NATURAL HISTORY

Ian and Kate MacQuarrie

"There is no ancient gentlemen but gar-deners, ditchers and gravemakers; they hold up Adam's profession." - William Shakespeare, Hamlet

Road Hazard

Anote to the nomadic: Prince Edward Island has hundreds of

roads, most of which are bounded by a ditch on either side. Unless choked into non-functionality, these drains are commonly ignored by hurtling human travelers - usually only the bottle-gath-erer has time for a leisurely examina-tion. Ditches are engineered for water removal, but over time they develop a host of other, more lively functions. Even at 90 km/hour some aspects of natural history are apparent, often intriguing. For better and safer view-ing, we suggest that you park and

stroll the slopes, perhaps meditating on some of the Principles of Unintended Consequences which are well demon-strated here.

Roads are designed and built for human journeys, but clay roads without ditches are rapidly rutted and cut down below ambient level. This provides a nice change in a traveller's perspec-tive: when your eyes are at fox-level to the fields or woods on the side, the world looks different in a most inter-esting way. Unfortunately, most of us have destinations; we want the track to be functional - thus the necessity of ditches. Once built, however, these rapidly change. They evolve, becom-ing diverse, poorly understood, seldom studied biotic communities. For non-humans they are first and foremost corridors of comparative safety in an increasingly hostile world. To one side is a ribbon of asphalt, to the other

often a poisoned potato-field or devas-tated woodland. It is no wonder that many plants and animals seek sanctu-ary here, finding a measure of tranquil-lity amid the ruins and debris of the industrialized countryside.

Almost as soon as the roar of the ditching machinery fades, life attacks the new landscape. Lichens and then tiny mosses colonize crude exposed glacial till, and the first rains bring soil and often seeds. Many plants that can tolerate full sun and low fertility move in: ditch slopes are good places to seek the insect-eating sundew, for instance. Common pasture weeds such as eve-ning primrose overflow the banks, expanding their ranges into this new habitat. Garden escapes such as soap-wort move busily along the ditch, some-times crossing the road, sometimes not. The first mix of crop plants and other immigrants is quite unstable:

36

Wild apple (Pyrus malus).

some stay and thrive, others are gone in a season or two. However, within a few years the raw red ditch colour fades to grey, green and brown, as the plants show that chlorophyll is more potent than diesel fuel.

While many herbaceous plants are present, later the woody, shrubby spe-cies give the ditch its major biological profile. Speckled alder is most com-mon. Growing in spreading clumps, it thrives despite periodic attacks by road crews. This plant is the perfect survivor - it is a nitrogen-fixer, sets seed prolifically in cute cones, repro-duces readily by layering (rooting of branches) and suckering, and can also handle both fire and flooding. Flowering of the long male catkins is an infallible sign of spring; they also confirm this lively plant's relationship with its cous-ins the willows and birches. It has many human uses - for instance it makes fine kindling but ugly furniture. Medicinally, the old herbals suggest it cures diarrhea and hemorrhoids (meth-od of application unknown). Other ani-mals from moose to mice use it as browse. Redpolls and other seed-eating birds seek the nut-like seeds. Grouse love the winter buds. It shelters coni-fers such as white spruce, which will eventually replace it. The floor of the

Lupin (lupinuspolyphyllus).

ditch is soon laced with living and dead branches of alder, and this network captures more soil and debris, building good animal habitat. Alder joins the ditch community in spite of continuing human opposition, and thrives mightily in the face of it.

Other colonial shrubs are also bla-tantly obvious - for instance, the bright-barked red osier dogwood is evident at any legal highway speed. When that most urbane botanist David Erskine surveyed Island plants in the early 1950s, he found red osier to be far more common in the western part of the province. Now you see it everywhere. Its small whitish berries are enjoyed by many bird species as well as travel-ling or resident mice. Red osier may also be displaced by the aggressive white spruce. The mix of spruce and alder is coloured by pin cherry, usually infected with the black knot fungus. Other pioneer species such as trem-bling aspen sidle in, until the shrubby ditch community resembles a young cut-over woodland. Wild apple appears, but it is so beloved by mice that it is often girdled and killed before reaching flowering height. At this stage a road

Pin cherry (Prumus pensylvanica).

crew will usually hack all the woody species down, starting the successional pattern all over again.

The wicked ditch of the west

Not all ditches are created equal. Travelling from one end of the Island to the other, the observant motorist will note major differences between west and east and between the ends and the centre. A number of factors contribute to this: topography, drain-age, soil types and settlement patterns are just a few examples.

Prince County ditches more often resemble wetlands than moving water-ways; in parts of Prince you don't ditch your car, you swamp it. Many marsh plants not typical of roadsides else-where are found here. For instance marsh marigold lines the road with gold in spring, while that best of doc-tors Joe-pye-weed is easily found by the medically-inclined Qoe Pye is alleged to have been a New England doctor; his namesake cures everything). Use care when dining from a Prince County ditch, though. The highly poisonous water hemlock lurks among the more edible cat-tail species. While every part

see Ian and Kate MacQuarrie's "Of Lupins and Loosestrife" in The Island Magazine No. 42, Fall/ Winter, 1997.

37

of the cat-tail has culinary uses, a single mouthful of hemlock can kill. Violets are common, and these wet ditches are among the best in the province for frog-hunting.

The more sophisticated Queens County ditches have more exotic spe-cies. As well as showy soapwort, which lathers well, chicory is readily found. Easily identified by the conspicuous blue flowers and useful as a coffee sub-stitute, chicory seems to have been expanding eastward in recent years. Exotic forage plants such as the yellow bird's-foot trefoil gain a foothold here, while the domestically inclined may col-lect Queen Anne's lace and pearly ever-lasting for dried flower arrangements. As summer advances, one berry succeeds another in a delicious sequence: strawberry, blueberry, wild pear and wild raisin. Alder and aster, red osier and goldenrod mingle with spruce to give these drier ditches a complicated and colour-ful botany.

Goldenrods are common in all parts of the province, but we believe that white goldenrod is restricted to Kings County. Tall white aster lives up to its name here, frequently exceed-ing two meters in height -on the other hand the smaller, purplish New York aster is rather less common Marsh marigold has skipped through most of Queens to make a home in Kings. Although com-mon on the Island, this plant is listed as rare in Nova Scotia. And, as in too much of the Island, the eastern landscape is littered with lupins.*

Some rarities, legitimate and otherwise

Alder and white spruce are common, useful ditch plants, but interesting rarities coexist with them. The apt-ly-named bastard toadflax is rare on Prince Edward Island and in Nova Scotia, usually growing inconspicuous-ly in coastal areas. In 1999 it was dis-

<m

covered in a ditch at Greenwich, Prince Edward Island National Park. Because park managers assumed that ditch habi-tat could contain no rare species, a ser-vice road was constructed through this population. In another instance ground-nut was identified in similar habitat on Lennox Island; this plant had not previ-ously been listed as a member of the Prince Edward Island flora. There is still much botanizing to be done on Prince Edward Island, and ditches should not be overlooked as locations for new or rare species simply because they are disturbed and easily accessible.

Non-farm animals

Ditches are homes to many small ani-mals, living quietly if perhaps nervously.

Several mouse species are common, with field

voles leading the pack. Deer mice and jumping mice have also been seen here, wheth-er living or just passing through

remains to be determined. The

short-tailed shrew darts through the litter on his

eternal hunt, confusing many humans and annoying cats, who often

kill but generally refuse to eat them. In wetter areas fearless frogs and tran-sient toads watch the traffic, seemingly waiting for a car before crossing the road. Snakes find good hunting in the alder thicket. Garters are most com-mon, but we have seen a lovely red-bel-lied snake sheltering under a discarded fast-food tray. Annie Dillard once wrote

of a favourite spot that "under every bush is a

muskrat hole or a beer can."

Ditches are s i m i l a r ; inhabitants

will either use, cover or

ignore the human detritus -

it is seldom a prob-lem for the living.

Salamanders with vary-ing numbers and

colours of spots wait for slow

and unwary

New York aster (Aster novi-belgii).

prey. Skunk, fox and raccoon are more long-distance travelers, preferring the roadway or field to the ditch tangle. It is a tangle. Once taller grasses and shrubs move in, the smooth floor of the ditch becomes progressively more of a trap for the unwary foot, and a home for more and more small species. Even the cretinous garbage-dumpers unknow-ingly add to this; discarded refrigera-tors house wasps and bees, every old

Red osier dogwood (Cornus sericea).

38

/'"Kfe W i S ^

tire becomes a housing complex for other insects.

Most obviously, many bird species use the ditches for at least part of their activities. Robins and flickers are com-mon, but crows or ravens also hang around, looking for nests or road-kill.

These aerial scavenger/predators (with the assistance of ground troops such as raccoons) should make the ditch very unsafe for tasty smaller creatures. However both robins and mice seem to endure, probably enjoying life on the edge.

Side-walking

You do not have to wait for the annual clean-up day to enjoy your local ditches. We offer some guidelines:

Wear good boots. Watch where you put those boots. Do not destroy industrious anthills, or annoy working bees. Salamanders and other amphibians are easily squdged. Look under debris for small animals, then put it back. How would you like it if someone tore the roof off your house? If possible, take a cat with you. Cats are ditch habitues; they can show you the action. Slow down. It takes hours to properly appreciate a stretch of ditch. The animal inhabitants are mostly trying to avoid being seen (ground-nesting birds) or else they just don't care (skunk). Remove only valuable (beer bottles) or dangerous (baler-twine, etc) items. Most litter is just fine where it is, and is quite possibly in use. If you are in raven country, remember that they are watching you. While rest-

ing, do not look moribund. • Look for the common, but also the unusual. Ditches are often good tracking-beds; note who

has passed this way recently, and speculate on motives (as is proper

with humans, as well. We regret the demise of the old 'number books' list-ing the owner of every license plate in the province. Very handy for seeing who was driving by, and with whom). Have stories prepared for the inev-itable curious human. Tm on a pil-grimage." - "I lost my cherished . . . (wedding ring, hubcap, tomcat, husband)"

Ditch inhabitants are - in the main - good company and often very interest-ing. We remain astonished by the wide, variable and sometimes unpredictable array of life present there. In modern ecobabble the term biodiversity is too often used, with the underlying assump-tion that this is a good thing. In terms of species and numbers the ditch flora and fauna are often more diverse than the neighbouring habitats - it is indeed curi-ous that so little effort is made for pres-ervation or indeed utilization of such glo-rious biodiversity. Perhaps such efforts, if started, are rapidly ditched. iSl

39

Recognition and Enjoyment

Bastard toadflax (Comandra umbellata) Inconspicuous plant with small five-sepalled (no petals) whit ish terminal flowers in clusters that appear in June and July.

Bird's-foot trefoil (Lotus corniculatus) Showy, irregular, long-stalked canary- yellow flowers domi-

generally flat on both sides in T latifolia and rounded on the

Pin cherry (Prunus pemylvanica) Leaves are lance-shaped with serrated margins that roll slightly inwards. Flowers are white, five-petalled and held in a cluster. They appear in May and June.

Queen Anne's lace (Daucus carota) Lacy, much-divided leaves look a bit like parsley. Flowers appear in late summer and are white in a flat-topped cluster.

Red osier dogwood (Cornus sericea) Bright red bark with opposite lance-shaped leaves. The small white flowers are carried in clusters and appear in June.

Large, opposite, lance shaped leaves carry showy, five-pet-

leaves, toothed at the margins. Flowers are catkins that

appear in May.

White goldenrod (Solidago bicolor)

leaves are fully out Flowers are white, have five petals and appear in May or June. The berries are delicious.

Wild raisin (Viburnum nudum) Opposite, rounded leaves. Whitish flowers appear in clusters at the ends of the branches in June and July. Edible berries, if you're hungry enough.

40