Camrose Park is a ~1km in diameter leisure park situated in the suburbs of North Burnaby. There is a main trail that sits east to west with 2 different paths verging south. About ¾ of the way west in the park there is a natural waterfall and stream that flows north to south. The northern part of the park is a small meadow that is usually overgrown with Blackberry bushes in the summer months. The main path is bordered by Western Red cedars, approximately 200 years old (according to their size), vining maples, paper birch, hazelnut bushes, white oak, hazel, beech, and willow. The blackberry bushes increase in intensity halfway down the main path and then thin out as you come to the stream. They are still there but the waterway seems to act like a bit of a barrier between microclimate/ecosystems.
There is a playground that way just redone in the summer of 2022 in the Southeast portion of the park, and a lonely basketball court to its west. I walk this park almost every day with my dogs and there are a few things I have noticed over the 5 years I have lived here.
- The Pacific Bleeding Hearts, Dicentra formosa, that bloom in the spring seem to “congregate” most on the northwest end, near the west entrance to the main path of the park
- The invasive blackberry bushes grow most intensely in the middle of the main path on the North side
- The construction of the new playground was quite disruptive to the grassy ecosystem in the south-eastern part of the park, did this allow for more invasive species to take hold during this time of disturbance, and how fast will this affect the surrounding environment
I think I would like to focus on soil testing near the Dicentra formosa to determine if the soil nutrients are the reason for the increased population in this portion of the park. The most recent photo is snow-covered seeing as it is winter here, but I am excited to see what it may look like when the warmer weather arrives.
