Burnt Lands alvar

The Burnt Lands is an alvar between Almonte and Ottawa near Upper Huntley, Ontario, Canada, its name likely taken from a forest fire that swept the area during early European settlement. Its shallow soil, exposed to alternating drought and flooding, keeps the land in small patches of open, prairie-like habitat within a landscape otherwise covered in forest, making it one of the best examples of this alvar habitat type in Lanark County and southern Ontario. Roughly 610 hectares of the site are designated an Area of Natural and Scientific Interest by the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources, with a smaller parcel protected as Burnt Lands Provincial Park. This description is adapted from Wikipedia contributors under CC BY-SA 4.0; changes were made. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/