|
A prescribed (or controlled) burn took place in High Park on March 21, 2012. The area burned comprised a total of 3.4ha of High Park's natural areas.
A prescribed burn is a deliberately set and carefully controlled fire that burns low to the ground and consumes dried leaves, small twigs and grass stems but does not harm larger trees. This spring's burn was intended to set back undesirable woody species, increase oak regeneration, and encourage native species residing in the park's black oak savannah.
Black oak savannahs are a rare vegetation community that are at risk of extinction throughout North America. In order to survive, they depend on fires to kill off competing vegetation, enrich the soil and promote growth and germination of rare species. Urban Forestry first began active restoration of the parks natural areas in 1997, following recommendations of a 1992 report that confirmed the oak trees were approaching 200 years of age and that they were not successfully regenerating. Prescribed burning was proposed as a management tool to encourage oak regeneration and to help re-establish the prairie forbs and graminoids that should be part of this fire dependent black oak woodland plant community.
Prescribed burn management, in combination with native species planting and invasive species management over the years have produced tremendous results on the restoration of the rare black oak savannahs in High Park. Oak regeneration has increased in areas where the heavy canopy was removed, and areas of prairie grasses and wildflowers have expanded and increased in vigour. Native plants grown from seed collected in the park have been slowly reintroduced to areas of the park over the past 7-10 years through volunteer and staff plantings. Some of these past plantings will benefit greatly from this spring's burn and resprout with increased vigour following the burn.
Although the date was much earlier than previous years, the weather on March 21 was perfect for burning. Burn crews altered ignition plans to compensate for high smog levels and produced a fast burning fire where the smoke quickly raised high over the burn site and dissipated as it drifted away from High Park. Very little smoke entered the roadways and the overall outcome of the burn was very successful.
This prescribed burn marks the 10th burn carried out in High Park since the initial test burns in 1997 and 1998. City staff will be following up with a variety of post-burn monitoring efforts, including additional community plantings with staff and High Park volunteers this spring.
For more information about the prescribed burn program and ongoing forest restoration management, please call Urban Forestry at 416-392-0380, visit the Ravines section of this web site or call 311.
Community Involvement and Programs within High Park
Related Information
|
