Observed Differences in Woodland Characteristics of Fenced vs Unfenced Woodlands in Mississauga, Ontario

Urban forest has various ecological, physical and mental health, economic, and social benefits. This makes woodlands an important part of the urban landscape. Due to their importance, they are sometimes fenced to keep the public out in order to protect them and to ensure their conservation and recovery. In City of Mississauga, Ontario, fences are used as a method of keeping the public out of sensitive and unique woodlands. Despite the prevalence of woodland fences in the Mississauga landscape, detailed information about the state of these woodlands is difficult to find. Therefore, this study aimed to determine the observed differences in woodland characteristics of fenced vs unfenced woodlands in the City of Mississauga, Ontario. A subset of the woodlands sampled as part of the Collaborative Research Program using Vegetative Sampling Protocol (VSP) were used for the analysis; 14 unfenced and 8 fenced sugar maple-dominated plots. The results of this study reveal that there are currently no significant differences in species diversity, species richness, or species evenness between the fenced and unfenced plots for forest vertical layers, except for the higher species evenness observed in the canopy layer. However, there is a difference observed in the regeneration layer between the fenced and unfenced woodlands. In the unfenced woodlands, the sugar maple (Acer saccharum) seedlings only make up 13% of the seedlings despite 54% of the tree species being sugar maple. In comparison, sugar maple seedlings make up 30% of the tree regeneration layer despite sugar maple making up only 28% of the tree frequency in the fenced plots. Furthermore, in unfenced plots, there are greater variety and intensity of disturbances as compared to the fenced plots. For example, soil compaction, trails, and built structures are some of the disturbances that are only found in the unfenced plots. As there are differences between the fenced and unfenced woodlands in Mississauga, it is important to continue their monitoring to ensure better understanding about the values of woodland fencing