Invasives on our trails
The Kincardine Trails Association network is set within a provincially significant and ecologically rich area. Many of the trails traverse the Penetangore river valley and watershed before meeting the vast expanse of Lake Huron in downtown Kincardine. Coastal trails and boardwalks highlight the diverse ecosystems along the Huron coast—from forests and marshes to the dunes and sandy beaches of Inverhuron. The region supports an array of plant and animal life, and the Huron fringe serves as an essential stopover for migratory birds travelling to and from the northern boreal forests.
As vital as the regions many ecosystems are to biodiversity, they are also increasingly fragile and threatened by degradation due to human encroachment. This makes the watershed and surrounding areas extremely susceptible to the introduction and dominance of aggressive invasive species.
How you can help
Get informed
The easiest first step to getting involved in the project is reviewing the plentiful amount of government and community resources available on invasive species in Ontario. Be warned however, once you begin to understand the impact it is having on biodiversity in the province, you won’t be able to go back!
After you have done a little bit of reading to understand what common invasive species located in the area look like, it is time to go for a hike on the trails and practice your new understanding in the wild. While you are out looking for invasives, it is a great opportunity to aid in our efforts by adding your observations to community science platforms.
Get Involved with Community Science
We recommend that you begin to participate in community science efforts right away ! While you are out for a walk or hike on the trail system, you can bring your phone along to snap photos and use apps to identify invasive pants when you see them. By actively engaging in these monitoring activities, it provides invaluable information for many government and community projects (including our own invasives management project) that use this data to target their efforts. Without the involvement of the community, the scope of the area involved is just too massive for any one group to keep an eye on!
Apps we recommend to use for Community Science:
iNaturalist (https://inaturalist.ca/)
Pros
- Easy to use
- Can join many
- Community based identifications
- iPhone and Android apps available
- Web identification
- Identifications can be posted to EDDMapS later
Cons
- Accuracy of identification varies depending on growth stage and quality of plant
- Lacks tools for invasive species monitoring and control projects
EDDMapS (https://www.eddmaps.org/)
Pros
- Widely regarded as the best tool for official invasive reporting
- Observations are verified by real experts in the field
- iPhone and Android apps available
- Standard and Pro versions
- Extensive web tools for community projects and reporting
Cons
- No real time verfication
- Not as easy to use as iNaturalist
- Requires more data entry
The Invasive Species Centre of Canada also has a community science program you can get involved with:
Join Our Projects
If you wish to volunteer to help the Kincardine Trails Association work on invasive species related projects, see below:
Invasive Species Management Project for 2025 has officially kicked off !!
- Go to the project page for more details: https://invasives.kincardinetrails.ca
- Get involved with our weekly Events
- See below for volunteer opportunities
Volunteer Now!
- Participate in organized invasive species control events
- Collaborate with and meet like minded people in the community
- Click below to get involved directly in the project!