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FT-6: Forests of Gatineau Park
Departs Sunday, August
7 at 8 AM from the Viger Bus Depot, Level 1, Palais des congrès de Montréal
Returns Sunday, August
7 at 9 PM to the Viger Bus Depot, Level 1, Palais des congrès de Montréal
Fee:
$70 US Dollars per person – Includes coach bus
transportation, pre-trip continental breakfast, sack lunch, and beverages. Does
not include dinner at a
restaurant before returning from the trip.
Minimum:
15
Maximum: 37
Organizer: Daniel Gagnon (gagnon.daniel@uqam.ca)
Description: Gatineau Park is located on the southern edge of the Canadian Shield in
southwestern Québec in the Ottawa River valley. It is the most southern, large
conservation area of the province, and has the highest plant and animal
diversity. It is one of the few last refuges of many rare, threatened, or
endangered species. Although located in a vegetation zone dominated by sugar
maple, Gatineau Park has very diverse vegetation due to geology (syenite to
marble), geomorphology (kettle hole bogs, fluvial sands, deep tills, bare rock
outcrops, etc.), topography (Eardley Escarpment rises 900 feet above the valley)
and fire history (oaks and pines abundant). This one-day trip will include a
visit to Gatineau Park to see and discuss a number of forest communities and
plant species. Animals–particularly birds–should be encountered during the
outing as well.
The main focus of the trip
will be the Eardley Escarpment, which provides strong elevation and slope aspect
gradients. The lower slopes have species-rich sugar maple-bitternut hickory
forests. At higher elevations, on mesic sites, sugar mable-beech forests
dominate. Slopes with southern aspects are the most common on the Escarpment and
provide for the largest single expanse of oak forests found in Québec. Red oak
dominates these semi-open xeric stands, but white oak dominates in some stands.
(White oak reaches its northern distribution limit here.) Steep northern slopes
harbour hemlock stands. The crest of the Escarpment is dominated by white and
red pine stands and a few Jack pine stands (reindeer lichens and blueberry in
the understory). At another stop near the Ottawa River, participants will see
the largest remaining stands of floodplain forests in the area. The dominant
tree species is silver maple, but the topography of a natural system of levees
and channels provides a gradient of elevation above flood waters, resulting in
high tree species diversity (e.g., basswood, butternut, hackberry, elms, ashes,
cottonwood, bur oak, and blue beech).
Equipment
and Attire: This trip will include a hike on a mountain
slope trail (750 feet rise at Luskville Falls) and will require a moderate to
good fitness level. Participants should wear good hiking boots (preferably) or
shoes and bring a hat, rain jacket, and water bottle. Participants may wear
short pants, but should then be sure to bring insect repellent (DEET) for
mosquitoes (usually much reduced by August), especially in floodplain forest.
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