Marlborough Forest Update

David J. White

from Trail & Landscape 1986; 20(4): 131 and 20(5): 198

The Marlborough Forest, formerly called the Regional Forest, is a large Natural Environment Area south of Ottawa between Smiths Falls and North Gower. It was first established in 1973 by the Regional Municipality of Ottawa-Carleton (RMOC). While the initial area has been somewhat reduced by boudary changes to the 1973 Official Plan (Brereton 2984), it still encompasses over 12,000 ha. As Ottawa Filed-Naturalists' Club members and others explored the area, they discovered that it was one of the more significant natural areas in Ottawa-Carleton. Refer to Bayly (1977), Cody (1978), Dugal et al. (1978), Reddock (1977, 1979a), and White (1977).

At present, about half of the land in the Forest is publicly owned and half is provately owned. The majority of the public land is owned by the RMOC,most of which in turn is managed by the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources (OMNR) under the Forestry Act. Although the main management emphasis has been forestry, there is an important and growing segment drected to wildlife, recreation, and conservation.

For many years, groups such as the Ottawa Field-Naturalists' Club and the Marlborough Forest Advisory Committee have been urging the RMOC and OMNR to conduct a biological inventory of the Forest before undertaking management activities. Previously, neither has had funds for such work; however, in 1985 funds became available and I was contracted by the OMNR to begin a life science inventory of the Forest. Due to the size of the Forest, the study will take more than one year.

In the past, the OMNR has been criticized for some of its forest management practices because forestry is inappropriate in areas with significant natural features (Reddoch 1979b). Therefore, it was considered important in the first year of inventory to concentrate effort on areas proposed for forestry activity in the OMNR's 1985-90 operating plan. Areas subsequently identified as containing significant life science features could be left alone, while in those areas of little significance the planned management could proceed without compromising any important values. Recommendations were made to alleviate any negative impact of previous management in significant areas; for example, some of the pine trees planted in the alvar-like communities along Flood Road might have to be removed to preserve the important habitats found there.

Although the Forest occurs on a rather homogeneous physiographic unit, namely, the Smiths Falls Limestone Plain (Chapman and Putman 1984), it harbours a diverse flora and fauna. In may study (White 1985), I list 574 species of vascular plants, 15 mosses, 121 breeding birds, 19 mammals, 14 reptiles and amphibians, and 66 butterflies. These lists will expand as further inventory work is carried out.

Five species of rare native plants found during the study are worthy of mention. All are represented by speciments deposited in the herbarium of the National Museum of Natural Sciences (CAN).

Mountain Clubmoss (Lycopodium selago) is known elsewhere in the Ottawa District from only four other stations, three of which are in Quebec. A small colony consisting of a few plants was found just outside the present southern boundary of the Forest but within the 1973 boundary. They were growing in an open cedar woods on limestone not unlike the Stony Swamp station (D. Brunton, pers. com. 1985).

Whorled Milkwort (Polygala verticillata) has been known for a number of years from the alvar-like area along Flood Road (Dugal et al. 1978). It was the only Ottawa District station. It has not been seen in that area recently despite searches by several botanists including myself and may no longer occur there. It is, however, a very diminutive plant and could easily be missed. I did find a new station containing many dozens of plants in the southeast corner of the Forest in another alvar-like area. An additional Ottawa District station was recently found southeast of the Forest near Rideau River Provincial Park (D. Cuddy, pers. com. 1986).

Ginseng (Panax quinquefolium) is rare in Ontario (Argus and White 1984). Several stands are now known in the Forest. One station found during the study in a rich deciduous woods in the northern part of the Forest may be the largest colony in Ottawa-Carleton. It contains more than 100 adult plants.

Speedwell (Veronica catenata) was collected along Brassils Creek in the southwest corner of the Forest in 1975 by Albert Dugal. It was not identified until after the Ottawa-Hull checklist (Gillett and White 1978) was published. The significance of the speciment, which is in CAN, remained unrecognized until it turned up during the present study. It is a new record for the Ottawa District.

Heath Aster (Aster ericoides) is known elsewhere in the District only from an old record near Templeton and a small stand in the Pinhey Forest (F. Ball, pers. com. 1985). Several hundred plants occur in a number of locations in the extreme southwest corner of the Forest, representing the largest colonies in the Ottawa District.

While the first year of inventory covered only a part of the Forest, the OMNR intends to support further inventory work when additional funds become available.

Literature cited

Argus, G.W. and D.J. White. 1984. Panax quinquefolium. In Atlas of the rare vascular plants of Ontario. Part 3. Edited by G.W. Argus and C.J. Keddy. National Museum of Natural Sciences.

Bayly, I. 1977. The Richmond wetlands. Trail & Landscape 11(1): 9-12.

Brereton, N.T. 1984. The end of a saga? Natural Environment policies in Ottawa-Carleton. Trail & Landscape 18(1): 25-30.

Chapman, L.J. and D.F. Putman. 1984. The physiography of southern Ontario. 3rd ed. Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources, Geological Survey, Special Volume 2.

Cody, W.J. 1978. The status of Lythrum alatum (Lythraceae) in Canada. Canadian Field-Naturalist 92(1): 74-75.

Dugal, A., A. Reddoch, J. Reddoch, D. White, C. Billington, S. Hamill. 1978. Response to the Conservation Lands Report of the Regional Municipality of Ottawa-Carleton. Conservation Committee, Ottawa Field-Naturalists' Club. Mimeograph. 76 pp.

Gillett, J.M., D.J. White. 1978. Checklist of vascular plants of the Ottawa-Hull Region, Canada. National Museum of Natural Sciences. 155 pp.

Reddoch, J. 1977. Prairie White Fringed-orchid - a new orchid for the Ottawa area. Trail & Landscape 11(1): 16-19.

_____ 1979a. Calcareous fens in the Ottawa District. Trail & Landscape 13(1): 16-27.

_____ 1979b. Mismanagement in the Regional Forest. Trail & Landscape 13(2): 46-50.

White, D.J. 1977. Rare plant survey: revisions. Trail & Landscape 11(1): 22-25.

White, D.J. 1985. A life science inventory of parts of the Marlborough Forest. Ministry of Natural Resources, Eastern Region, Kemptville. 226 pp.