452 Shelburne Granite Plain
| Geology | Fresh Water | Soils | Plants | Animals Cultural Environment | Sites of Interest | Topics & Habitats |
Geology and Landscape Development
This Unit presents a typical granite terrain, hummocky and covered with
large boulders. The elevations are low, in keeping both with its position
on the planation surface and with the fact that the granite body is
probably not fully exposed.
The surface has a mantle of thin, stony till with no drumlins.
Fresh Water
Great Pubnico Lake, the largest body of water in this Unit, is the
 |
| Shelburne Barrens Click to enlarge |
Soils
Soils in this Unit have developed from various parent materials - granite,
quartzite, and schist. Large areas are poorly drained, either because of
topography, shallow depth to bedrock, or the presence of a cemented
ortstein layer. Sand plains are common. In the Yarmouth County corner
of the Unit, Gibraltar, Bayswater, and Aspotogan soils - all derived from
granite - occur with patches of peat. In the rest of the Unit, poorly
drained Bayswater and Aspotogan soils, and imperfectly drained
Liverpool and Danesville soils, each often gleyed and mottled, are
dominant on the largely level topography towards the coast, with some
areas of better-drained Medway, Mersey, and Port Hebert soils where the
relief is more pronounced.
Plants
This Unit is the most southerly portion of Nova Scotia not directly
affected by the cold and fog associated with the Atlantic Coast. The
growing season is hot and subject to drought on shallow soils. The natural
vegetation appears to have been White Pine and Red Oak, but repeated
burning has reduced many of the pine sites to a shrub cover of cinquefoil,
Bearberry, and Broom-crowberry, with scattered Black Spruce. Black
Spruce predominates on ill-drained lands, while Red Oak covers the ridges.
Eastern Hemlock and Red Spruce are found in the few unburned areas. The
warm climate is indicated by the presence of plants which otherwise occur
no further north than southern Maine, for example, Inkberry.
Animals
The barrens do not provide productive wildlife habitat, and this Unit has
the lowest small-mammal diversity in the Region, with no more than four
species commonly occurring. It does, however, support one of the best
moose populations in western Nova Scotia. Typical freshwater fishes
include Brook Trout, Yellow Perch, Brown Bullhead, and Golden Shiner.
Cultural Environment
Much of this area is barren as a result of repeated fires. Around the turn
of the century, meadows in southwestern Nova Scotia were burned
annually to promote hay growth, and barrens were burned periodically
for production of blueberries. Although there were fewer forest fires
than today, they were often unattended unless they threatened
settlements and therefore burned much larger areas. From 1900 to
1914, more timber was lost to fire, disease, storms, and old age than
was harvested. Barren lands of the Shelburne Granite Plain feature
significant moose populations that attract seasonal hunters.
- Many eskers along the shoreline, along Clyde River and north of Clements Pond
Provincial Parks and Park Reserves
Proposed Parks and Protected Areas System includes Natural Landscape 8c.
|
|