IMPROVING THE ECOLOGICAL HEALTH OF LAKE SIMCOE

 

IMPROVING THE ECOLOGICAL HEALTH OF LAKE SIMCOE

 Lately, as a member of Rescue Lake Simcoe Coalition, I have been doing a great deal of reading on how to improve the ecological health of lakes in particular Lake Simcoe.

  I was pleasantly surprised when I discovered a very simple, virtually cost - free way of improving the quality of the water and increasing marine life in the lake.

 It turns out when gnarled, aging trees growing naturally along the lake shore and starting to tumble into the lake should be allowed to do so. (Mother Nature does indeed know best)

 All the trees that are allowed to crash naturally into the lake start a second life under the water.

And this second life may last up to 600 years! 

At the bottom of the lake,  the  dead trees  will attract crayfish, minnows, mudpuppies, tadpoles, a variety of fish, dragonfly nymphs, mayflies, wood ducks, soft shell turtles, blue herons, diatoms, and algae.

 A new community of life will have been created among the multitude of forked branches on the trees.  The organisms will continue to use the tree until its cellulose has completely broken down and the chemical constituents have been fully integrated into the web of life in the lake.

For thousands of years, trees have fallen into lakes.

All kinds of marine life have used these fallen trees as new protective habitats. These trees in riparian areas leave behind seedlings to start new ribbons of trees around lakes and along rivers.

You might be surprised to learn that fish that swim around in the middle of lake need towering trees and hardy shrubs on the shoreline to survive.

 Most fish, as well as other marine life, like frogs come to the shoreline to lay their eggs.

 If there is no shade to prevent the eggs from overheating from the blistering sun, the fish eggs will die along with other marine-life eggs.

 

 When the shoreline is devoid of towering trees, a tangle of shrubbery, and native flora, the natural predator-prey balance has forever been disrupted. Each organism functions as a thread in the intricate web of life and each thread relies on other species, and on humans to maintain clean and healthy environments.

When humans rip out and destroy natural greenery on the lakeshore, the threads connecting the web of life are shredded and all the animals in this web are negatively affected.   

 No longer will you enjoy watching a striking blue heron, as it will move elsewhere, where a ribbon of trees and native flora still prevails, to look for fish and fogs.

Research has actually shown, if you want to catch more fish for supper, go to the area of the lake where you observe a ribbon of life containing stands of  old growth  native trees, a  jungle of shrubbery, and native flora growing naturally along the shoreline.

Not only does the shade of the trees protect the eggs, but when leaves covered with insects trying to devour them, are blown into the lake, the fish will  readily eat the bugs.

Here are some suggestions for all the cities that are located on Lake Simcoe.

Ø When the City collects Christmas trees rather than mulching them, drop them on the frozen ice all over the lake and let them sink naturally into the lake. Since Kempenfelt Bay is extremely deep there should be no safety issues with boaters.

Ø When trees along the shoreline are decaying, if the City needs to prune or chop them, let the whole tree or branches fall into the lake to start new habitats for  marine life.

Ø  Let all seedlings naturally started by Mother Nature mature and grow into mature native trees.

Ø If trees and shoreline shrubbery have been removed, start a replanting program to restore the web of life to which we are all connected.

Ø Keep in mind a manicured monoculture of static non-native grasses does not promote nor enhance the ecological health of the shoreline nor the lake.