Description

This site is also known as Winona Escarpment Slopes, Beamer Valley and Grimsby Escarpment.

Vegetation

Winona Escarpment Slopes (Eagles & Beechey, 1985):
This area contains some of the most mature, best developed and most diverse representative vegetation patterns of the Niagara Section of the escarpment. Of particular significance is the excellent slope forest complex in its central portions, which presents a mature array of highly representative features such as forested talus slopes, lower slope forests and others. As well, on the western end of the area there is a very well developed terrace ridge and valley pattern consisting of dry mesic Quercus-Pinus-Acer forests on the narrow sand and shale ridges (strikingly similar to those of the Short Hills area or the valley rim forests of the Iroquois Plain) and more common Tsuga dominated canopies in the valleys. Several significant plant species including Aureolaria flava are reported for this area.

Beamer Valley and Grimsby Escarpment (Eagles & Beechey, 1985):
Unfortunately, with the exception of the incised valley, almost all of the forests in this area have been badly disturbed. While this area has one of the most extensive reaches of escarpment rim forest in the Niagara Section, a lumbered and grazed, young aged forest of Acer-Fraxinus-Quercus is predominant; only locally in the vicinity of the valley are the rim forests well developed but, again, severely disturbed by trampling and vandalism. The escarpment slope forest patterns are quite representative of the site but again are generally quite disturbed; they become increasingly immature towards the valley mouth. The valley itself has very well developed vegetation patterns including: an Acer-Fraxinus-Tilia east facing slope forest; a very well developed Acer-Tsuga-Betula northerly facing slope forest; and a localized Thuja-Betula scree slope and cliff ledge grove complex (a pattern more typical of the more northern sections of the escarpment which has only a very local occurrence in the Niagara Peninsula). Above the eastern side of the valley mouth is a well developed and extensive dry mesic successional limestone plain pattern of communities which are adjacent to a more representative later successional stage.

Grimsby Escarpment (Brady, 1980 in Eagles & Beechey, 1985):
Two vegetation communities exist in this site. West of Woolverton Road, sugar maple, red ash and red oak dominate while black ash, swamp white and pin oak, red and black maple, slippery and while elm, basswood, hemlock and white birch are also noted.

Representation

Winona Escarpment Slopes (Eagles & Beechey, 1985):
This area harbours a representative pattern of the escarpment associated features which occur on the Niagara Peninsula. Due to the intensive agriculture on the plain above and below, this area is limited to the escarpment face and slope.

Beamer Valley and Grimsby Escarpment (Eagles & Beechey, 1985):
This area includes the Beamer Memorial Conservation Area and the adjacent privately owned escarpment associated features. The area presents a series of escarpment associated features which are representative of patterns in the Niagara Peninsula. The major feature is a well developed escarpment face and slope complex which is characterized by an uneven, rolling till extensive shallow soiled limestone plain with a local arm of the Vinemount Moraine along the road atop the plain. A well developed incised valley of Fourty Mile Creek protudes into the escarpment of the eastern end of the area; it has a very well developed buried till-talus slope pattern on both sides. As well, there are examples of the uncommonly occuring active, open scree slopes toward the mouth of the valley.

Landform

Winona Escarpment Slopes (Eagles & Beechey, 1985):
The geomorphology of the area contains a well developed spectrum of the more representative escarpment associated features of escarpment face, cliff foot talus/ scree slide scars, boulder stewn slopes and narrow sub-escarpment terraces which are somewhat dissected by intermittent stream valleys. The central to western portions of the slope of this area has a very well developed bedrock controlled shale terrace which is strongly dissected by valleys.

Grimsby Escarpment (Brady 1980 in Eagles & Beechey, 1985):
This large site (325 ha) contains many geological features typical of the escarpment formation including steep slopes, plateaus, re-entrant streams, V-shaped gorges, rock outcroppings, sandstone cliffs and shallow soils.

References

• Allen, G.M., P.F.J. Eagles and S.D. Price (eds.) 1990. Conserving Carolinian Canada: Conservation Biology in the Deciduous Forest Region. University of Waterloo Press, Waterloo. 346 pp.


• Brady, R.F. (ed.) 1980. Grimsby Escarpment Site Summary. In, Regional Municipality of Niagara Environmentally Sensitive Areas. Department of Geography, Brock University, St. Catharines. viii + 392 pp.


• Eagles, P.F.J. and T.J. Beechey (eds.) 1985. Critical Unprotected Natural Areas in the Carolinian Life Zone of Canada. Final Report, Identification Subcommittee, Carolinian Canada. The Nature Conservancy of Canada, The Ontario Heritage Foundation and World Wildlife Fund (Canada). 400 pp.
  

© Natural Heritage Information Centre, 1998

 

 

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