Second Lake Provincial Park Reserve falls within two ecodistricts: the Eastern Drumlins and Eastern Interior ecodistricts. Ecodistricts are largely influenced by underlying geology and how rock and land formations responded to glacial traffic.

Surficial materials are primarily composed of stony and silty glacial tills and are expressed in the types of soils found in this landscape - well drained, fine-textured Wolfville soils on the drumlins and hilly terrain, and poorly drained, medium-textured Mahone soils on flat terrain. Three major types of bedrock underlie the park - greywacke, slate and quartzite.

 

The Eastern Drumlins ecodistrict is underlain by resistant Meguma Group greywacke and slate, blanketed by fine-textured tills derived from these underlying and adjacent rocks. The drumlins were formed by glacial movement and are derived from carboniferous rocks from the north as well as materials from the Cobequid Hills and Pictou-Antigonish Highlands. The soils are predominantly fine textured loams over sandy clay loams. This ecodistrict is characterized by a concentration of drumlins and also includes a significant number of freshwater lakes.Within the park it extends along the steep slope from the Armcrest subdivision to the recently-acquired 24 hectares of parkland along First Lake Drive. In this ecodistrict, the well-drained drumlins and hummocks provide an opportunity for pure stands of tolerant hardwoods, such as yellow birch, sugar maple and beech, to thrive on the crests and upper slopes. On the lower slopes, pure stands of red spruce, hemlock and pine may ring the drumlins to varying degrees. Between drumlins, black spruce occupy the wetter, imperfectly drained soils. White pine will occur on sites with dry, coarse, shallow soil.

It is fun to note that both peninsulas jutting out into second lake are drumlins.

 

The Eastern Interior ecodistrict is one of the largest in the province. The underlying resistant Meguma Group quartzite and slate is highly visible in those areas where the glacial till is very thin, exposing the ridge topography. Where the till is thicker, the ridged topography is masked and thick softwood forests occur. This ecodistrict is heavily covered with freshwater lakes. The composition of the forests in this ecodistrict strongly reflect the depth of soil profile. On the shallow soils repeated fires have reduced forest cover to scrub hardwoods such as red maple and white birch, with scattered white pine and black spruce underlain by a dense layer of ericaceous vegetation. However, on the deeper, well drained soils stands of red spruce will be found. On the crests and upper slopes of hills, drumlins and some hummocks, stands of tolerant hardwoods occur. This ecodistrict occupies the southeastern and northern areas of the park.

 

Ecodistricts are, in turn, comprised of ecosections. These units are the building blocks of the ELC and describe the enduring physical features - topographic pattern, soil texture and soil drainage. At this level biological processes such as climax forest associations and natural disturbance regimes can be determined. Together, the physical and biological attributes of the ecosection determines the ecological process and structures affecting biodiversity. Four ecosections are found within the park.

 

The Eastern Drumlin ecodistrict includes one ecosection - the well drained, finely textured soils on drumlins. This ecosection encompasses the steep slopes between Second Lake and the adjoining residential neighbourhood on Cavalier Drive.

The Eastern Interior ecodistrict includes three ecosections within the park. The ecosection chararcterized by imperfectly drained, fine textured soils on ridges is found at the southeastern end of the lake; the well drained, fine textured soils on drumlins is found along a portion of Cobequid road; and the well drained, fine textured soils on hills is situated at the northwest end of Second Lake. Although Second Lake provincial park is in a fairly natural condition, its contribution to ecological representation is limited due to the park’s small size relative to the size of the ecodistricts. In addition, urban development has compromised the integrity of some ecosections.