Welcome tothe Richmond
Nature Park

Richmond Nature Park:
Context Map
KOA

from east Vancouver

ST

You are about to take a trip back in time, more than
13,000 years to the end of the Ice Age. You will travelback and see the changing face of nature in Richmond.

mfroThis booklet will guide you along an easy walk that takes
about 30 minutes. The numbers in this book match thenumbers on the stakes along the trail.

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Va
AY
HWGHI

TRAILS ETIQUETTE

1.

RAIL 1.6 k

0.83

GTFORESTFOREST
BOG FOREST
BOG

km
TIME TRAILSELF-GUIDED
NATURE WALK

TIM

E TR

AIL

IN8kmm

AKBOG

POND

NATURE
HOUSE
PARKINGWESTMINSTER HIGHWAY

NO 5 RDThe Nature Park is open daily
from dawn to dusk.
The Nature House is open daily
9:00am-5:00pm
Admission is by donation
For more information about
Richmond Nature Park and its programs
please call 604-718-6188
or email nature@richmond.ca
11851 Westminster Highway, Richmond, B.C.
V6X 1B4 Tel: 604-718-6188 Fax: 604-718-6189

WILDLIFEGARDENKINSMEN
PAVILION

from Delta

Richmond Nature Park

AIL .35
TRkm

BOG FOREST

SHELL RD

Wood-chip trail
Boardwalk
Wheelchair Accessible
Viewing Platform
Picnic Area
Playground
Washrooms

RICHMOND
NATURE STUDYCENTRERICHMOND
NATURE PARKWESTMINSTER HWY

NO 4 RDLEGENDHIGHWAY 91

99

HIGHWAY 91

QU

NO 5 RDeruv

Please stay on the trail and respect the plants andanimals that live here. There are litter containers on thetrail. Enjoy your walk.

B O G FOREST TRAIL

Self-Guided
Nature Walk

discoverRichmond...

To learn more about Richmond’s many parks
and facilities, please visit theParks, Trails & Cycling web page atwww.richmond.ca

NaturePark

ParksTrails

1. The Gates of Time

4. Water Misers

12. A Condo Complex

We started our walk on a man-made boardwalk thatwinds round a pond and through a shady Birch and Pine
forest. Squirrels and small mammals ramble through theunderbrush. This forest and its inhabitants are very recent
residents here.

Growing in front of you is Labrador Tea. Turn a leaf overand notice the rolled edges and fuzz. This fuzz holds
water like a sponge, and the rolled leaf edges trap watervapour. Beside the Labrador Tea is the poisonous Swamp
Laurel. It has thick, waxy leaves. These are all methods ofpreventing water loss.

Can you imagine the Richmond Nature Park as acondominium complex? The plants form the different‘condominiums’ for many creatures to live in and even a‘supermarket’ where they can find food!

Now you are stepping into the past through the gates oftime!

2. Birth of a Bog
On a clear day, you can see the craggy wall of the Coast
Mountains from the park Out of these mountains camefour Ice Ages, with their glaciers gouging out a deepbay where you are now standing. When the ice finallymelted 13,000 years ago, this island formed from silt
deposited by the Fraser RIver. Isolated pockets of water
were colonised first by salt marsh plants. Next came thegrass-like sedges. The last of the water was choked bySphagnum moss about 3000 years ago, to form the bog
you see today.

3. Grandfather Moss
The plant community here, of which Sphagnum is themost important plant, is typical of a ‘bog.’ A bog is a
special place, not a marsh or a swamp. Its wet soil ismade of Sphagnum mosses. In some places the moss, orpeat, is (6 meters/20 feet) deep. Try bouncing on the bog
trail to feel the sponginess of this peat bog.
You could be looking at the oldest plant on earth! Thegreen tip you see may still be attached to the original
stem, deep down in the peat, that appeared in this area
3000 years ago.

Some birds live in the shady ‘condos’ of the forest whileothers prefer the sunny bog ‘suites.’ Some prefer tree-top‘penthouse’ use ; some ground-level ‘floors.’

Why do these plants want to conserve water when it is sowet here?

Squirrels like to run up and down the tree trunk‘elevators.’

The acidic conditions of the bog makes it harder for theroots to absorb water. So, these plants have to save as
much as they can!

Shrews and Mice live in the basement and like to sample
seeds and insects.

5. Is the North Pole in Richmond?
During spring and summer, you may find Cloudberry
growing around the base of this post. This plant normally
lives in the Arctic tundra! Labrador Tea and Swamp Laurel
are also from the far north. How did these plants gethere?
Sphagnum bogs are like the tundra because they are wet,acidic, and low in nutrients. These plants were pushedahead as glaciers moved southward from the Arctic
during the Ice Age. If the water were drained away, or if
the nutrients increased, these plants would disappear.

6. Pioneers
Sometimes the water level is high enough to form apuddle where Sphagnum moss thrives. Sphagnum
exchanges hydrogen ions for the minerals it absorbs,
making the water of the bog very acidic. How would you
like to survive on vinegar? Only the pioneering plants thattolerate wet, acid bogs can live here.
Behind you the Sphagnum has formed hummocks whereplants that prefer slightly drier conditions, such as Shore
Pine, Labrador Tea and cultivated blueberries have creptin.

7. What’s For Dinner?
You have already seen how bog plants conserve water.
There are also other tricks in getting food.
The rare Sundew gets its food by capturing insects on
sticky leaf tentacles. The Sundew digests them andabsorbs the nutrients to obtain nitrogen, a nutrient whichis scarce in bogs.
Other bog plants find a fungus which lives together withtheir roots. In exchange for food, the fungus helps theplant absorb soil water and nutrients. This ‘symbiotic’
relationship helps plants like Labrador Tea, Swamp Laurel
and the berry plants - Cranberry and Blueberry.
Speaking of dinner, do you hear the Rufuos Hummingbird
buzzing as it visits flowers? Or the Spotted Towhee’s‘meow’-like call as it scratches the ground for berries andseeds?

8. Footprints of the Past

Moles and Worms bring air to the soil and ‘basement.’
Raccoons and Garter Snakes prowl the ground while
Hawks and Owls spy the unwary from above.

Take a moment to look around and listen. You may hearplanes coming in to land and the traffic on the highway.
This area reflects changes to a naturally stable bog
environment due to human activity just outside the Park.

Each nook of forest has its own special creatures. How
many can you find?

The Richmond Nature Park preserves part of the bogthat at one time covered one-third of Richmond’s area; A
Footprint of the Past.

The trees are more scattered here and are mainly Shore
Pine. Most of the other plants are of the Heather family
and are tolerant of the very wet, acidic conditions. Theseplants are characteristic of a true bog and show that man
has had less effect here than just a short distance away.

Look to your right and then left towards the changing
face of nature in Richmond.

9. High and Dry
Note the complete change in types of plants on your left
and right. To the right, the soil is saturated with water andan abundance of Shore Pine and mosses grow there. In
the forest to your left the soil is slightly higher and drier,allowing plants such as Western White Birch and Salal togrow.
Why do you suppose there is such an abrupt difference?

10. Invaders from Outer SpaceCan you hear the steady drone of traffic from nearby
Highway 99? The construction of this highway drained thispart of the bog, allowing plants that enjoy drier, less acidic
soil to invade. Can you see some real plant strangers
here?
Different birds live here than out in the bog. Can you
hear Robins or Chickadees who call their own name:‘chick-a-dee-dee-dee’?

11. Shady Lane
Look up and see how the Birch trees stretch to reach thelight. They need carbon dioxide, water, soil nutrients andlight to make their food. Below the Birches grow plantsthat need less light such as Ferns, Salal and WesternHemlock. On the ground you’ll find feathery Mosses. Intime the young Western Hemlocks will grow taller thanthe Birches and gradually shade them out of this area.

13. An Older Song

Gone is the gentle rustle of the Birches but these plants
sing their own song. Can you hear the difference?

14. Back to the Twentieth Century
Now we are winding our way back to modern time. See
how dense the tall cultivated blueberries are. They arevery successful escapees from nearby fields. The seeds
were most likely brought here by birds and animals thatate them.
The twentieth century brought roads and people andditches to Richmond. These ditches drain the land andchange the bog.

15. Pathway to the Future
Today you have walked back in time to follow thefootprints of the Ice Age, saved in the Richmond Nature
Park, and back again to the sidewalk of the 21st century.
What does the future pathway hold?
We hope you have enjoyed your walk. If you do not wish
to keep this booklet, please return it to the Nature House
for reuse. If you would like to become involved in thePark’s future, inquire at the Nature House about joining
the Richmond Nature Park Society.
Tax deductible donations for upkeep of this non-profit
Park will be gratefully accepted.