Les Rapides du Cheval Blanc
This image is facing eastward along the shoreline of Rivière
des Prairies on the western part of the Island of Montreal. The Whitehorse
Rapids ecoterritory is comprised from three sections; the east and west sectors,
and Parc des Arbres. The entire area is bordered by Rivière des
Prairies and a commuter railway which can be seen here extending from top
to bottom through the center of the photo. The ecoterritory extends from beyond
the apartment and condominium complexes at the top of the image and towards
the bottom of the page. This natural area covers aproximately 14 hectares of
forest, flood plain and shoreline.
Visages de cette
image est dans la direction de l'est le long du rivière des prairies du nord
de la partie occidentale de l'île de Montréal.
This view of Les Rapides
du Cheval Blanc is westward and shows the Two Mountains commuter rail line
along the southern edge of the terrain. The railway, which crosses over Rivière
des Prairies near the top of the image, caps off the Parc des Arbres
sector at the western limit of the largest remaining undeveloped shoreline on
the Island of Montreal.
Endangered and rare species of flora and fauna have been observed on the building
site of the proposed Cheval Blanc West project in recent years. For example, the
northern brown snake (couleuvre brun) Storeria
dekayi dekayi, the eastern milk snake (couleuvre tacheté) Lampropeltis
triangulum triangulum, and the map turtle (tortue géographique),
Graptomys
geographica.
Some examples of flora that
are present at this site are the downy agrimony (agrimoine pubescent), Agrimonia
pubescens, (only recently rediscovered in Rapide de Cheval Blanc West
after not having been seen in Quebec in fifty years). Three tree species, namely
cork elm (Orme a liège) Ulmus
thomasii, hackberry (micocoulier) Celtis
occidentalis, and butternut (noyer cendrier) Juglans
cinerea, are all found here in low concentrations and appear to be
in decline.

To gain a greater understanding
of the ecological sensitivity of the Rapides du Cheval Blanc read this presentation
by Montreal Naturellement... published from 2004. montreal
naturellement CB ecoterritoire 2004.pdf
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