There are numerous natural areas in

King King is a royal title given to a male monarch. A king is an Absolute monarchy, absolute monarch if he holds unrestricted Government, governmental power or exercises full sovereignty over a nation. Conversely, he is a Constitutional monarchy, ...

, a township in

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

. These areas are zones officially designated by the

Government of Ontario The Government of Ontario () is the body responsible for the administration of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. The term ''Government of Ontario'' refers specifically to the executive—political Minister ...

that are within the township and exhibit provincially or regionally significant features representative of the region. The list of zones is defined and maintained by the provincial Ministry of Natural Resources Natural Heritage Information Centre. Site and region surveys have been conducted by various means. Some areas were identified and classified through the

International Biological Program The International Biological Program (IBP) was an effort between 1964 and 1974 to coordinate large-scale ecological and environmental studies. Organized in the wake of the successful International Geophysical Year (IGY) of 1957–1958, the Interna ...

between 1964 and 1974. Others may have had a superficial initial classification, and subsequently been re-classified upon closer scrutiny. Fifty areas have been classified in the township.

Areas of Natural and Scientific Interest

There are seven zones classified as

Areas of Natural and Scientific Interest Area is the measure of a region's size on a surface. The area of a plane region or ''plane area'' refers to the area of a shape or planar lamina, while ''surface area'' refers to the area of an open surface or the boundary of a three-dimen ...

, three of which exhibit ''earth science'' features, and four of which exhibit ''life science'' features. Six are provincially significant for their representative features.

Life Science areas

Life science ANSIs are noted for their important biological features. Happy Valley Forest is a large upland forest on steeply rolling topography with various wooded swamps and minor wetland areas. It is located on

Ordovician The Ordovician ( ) is a geologic period and System (geology), system, the second of six periods of the Paleozoic Era (geology), Era, and the second of twelve periods of the Phanerozoic Eon (geology), Eon. The Ordovician spans 41.6 million years f ...

bedrock over the

Oak Ridges Moraine The Oak Ridges Moraine is an Ecology, ecologically important Geology, geological landform in the Mixedwood Plains of south-central Ontario, Canada. The moraine covers a geographic area of between Caledon, Ontario, Caledon and Rice Lake (Ontario ...

. Pottageville Swamp, which was originally contiguous with the

Holland Marsh The Holland Marsh is a wetland and agricultural area in Ontario, Canada, about north of Toronto. It lies entirely within the valley of the Holland River, stretching from the northern edge of the Oak Ridges Moraine near Schomberg to the river mo ...

, is now isolated from it because of drainage in the 1920s to prepare the land for

agricultural Agriculture encompasses crop and livestock production, aquaculture, and forestry for food and non-food products. Agriculture was a key factor in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created f ...

use. The ''Pottageville Southeast Upland'', which is contiguous with the swamp, is the only ANSI which is not provincially significant. It is just north of Happy Valley Forest, on the northern slope of the Oak Ridges Moraine.

Cold Creek Conservation Area Cold Creek Conservation Area, usually referred simply as Cold Creek, is an ecologically diverse protected Area of Natural and Scientific Interest in south-central Ontario, Canada. The conservation area was opened on 20 June 1962 by Wilf Spooner a ...

is a park and reserve on the south slope of the Oak Ridges Moraine, northwest of Nobleton, at the southwestern edge of the township. It consists of mature coniferous

swamp A swamp is a forested wetland.Keddy, P.A. 2010. Wetland Ecology: Principles and Conservation (2nd edition). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. 497 p. Swamps are considered to be transition zones because both land and water play a role in ...

in its basin, and cedar swamp at its margin.

Earth Science areas

Earth Science ANSIs display significant geological features representative of their region. The ''Linton-Kelly Lake Channels'' "marks the junction of the Oak Ridges Moraine and the Palgrave Moraine". It is a region at which the two moraines merge. The Glenville Hills Kames are

kame A kame, or ''knob'', is a glacial landform, an irregularly shaped hill or mound composed of sand, gravel and till that accumulates in a depression on a retreating glacier, and is then deposited on the land surface with further melting of the g ...

s in the northeast portion of the township, southwest of central Newmarket, that mark "the southernmost advance of Lake Simcoe sublobe during hePort Bruce Stadial". The ''Kettleby and Newmarket Tills'' is a small region of sediments deposited by the Lake Simcoe ice lobe, located west of the Glenville Hills Kames.

Wetlands

King has an abundance of large, provincially significant

wetland A wetland is a distinct semi-aquatic ecosystem whose groundcovers are flooded or saturated in water, either permanently, for years or decades, or only seasonally. Flooding results in oxygen-poor ( anoxic) processes taking place, especially ...

complexes. The ''Eaton Hall—Mary—Hackett Lakes Wetland Complex'' is a 259 hectare area on the Oak Ridges Moraine which represents the amalgamation of three previously defined wetlands: ''Eaton Hall Wetlands'', ''Mary Lakes Wetlands'' and ''Laskay Wetlands''. These constituent wetlands are each situated at the headwater area of the East Humber River watershed in King City. "The largest wetlands occur around seven kettle lakes, representing the best concentration of kettle lakes in any wetland complex on the Oak Ridges Moraine" Bounded by ''Happy Valley Forest'' to the west, the 225 wetlands in the complex "comprise one of the largest and most diverse wetland complexes on the Oak Ridges Moraine, noteworthy for its high concentration of significant plants, animals and kettle lakes." The much larger Pottageville Wetland Complex, which is adjacent to ''Happy Valley Forest'' on its northern border, also lies on the Oak Ridges Moraine. Approximately 780 hectares, it consists primarily of

, with some zones of

marsh In ecology, a marsh is a wetland that is dominated by herbaceous plants rather than by woody plants.Keddy, P.A. 2010. Wetland Ecology: Principles and Conservation (2nd edition). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. 497 p More in genera ...

and

fen A fen is a type of peat-accumulating wetland fed by mineral-rich ground or surface water. It is one of the main types of wetland along with marshes, swamps, and bogs. Bogs and fens, both peat-forming ecosystems, are also known as mires ...

. The ''Nobleton Wetland Complex'' is a wetland that overlaps the Oak Ridges Moraine on its local southern extent in the region. It is similar in composition to the Pottageville Wetland Complex. Overlapping the northern border of the township is ''Ansnorveldt Wetland Complex'', a zone bounded by the Holland Marsh to the east and northeast. The wetland complex "stretches from Weston Road east to Dufferin Street and from Highway 9 north to South Canal Road". Other wetlands on the Oak Ridges Moraine include: the ''New Scotland Wetland Complex'', consisting of fifteen wetlands that are 61.2% swamp, 37.1% marsh, and 1.7% bog; the ''Eaton Hall Lake Wetland,'' consisting of eight separate wetlands that are 52.7% swamp and 47.3% marsh; the ''King Creek Marsh'', consisting entirely of marsh wetland; the ''Kennifick Wetland Complex'', having 33 wetlands composed of 40% swamp and 60% marsh; and the ''King–Vaughan Wetland Complex'', which has 23 wetlands consisting of 83.4% swamp and 16.6% marsh.

References

{{King, Ontario