Cootes Paradise facts for kids
Cootes Paradise at the western end of Lake Ontario is a property of the Royal Botanical Gardens and a remnant of the larger Dundas Marsh Crown Game Preserve established by the Province of Ontario in 1927. Cootes Paradise Marsh is a 4.5km long rivermouth wetland within this property and represent the lakes western terminus. It is found on the west side of Hamilton Harbour (Burlington Bay) and It is located in the municipality of Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. It is owned and managed by Royal Botanical Gardens (RBG), a charitable organization established in 1941 by the Government of Ontario. The marsh is part of the Cootes Paradise Nature Reserve, with these lands representing 99% of the unaltered lands along the local Lake Ontario shoreline (~25km). The site carries multiple designations, including a National Historic Site, a Nationally Important Bird Area (IBA), and an Impor tant Amphibian and Reptile Area (IMPARA). Cootes Paradise is sometimes also called the Dundas Marsh.
History
The Western end of Lake Ontario has been a traditional landing place, portage route, and gathering area since the glaciers retreated. The name Cootes Paradise results from its association with Thomas Coote, a British Army officer stationed in the Niagara area during the American Revolutionary War. The association of the marsh with Thomas Coote's name was as a place he would visit to hunt and fish during the 1780's, and as a result was recorded in early maps as a means of reference. It also appears in the diary of Elizabeth Simcoe, wife of John Graves Simcoe, the first Lieutenant Governor of Upper Canada in 1796. Indigenous peoples name for the marsh have not be ascertained, a result of the multiple groups that have used the area over last several centuries.
The wetland contains diverse habitats, but is largely a seasonally flooded river mouth marsh feed by multiple creeks, dominated by Spencer Creek. It is a surrounded by steep oak forested hills with multiple low areas, associated with the main river deltas providing landings and access to the water. It has provided food for people and habitat to a wide variety of lifeforms that span international borders. The habitat went into decline beginning in the late 19th century as a result of water pollution, human overuse, canal dredging, highway building, and the introduction of carp into Lake Ontario. Original habitat protection is tied to the Hamilton Bird Protection society, and a developer that settled with the city of Hamilton for owed taxes for a large block on the south side of Cootes Paradise. This formed the foundation of public property, that were set aside as part of a much larger large Crown Game Preserve in 1927 (~2900 acres). The remnants of the 1927 crown game preserve were placed under the control of the Royal Botanical Gardens for management with its formation in 1941, with the Gardens' reacquiring many of the original crown game preserve lands over the decades.
By 1985, 85% of the wetland plant cover was lost, 90% of the remainder was non-native species retained in the swamp habitat areas, and the carp population numbered over 70,000 fish. As part of ongoing efforts to reverse this ecological decline, RBG introduced Project Paradise in 1993, part of the Hamilton Harbour Remedial Action Plan, with the project wrapping up in 2015. Projects to restore the marsh date back to the late 1940's. The continuing plans focus on removing sources of stress to the marsh by focusing attention on inflowing water pollution, minimizing the number of spawning carp, and re-establishing native plants through reintroduction projects. There are a number of identified anthropogenic stresses that have led to the unbalanced populations of carp and Canada geese. These are water quality and quantity based. Poor water clarity is a result of extremely high nutrient and sediment levels derived from sewage and urban runoff. Rapid sediment accumulation is the result of unmanaged land use patterns in the watersheds, while the regulated water level in Lake Ontario has dramatically altered the flooding pattern.
Controlled burns have also been conducted in an effort to restore some of the old field areas to their original Oak savanna ecosystem, a rare grouping of Carolinian plants and animals. Cootes Paradise Marsh is connected to Hamilton Harbour via the Desjardins Canal, which was dug through the wetland between 1826 and 1837 to connect Dundas, Ontario, with shipping on the Great Lakes. It was later straightened by an excavation through the Burlington Heights in 1851 to accommodate the railway across the eastern end of the marsh.
In 2000, the City of Hamilton constructed a 3 km recreational trail connecting Royal Botanical Gardens to Pier 4 Park; this trail is also part of the Waterfront Trail system. Royal Botanical Gardens' trails are open to passive recreation only as the area is a National Historic site, Nationally Important Bird Area (IBA), Important Amphibian and Reptile Area (IMPARA), containing numerous endangered species. As such, activities such as biking, jogging and orienteering are against the by-laws other than on the Desjardins Trail. The Desjardin Trail opened in 2001 and is a repurposing of the Gardens' service road to the Cootes Paradise Fishway.
Birds
Cootes Paradise is designated a nationally Important Bird Area (IBA) due to its strategic location at the tip of Lake Ontario and with the Central and Mississippi Flyways. As a result, hundreds of species of birds use Cootes Paradise at some point during the year, most notably during the spring and autumn migratory periods. Notable species include the least bittern, hooded warbler, white pelican, Caspian tern, black-crowned night-heron, osprey, pileated woodpecker, and the prothonotary warbler. In 2013 a nesting pair of bald eagles recolonized the marsh on the north shore of Cootes Paradise. This was the first such nest on Lake Ontario in more than 40 years.
Fish
The wetlands function as a seasonal fish nursery for Lake Ontario, and despite the historical degradation, most historical species of fish can still be found using the marsh. As with birds and plants the location is a biodiversity hotspot for Canada with over 60 species present. Each spring thousands of spawning fish migrate in through the Fishway from the bay and lake, laying eggs and leaving shortly after, allowing the marsh to function as a giant fish hatchery. Annually between 5 and 20 million fish are produced for the lake depending on water levels and water pollution events. The species present reflect the degraded marsh habitat with the most common the gizzard shad (formerly carp). Also common are night time predators species channel catfish and brown bullhead, along with invasive species such as alewife and white perch. Popular angling species present in limited numbers include pike, largemouth bass, and yellow perch, but the large adults are only present in the marsh during the spawning season which is closed to fishing. The spring and fall season also brings several migrating salmon and trout to the marshes main inflowing river.
In 2007 and 2012, when there was low water level in Lake Ontario and a favorable wind, all the water was pushed out of Cootes Paradise and the remaining carp swam out into Hamilton Harbour. RBG staff removed the fish gates and herded out the last of the carp, and then replaced the gates. Since then the wetland has been relatively carp free. In the absence of these large destructive bottom feeders there is a gradual return natural native plant species populations. Record high water levels in 2017 and 2019 allowed many carp back in again.
A February 2021 report by Macleans, with the headline, The goldfish invasion of Hamilton Harbour, discussed the numerous goldfish in the area, presumed to have come from the dumping of pet fish by the public. One expert stated that the goldfish "is the ultimate survivor of difficult conditions ... it can feed on blue-green algae blooms that native species cannot—blooms that appear with increasing frequency in Hamilton Harbour".
Reptiles
Declining populations of turtles inhabit Cootes Paradise, including Painted Turtles, Common Snapping Turtles, and Northern Map Turtles. Several species of snakes are also found in the area, including Northern Water Snakes. Road side Wildlife barrier projects are underway at various roads/causeways through the wetland.
Mammals
Over 30 mammal species inhabit Cootes Paradise, including white-tailed deer, red fox, raccoon, beaver, cottontail rabbit, muskrat, mink, opossum, red squirrel, coyote, southern flying squirrel, northern flying squirrel, star-nosed mole, and peculiar species such as the water vole.
Plants
Cootes Paradise is home to the highest concentration of plant species in Canada at over 750 native species; however, an additional 300 have also been introduced following European settlement of the area, putting strain on the local ecosystem's ability to function. Among the trees found in Cootes Paradise are various species of oak, maple, and pine, as well as less common species such as sassafras tree, Kentucky coffee tree, and tulip tree. Examples can be found along the native trees walk across from the nature centre. In recent years there has been a noticeable decline in forest health and loss of trees due to ongoing anthropogenic stresses in the region, including surrounding Cootes Paradise. In 2005, following the death of a child participating on a nature hike during a wind storm, the RBG was forced to cut down numerous dead and dying trees that posed a public-safety concern, and alter the trail system to ensure some of the sensitive habitat could remain undisturbed by these activities.
A recent analysis of the checklist of all plants growing within the various nature sanctuaries of RBG reveals that these properties are among the richest spots in Canada for plant diversity, with 24% of the flora of Canada and 38% of the flora of Ontario present. Among this diversity are multiple nationally and provincially endangered species.
West of Bull's Point is an island called Hickory Island. The island was dominated by Hickory trees, but was killed by nesting Double-crested cormorant, due to their feces being very toxic. Islands were colonial nesting birds can successfully nest are rare features within the Great Lakes, with multiple artificial islands construction in adjacent Burlington Bay to facilitate this activity as part of the Hamilton Harbour Remedial Action Plan.
Southern wild rice, Zizania aquatica, and annual plant (re-growing from seed each year) and tradition food plant has been successfully reintroduced by the Royal Botanical Gardens, but continues to be rare and is easily damage by water pollution events.
