Site created and maintained by Simple Media Solutions
What is a meadow?
A meadow is an open community of grasses and wildflowers with very few trees. This rich habitat supports a wide variety of animal life.
Most meadow wildflowers are nectar sources and attract a variety of butterflies such as swallowtails, admirals, checkerspots and skippers. Nectar plants also attract many other insects like bees and moths. Meadows provide feeding and nesting sites for songbirds like bobolinks and meadowlarks. They may also provide shelter for frogs and small mammals, which in turn attracts hawks, owls and snakes.
The meadow we are currently restoring in the Rouge Valley is located in a hydro corridor owned by Ontario Hydro/Toronto Hydro. Ontario Hydro authorized the Rouge Valley Naturalists to begin the meadow restoration project in 1999.
If left undisturbed, the meadow in the hydro area would re-naturalize along a normal succession pattern. The primary annual vegetation would become mixed perennial and annual herbaceous plants and eventually these would bring about a colony of woody tree and shrub species. Because the meadow falls beneath the hydro right of way, the area is routinely cleared of tall growing woody vegetation and will never be allowed to become woodland. In this sense the area is in an arrested successional state, providing a unique opportunity to manage the area as a meadow community.
