Amur Maples - Acer ginnala, Acer tataricum ssp. ginnala

George Genereux Urban Regional Park has Amur Maples (Acer ginnala) This is the journal entry to explore more about their ecology, even though they were gorgeous this fall with their their red leaves. Not many red leaves in SK over the autumn months, so it was a real treat! It is not believed from archival documentation that these were afforested, but there are coming in from some random reason into this particular half of the smaller Saskatoon afforestation area.

Though Amur Maples are an invasive species in Eastern Saskatchewan , Chet Neufeld from the Native Plant Society of Saskatchewan - he mentions that - "From my experience with Amur Maple in Saskatchewan, it experiences a little more climatic stress than in the warmer, wetter growing zones in Ontario and the NE states. Because of this, I don't know of any sites in Saskatchewan where it has become invasive. That being said, climate change could very well improve conditions for it to the point where it becomes invasive. There might also currently be microsites in Saskatchewan where it could thrive to the point where it takes over a particular area. "

The website "Woody invasive species" mentions that the "Amur maple prefers sunny conditions, and is prone to invade open habitats like open woodlands, forest edges, prairies, and transport and utility rights of way. However, seedlings can germinate and grow to maturity in shade, and Amur maple is particularly well-adapted to exploit any canopy gaps that open up (Schuster and Reich 2018). It is most prevalent at disturbed sites."

That being said, there are at times areas in the forest where the planting pattern can be seen when the greenspace was afforested. Today while out and about, there were a few rows where it went Amur Maple, Green Ash, Amur Maple 3 times, Green Ash three times, so perhaps the Amur Maples were afforested. However, out of the entire remaining 474 remaining acres of the original 660 the only location where Amur Maples are sighted is on the north west quarter of George Genereux Urban Regional park

And very uniquely - as stated above abut forest edges and open woodlands, there are Amur maple seedlings which are coming in around the meadow edge, bordering where the internal meadow meets the outer irregularly shaped "ring" of woodlands on the west side of George Genereux Urban Regional Park.

We have these maples in SK. according to Saskatcheawn Conservation Data Centre
Acer ginnala
Acer negundo var. interius
Acer negundo var. violaceum
Acer saccharinum
Acer spicatum

@je9h mentions that "only Acer negundo and Acer spicatum are native to SK. The others have escaped from cultivation."

So, as we note that the afforestation areas are indeed laboratories in ecological succession, George Genereux Urban Regional Park provides an area to study the habitat and watch what happens with Amur Maples

Posted on Αύγουστος 28, 2021 0528 ΜΜ by saskatoonafforestationareas saskatoonafforestationareas

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