The 'Beach Crawl' is
a popular activity at Fundy National Park. Park
interpreters take groups of visitors on walks
along the shore, exploring the habitats where
a very particular suite of species exists. These
are creatures that must adapt to two completely
different environments - one under water
and the other totally exposed to the air. There
aren't many species so versatile, but those
that can survive being abandoned by the ocean
are prolific. The rocks are covered in thousands
of barnacles and periwinkles, the mudflats are
host to several types of seaweed and myriad
small crustaceans.
Low tide also affords one
the opportunity to view migrating birds that
feed on the riches of the mudflats. The constant
exchange of seawater replenishes the soil with
ocean nutrients not found in dry land-locked
environments.
The Acadian
Forest is something of a transition between
the evergreen boreal forests of the North and
the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence hardwood forests
to the south-east. It is comprised of two eco-regions
- the Bay of Fundy spruce-fir coastal zone,
and the maritime uplands sugar maple-yellow
birch-fir zone. In its natural state it is dominated
by red spruce, balsam fir, sugar maple and yellow
birch, with a smaller percentage of larch, pine,
aspen, beech and other hardwoods.
Most of the trees in the park
today are less than 80 years old. Due to some
selective logging in the early years, there
are many stands of uneven-aged trees where natural
regeneration was allowed to take place. But
the predominantly softwood forests have been
gradually replaced with a mixed forest of birch,
balsam and spruce.
The forest areas can be explored
by hiking trail. The 3.4 kilometre Caribou Plains
Trail goes through a variety of habitats, from
a coniferous stand, past a beaver pond, across
one of the few bogs in Fundy National Park and
back through a hardwood ridge; and, each area
has its own variety of plants and birds to observe.
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