the sand to trap andhold it in place while a protec-tive mesh of their tangled roots

grow to bind the whole dune together. This ishow the sand dunes throughout all of Pineryhave formed. Dune grasses hold the sand inplace with their roots, allowing other plants tobecome established, until the dunes havebecome stabilized with a carpet of vegetation.

Every wave from Lake Huron affects Pinery,carrying sand and slowly building the back-bone of this park. As you walk back along theextension, think about the wind and waves ofthe lake, and how they have slowly shapedthis park over thousands of years.

12 Cedar Trail

Post 7: Coming Out ofthe Dark

/ 11

As you walk a few steps away from the pineplantation, the vegetation changes

dramatically. Graceful, tall prairie grassessuddenly catch your eye. These grasses havetheir origins in North America's prairie regionand their presence contributes to the openfeeling of the Pinery Savanna.

Taking advantage of the sunlight, thesegrasses grow and spread rapidly. Both Indiangrass and Little Bluestem, make use of tillers,or side shoots which grow near the ground.By sending out several short tillers, thesegrasses grow in scattered clumps to form a

Big Bluestem is

a tallgrass

species that can

grow over six

feet high.

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The grasses'

extensive root

system allows the

plant to

withstand

grazing by

herbivores as

well as burning

dense sod that effectively prevents otherplants from growing nearby.

While these grasses may seem tall and largecompared to many plants you may be familiar

with, we actually see only a verysmall portion of the plant. Like manyprairie grasses, 90% of the plant isfound below ground. This extensiveroot system stores large amounts ofwater and nutrients in the form ofstarch that allows the plant to with-stand grazing by herbivores fire andlong dry periods.

While easily ignored, grasses areimportant to the wildlife that lives in

a Savanna. Grass seeds provide a concen-trated source of protein, carbohydrates andminerals. Seed eating birds, mice, voles andinsects all eat this plentiful food source. Inturn, they attract other creatures to thesavanna.

Sand Reed is one of over 50 species of grass that live in Pinery.

14 Cedar Trail

ing on the Edge

vOak Savanna is

>ery few species of animals are found only ideal habitat for

in Oak Savanna and nowhere else. BluebirdsInstead, what you will find are creatures thatprefer an "edge" or an area where two typesof vegetation meet.

Eastern Blue Birds prefer a habitat with fewtrees and lots of open clearings. Oak Savanna'smeadows and trees provide ideal habitat forthis rare bird. Easily recognized by its brightblue back and chestnut throat, the male'smusical "chur-chur-lee-chur-lee" oftenannounces his presence nearby. Conspicuouslyperched on a dead branch, they will scan the

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ground for their next meal of worms, caterpil-lars and other insects.

When finished feeding, you may see one ofthese thrushes flutter back to a nest in ahollow tree or an old woodpecker hole. Theremoval of dead trees in farm woodlots andthe use of pesticides has taken a huge toll onEastern Bluebird populations in Ontario.Pinery's hollow oak trees provide valuablerefuge and habitat for nesting sites.

Another bird that takes advan-tage of the combination of open-ness and the Eastern Red Cedartrees where they can "dive forcover" at the first hint of dangeris the Eastern Towhee. The malesblack upper body and hoodcontrasts sharply with his chest-nut sides and white under partsmaking this colourful sparrowinstantly recognizable.

Towhees are often heard rakingthe ground by kicking both theirfeet backwards in the search forseeds and insects even before thefamiliar call of"drink your tea-ee-ee-ee" fills the air.

So what is living on the edge like?For these two birds, there proba-bly is no better place to be!

Eastern Towhee

16 Cedar Trail

Two of the factors that maintain an OakSavanna are low amounts of rainfall and

sandy soil. The porous sand cannot holdwater for an extended time. After it rains,water drains away, quickly leaching nutrientsfrom the soil as it goes. Both water and nutri-ents are precious commodities and cannot bewasted. Yet, despite these extreme conditions,the savanna's wildflowers produce a subtleshow of colour throughout the year.

Rough blazing Star stores energy in an under-ground stem or "corm" similar to a tulipbulb. In times of stress, the plant draws on its

Rough Blazing

Star - a hardy

prairie

wildflower

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Prairie Ragwort

energy reserves to continue growing. Thecorm also gives the plant the ability to godormant in times of extreme stress. If grow-ing conditions become to stressful, the plantsimply shuts down and waits until the nextyear to begin its growth cycle again.

Prairie Ragwort has a different strategy. Itsdense fibrous roots grow very near theground's surface, trapping water and nutrientsfrom the surrounding soil. Like many flower-ing plants living in desert like conditions, thePrairie Ragwort has very small leaves that arecovered in fine hairs. These hairs preventwater from evaporating, and insulate theplant to keep it cool. In the fall, the Ragwort'scircular set of leaves is still visible at theground's surface. The leaves stay greenthroughout the winter months giving theplant a head start in the spring, saving energyand wasting little of the growing season.

18 Cedar Trail

: A Little Eveningr

v0n

During the hot, humid days of summer,stop and listen for a low, buzzing sound

similar to a sputtering motorboat. Thissound, most often heard at twilight, is themating buzz of a male Scissor Grinder Cicada.

This buzz, produced by the male to call to thefemales of his own species, is made with theaid of a "drum" and amplifiers. Located onthe underside of the insect, the vibratingsound is made by muscles contracting andrelaxing. In turn, this vibration is echoed andamplified in a large hollow chamber.

Scissor Grinder

Cicadas buzz

from trees on

hot summer

days.

Cedar Trail 19

Little is known about this insect other than itprefers to live in oak woods, making Pinery anideal habitat. What is known is that they are thelargest species of cicada found in Ontario, being60-72 mm long or about the size of a dragonfly.

Despite its large size, it can be a difficult insect tolocate, even when it is singing. Like a ventriloquist,its buzz seems to come from several directions atonce. Its black body and green wing veins, readilyblends in with grayish coloured tree bark tofurther disguise this insect. The Scissor Grinder isonly occasionally seen flying from tree to tree.

In 1990, a park naturalist asked the Royal OntarioMuseum in Toronto to identify this large cicada.

Once identified, this cicadacaused quite a buzz at themuseum. The only otherrecord of a Scissor GrinderCicada the museum had camefrom Turkey Point, on LakeErie, in 1908!

Research has revealed manysecrets about the savanna, yetthere is still much to learnabout this community. TheScissor Grinder Cicada is onlyone of the recently "discov-ered" residents of the savanna.How many more are there?Only continued research andconservation of this habitatwill tell.

The male cicada makes noise by

vibrating muscles on its abdomen.

20 Cedar Trail

11: From Little Acorns10,'

"X To other group of trees has influenced theIN settlement of North America more thanthe oaks. Long honoured as strong and majes-tic, the "mighty" oaks provided settlers withfood for livestock and shelter from storms.Game animals were plentiful in oak openingsas acorns were food for everything from Elkto Passenger Pigeons. Even today we regardoak forests as valued recreational environ-ments and wildlife habitat.

The Dwarf Chinquapin Oak in front of you is arare oak species in Canada. Surviving only inSouthwestern Ontario, Dwarf Chinquapin is

Dwarf

Chinquapin Oak

is rare in

Ontario.

Cedar Trail 21

actually a shrub. Unlike many people'sperception of what an oak should look like, itdoesn't look mighty at all. Like all oaksthough, this tree is equipped to survive whatseems like the Savanna's almost insurmount-able odds of drought and fire. Its lengthytaproot penetrates deeply into the ground toobtain water and its bark insulates it from theheat of fire.

The one factor Dwarf Chinquapin Oak are notnaturally equipped to survive is people. Oneearly settler foreshadowed the Savanna'sdemise when he wrote, "it is an extensiverange of open, grove like woodland princi-pally oak and the trees so dispersed as to notinterfere materially with the plough."

Settlement doomed thesavanna by quickly convertingit to agricultural fields and byextinguishing all fires thatoccurred.

Although widespread in NorthAmerica at the time of settle-ment, Oak Savanna virtuallydisappeared within 20-40years. Today, oak trees andshrubs like this Dwarf Chin-quapin remind us that the OakSavanna's fate is in our hands.

Dwarf Chinquapin Oak has eight or

fewer veins per leaf.

22 Cedar Trail

As you relax by the river, take a momentto try and imagine how little Oak

Savanna is left in North America.

Before European settlement, Oak Savannacovered about 13 million hectares of NorthAmerica. Today, less than 0.02% of the origi-nal area remains. Pinery Provincial Park isabout 2,500 hectares in size and approximately60% of the park is covered by Oak Savanna.This means that Pinery's boundaries protectalmost 50% of North America's remainingOak Savanna.

This delicately balanced ecosystem sits on theverge of extinction. Will our children be able tomarvel at this unique habitat and equallyspecialized inhabitants. Only the support ofconservation minded people will assure thefuture of Canada's Oak Savanna. Will you help?

Longtail

Weasels are one

of the many

creatures that

live in Pinery's

Oak Savanna.

Cedar Trail 23

I

(lParking \^-mt Visitorr-"""T^ •• Centre

If you wish to recycle this guide, pleasedeposit it in the box at the trail register

post. Your payment covers the cost of theguide and also supports other projects ofThe Friends of Pinery Park that includepublications, resource managementprograms, research and interpretive facilitydevelopment including support for thebuilding of the extension of this trail to theshoreline.

24 Cedar Trail

Jarfialni funded bit ( (irol . uldtnx In lorina

I I I I I 7/// (^l-J,:-,-mcttwni of her husband, . '']&&

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