Special Places: Eco-lessons from the National Parks in Atlantic Canada

Park Backgrounder: Fundy National Park of Canada

A land of contrasts... a land of secret delights

Introduction

Fundy National Park of Canada covers 206 km2 of land located along the Bay of Fundy coast in southeastern New Brunswick. It was established in 1948 to protect for all time a nationally significant and representative part of the Maritime Acadian Highlands Natural Region of Canada.

© Parks Canada / Don Pentz

It lies astride two climatic zones – the Bay of Fundy and Southern New Brunswick zones. The Bay of Fundy zone is characterized by cool, wet summers and moderate, humid winters. Humidity is high and fog can be frequent in the summer. The mean annual precipitation is 1185 mm. By comparison, the Southern New Brunswick zone has warm summers and cold winters, and precipitation is lower and fog much less frequent than in the Fundy zone.

The forest cover is mainly mixed hardwood and softwood. The most common trees are red spruce, balsam fir, white birch, yellow birch, sugar and red maple.

Black bear, beaver, deer, raccoons, loon, coyote, red and flying squirrels, bats and snowshoe hare are some of the species that live in Fundy.

Each year the park receives over 250,000 visitors.

Park Objectives

• To maintain or restore regional ecological connections to allow gene flow between populations.
• To maintain all trophic levels (food levels) and their respective functions in the greater ecosystem in balance so as to ensure ecological integrity.
• To restore or enhance populations of native species where the populations have become small, have lost significant genetic diversity (variety within one species), or are threatened or endangered.
• To develop special protection measures for rare or sensitive species and communities.
• To manage human-caused stressors in the ecosystem so as to ensure that native populations and ecological processes are left relatively unimpaired.
• To develop and implement special protection measures for the Bay of Fundy coastal environment.
• To restore to a natural state areas and communities that have been damaged by human actions.

Park Issues

• Forestry practices including clear cutting (complete removal of a stand of trees), thinning or use of herbicides have increased fragmentation and decreased habitat connectivity. Additionally, forest roads have increased forest access and hunting pressure on deer, moose, black bears and fish.
• Concern about loss of certain species including dwarf wedge mussel, Atlantic salmon, northern leopard frog (considered extirpated or locally extinct), American marten, northern dusky salamander, four-toed salamander, blue-spotted salamander and the peregrine falcon, and plants such as leafy green orchid, birdseye primrose and snakemouth.
• Road and highway maintenance activities disturb animals, streams and lakes within the park.
• Past forestry practices such as log driving have altered hydrology, river beds and aquatic habitats. Dams restrict the movement of some fish populations.
• The presence of invasive species has had a negative impact on Fundy because they take over habitat of native species.
• The golf course, which was constructed in 1949, has altered the vegetative cover and habitat. Culvert installation has changed the course of some brooks and caused erosion.

References

Greater Fundy Ecosystem Group. State of the Greater Fundy Ecosystem, New Brunswick, 1998.

Parks Canada. Fundy National Park Ecosystem Conservation Plan, 1997.

Parks Canada Web site: www.parkscanada.gc.ca