PARENT SESSION
Contributed Oral Session 96: Restoration and Adaptive Management: Fresh and Salt Water Wetlands; Deer
Wednesday, August 10, 1:30 PM - 5:00 PM, Meeting Room 516 D, Level 5, Palais des congrès de Montréal
Wainfleet Bog: An interdisciplinary approach to the restoration of a wetland complex.
Browning, Mark*,1, Diamond, Joshua 2, Frohlich, Kim2, Middleton, John3, Yagi, Anne4, 1 Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources, Peterborough, Ontario, Canada2 Niagara Peninsula Conservation Authority, Welland, Ontario, Canada3 Brock University, St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada4 Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources, Vineland, Ontario, Canada
ABSTRACT- Wainfleet Bog (1460ha) is the largest peatland in the Carolinian life zone of Canada. Much of this bog/swamp complex has been severely disturbed by 80 years of peat extraction and area drainage ditches. The result is a much drier peatland with little living Sphagnum cover, subject to fires and extensive colonization by the non-native Betula pendula (European Birch). However, this wetland still supports at least 12 species with a Species at Risk (SAR) status in Ontario. Baseline monitoring was critical in determining restoration needs, ensuring an ecosystem approach where SAR are addressed. Monitoring after the restoration work has produced some surprises! Successional processes have been very slow in large areas of mined peat. However, sowing of Sphagnum fragments in combination with re-created micro topography has significantly increased moss cover. Drought conditions, rather than flooded conditions, have been effective at controlling European Birch. A linkage can be traced between a summer drought triggering rapid dieback of birch (>80% mortality) due to greater susceptibility to the insect pest Agrilus anxius (bronze birch borer) and a resulting significant increase in Rubus sp (raspberry) cover. This raspberry response may be at least partly related to nutrient release from the birch whose leaves have a low C/N ratio and decompose rapidly. Habitats of birch logs and berry producing shrubs are associated with a higher and more diverse small mammal community, the main prey of the Eastern Massassauga (Sistrurus catenatus catenatus). Telemetry studies indicate the rattlesnake also makes significant use of this habitat type. Severe dieback areas are also now the main sites of colonization by plants not usually found in bogs including some non-native invasives. These interactions illustrate the difficulty of restoring a wetland and simultaneously considering multiple SAR with different habitat requirements.
Key words: peatland, restoration, species-at-risk, invasives