Sculpting the Canadian Landscape

Came across this one today and to be honest it is quite it’s quite a story. So let’s start with the tree. The tree was planted about fifty years ago. Now I know this, not because I am a tree experts of any kind, but I know enough about the tree type and ages effected by the emerald ash borer. This tree was planted for the sole purpose of how fast it grows, and how it breaks. It was planted among many during the time in the 50s when people wanted the forests and aesthetics of the large trees in the urban neighbourhood. Due to the warmer winters, from climate change, there mono cropped trees, has been a perfect target for infestation. Like the one in this image, it is too infested, and has succumbed to the pest. This brings us to the vine, a Virginia creeper. This vine, though originally brought from Europe 200 years ago, today it is too popular in the gardens. Just like the Baltic ivy from my last post, this one can become invasive in the right environments. This plant is a generalist, it has the ability to adapt too many ecosystems similar to its native habitat, and because of that, it can out compete the native species quite easily. So you see this images is a product of the changes human are making on the natural landscape. The tree as succumbed to warmer winters, fallowing along to the raining ad muddy landscape, instead of snow. Along with the vine, who like many others of its kind are opportunist, sculpting the landscape to a yet to be define Canadian landscape.