High Park: managing ecosystems July 29, 2007

This fieldtrip will look at the varied ecosystems that comprise High Park and how they are dependent on different kinds and degrees of human intervention in order for them to remain resilient. High Park is a unique large urban greenspace whose various ecosystems are the result of intersection between regional climatic shifts over several millennia, topography, aspect, soil, and human land-use both in the park and in the surrounding city environment. During the field trip we will look at the distinctive vegetative, abiotic and human features of several well defined ecosystems and their shared boundaries. The focus of the field-trip will be on how differing human management behaviours shapes the dynamics of vegetation in ecosystems, either toward ecosystem resilience (and sustainability) or towards ecosystem brittleness (unsustainability).

The following are several web-sites that pertain to High Park and are useful background for the fieldtrip

http://www.toronto.ca/wes/techservices/involved/outreach/vsp/index.htm

http://www.rbg.ca/greenlegacy/pages/transforming_central.html

http://www.sunartsdesign.com/pdf/The_Oaks_of_High_Park.pdf

http://www.carolinian.org/SpeciesHabitats_TGPandSavanna.htm

http://www.toronto.ca/wes/techservices/involved/outreach/vsp/pdf/a_breif_history_of_high_park_black_oak_savannah_ecosystem.pdf

http://www.toronto.ca/trees/pdfs/HPfactsheet.pdf

http://www.toronto.ca/trees/pdfs/HighParkRestoration.pdf

This fieldtrip is open to people over 10 years old. The cost is $15.00 per person; those under 15, over 65 or on limited incomes may attend without charge