Open environments
There are many open environments in the area: uneven wetlands, marshes and treed swamps. These ecosystems are very rich and home to highly diverse plant communities.
Special-status plant species
Great news: despite the fact that our early observations did not uncover any special-status plant species, many of the habitats found in the area are typical of zones where special-status plant species evolve. We can indeed assume that the territory is home to rare species of plant such as wild leek, Marsh St. John’s-wort and mild smartweed. All of these beautiful plants tend to prefer ecosystems found in our own backyards!
Forest environments
The watershed’s forest environments are diverse, and the vegetation varies significantly from one sector to the next. Several communities, including the maple and yellow birch stand, are typical and representative of the region’s bioclimatic domain.
Acer saccharum
Several hardwood stands and sugar maple-dominated mixed stands grow in the region, covering over 250 hectares around the watershed. Sap is certainly flowing in the watershed! One of the most representative sugar maple (Acer saccharum) stands is at the western edge of the site in the southwest hills along Log Village Road in Morin-Heights. The composition of the plant community in the stands is also found in other areas along the basin, including the mountainous areas south of Jackson Road in Morin-Heights and northwest of Kilpatrick Road in Saint-Sauveur. Another choice location for Acer saccharum is the sector at the top of the hills west of Côte Saint-Gabriel Road in Saint-Sauveur.
Abies balsamea
Balsam fir-dominated and spruce-dominated coniferous stands on dry soil also cover a significant part of the territory and represent approximately 250 hectares and almost 500 hectares in mixed stands. There are large communities on either side of Route 329 in Morin-Heights and Côte Saint-Gabriel Road between Saint-Sauveur and Mille-Isles.
Et cetera
There are also many treed swamps and wooded bogs across the territory. The communities are specific to wetlands and have very different structures from dry stands. In fact, the region teems with shade-intolerant hardwood stands, magnificent hemlock forests and pine-dominated stands.
Certain stands are rarely found in the region’s bioclimatic zone. Without revealing their exact locations, some of these exceptional sites include:
- An old spruce stand with red spruce and balsam fir;
- An old balsam fir stand with red spruce;
- A black ash woodland with poplar and balsam fir;
- An old larch stand with red spruce and balsam fir;
- A cedar grove with red spruce and balsam fir.
