Sand Barrens
A dry, exposed heathland characterized by extensive ground cover composed of low shrubs, areas of dense lichen cover, and scattered red and white pine. This habitat is defined by very well-drained, sandy and acidic soil created from glacial outwash deposits.
Common Plants: Red pine, broom-crowberry, bracken fern, blueberry, sweetfern, bearberry.
Harsh, fragile and increasingly rare, the Annapolis Valley Sand Barrens are one of the most fragmented and at risk habitats in the Acadian Forest Region. This habitat type, with its relatively warm climate, barren conditions, and signature plant species such as broom-crowberry, mimics similar barrens found along the Atlantic Coastal Plain, a biogeographic region defined by flat landscapes that span from New Jersey to Florida. The habitat is largely dependent upon fire for ecological stability. Fires burn off shade-creating vegetation and help keep the habitat free of encroaching trees. Fire adapted species such as bracken fern, blueberry and sweetfern are able to quickly regrow from roots and rhizomes after fire, while broom-crowberry regrows from seeds stored underground by ants. Housing, agriculture, and loss of crucial natural fire disturbance has threatened the balance of this dwindling habitat, with less than 3% of original Sand Barren vegetation remaining in the Annapolis Valley.

Hudsonia, broom-crowberry, lichens and pine at the Annapolis Valley Sand Barrens

Bearberry (Arctostaphylos uvaursi)

Species at Risk, Rock rose (Crocanthemum canadense)

Broom-crowberry (Corema conradii)