The Edmonton River Valley and associated natural spaces are the treasures of Edmonton and are valued by locals for the outdoor recreation and biodiversity they provide. In North-East Edmonton, there lies a small undeveloped natural area bordered by the North Saskatchewan River the community of Fraser Vista, and Fraser Ravine (53.608638, -113.362846). Currently, this specific location has no formal name as it is part of the river valley and trail system, but I refer to it as the Fraser Vista Biodiversity Preserve. Measuring about 0.5 hectares, this small area is comprised of about 2/3 open grassland (mostly Smooth Brome and Kentucky Bluegrass) and native wildflowers (mostly Goldenrods, Roses, Spreading Dogbane, Western Snowberry, and Veiny Pea) and 1/3 trees (mostly Trembling Aspen, Balsam Poplar, and Chokecherries). The area is encircled by a loop of the river valley trail system and is frequented by local joggers and cyclists, complemented by a viewpoint on the South end that overlooks the river.
I have taken an interest in this particular location because of the beautiful native wildflowers and the high plant biodiversity compared to most of the North Saskatchewan River Valley system in Edmonton. Many areas of the river valley have seen invasion by weeds, dominance by ornamental shrubs such as cotoneaster, caragana, sea buckthorn, or have been inadequately reclaimed after historical construction/disturbance. In contrast, this area has a high abundance of native plant species, representing an unusually high level of ecosystem intactness within the City.
Since summer 2022, I have been hand pulling weeds in this area and actively spreading the seeds of the native wildflowers to increase their presence. I use a citizen science tool called iNaturalist to document the species present, their changes in their growth throughout the season, the phenology of the plants, and to showcase just how rich biodiversity can be in small, intact ecosystems like this one in Fraser Vista.
So far, I have documented 49 species total, with 38 plant species present (including native and invasive). There is also 1 threatened plant species present – Ghostpipe / Monotropa uniflora (ranked as S3/threatened in Alberta).
Opportunities for citizen scientists to be involved: 1) visit this small natural area and help document the biodiversity by uploading observations to iNaturalist and 2) pull invasive plants
Invasive plant species present:
Major presence: Tansy, Canada Thistle.
Minor presence: Absinthe Wormwood, Perennial Sow Thistle, Slender Leafy Spurge
Please contact me if you would like to participate in some voluntary weed removal. Otherwise, visit the area on your own time to enjoy the beautiful plants and document species on iNaturalist!
See the iNaturalist map of the area here: https://inaturalist.ca/observations?lat=53.60860635364863&lng=-113.36290195004435&radius=0.0752178347223194&subview=map