MINESING SWAMP RESEARCH PROJECT

"For after millennia in the making, Minesing Swamp endures-a vast, complex and diverse wetland ecosystem; large enough for predators and prey to thrive, for plants and animal populations to survive, and for the stout of heart or the determined to observe and to study them." (John Sparling, Seasons, Winter 1985)

MINESING SWAMP RESEARCH PROJECT
	The goal of the research project is to further the understanding of the hydrology of wetland systems. Three areas of investigation include: 1. characterizing the water balance of a selected plot within the fen; 2. examining the correlations between vegetation and hydrology; and 3. identifying effective methods for hydrological studies of sensitive and inaccessible wetlands. The Minesing Swamp has been selected as the research site by virtue of the diverse soil, hydrological, and ecological conditions within its boundaries. Due to its location in Southern Ontario, the Swamp is increasingly experiencing land use pressures . An implicit aim of the research is to contribute to efforts being made to conserve this remarkable wetland.

MINESING SWAMP RESEARCH PROJECT

The goal of the research project is to further the understanding of the hydrology of wetland systems. Three areas of investigation include:

1. characterizing the water balance of a selected plot within the fen;
2. examining the correlations between vegetation and hydrology; and
3. identifying effective methods for hydrological studies of sensitive and inaccessible wetlands.

The Minesing Swamp has been selected as the research site by virtue of the diverse soil, hydrological, and ecological conditions within its boundaries. Due to its location in Southern Ontario, the Swamp is increasingly experiencing land use pressures . An implicit aim of the research is to contribute to efforts being made to conserve this remarkable wetland.

Andrea Bradford
Research Associate
Ph.D Candidate
4alb@qlink.queensu.ca

Research Partners
Queen's University
Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council
Nottawasaga Valley Conservation Authority
Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources
Society of Wetland Scientists
Ecological Services for Planning Ltd.
Mark Thompson

MINESING SWAMP

The Minesing Swamp, located west of Barrie, Ontario, has recently been designated as a Wetland of International Importance under the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands. The Minesing Swamp has received this designation owing to its diverse habitats, numerous rare species, and its importance as a breeding area, waterfowl staging area, heronry, and deer wintering yard. Carolinian bottomland forest can be found within 1km of a treed fen, typical of the Hudson Bay Lowlands.

"As you push west on the Willow, the atmosphere changes from gentle marsh to gothic swamp as the creek winds through a flooded-out 1,600 hectare silver maple forest. The bleached snags and logs that line the creek here are regularly visited by downy, hairy and pileated woodpeckers. The woodpeckers' handiwork is, in turn, exploited by tree swallows that flit from snag to snag as the sun flashes off their iridescent feathers. The odd turkey vulture floats overhead in the azure sky, matched in size only by the numerous great blue herons." (Brad Cundiff, Seasons, Spring 1978)

Dead Forest

"Tall waving stems of Phragmites sway above luxuriant swards of sedges in the gentle summer winds. Rusty flowers of Pitcher Plants are scattered randomly as far as we can see. Downy tufts of cotton grass stand against a backdrop of Tamarack and [cedar] that stretches to the horizon in all directions. If we didn't know better, we could easily believe ourselves to be in the Hudson Bay Lowland, a far northern ... land of string bogs and fens sculptured by seeping waters." (Ed and Rysa Hanna)

Fen

HUMAN INFLUENCES

"While numerous attempts by entrepreneurs to change the nature of the swamp have been doomed to failure, many have also wounded and bled the swamp. In one bottomland area near the center of the swamp, hundreds of acres of silver maple forest are dead or dying because they have been inundated permanently. In other areas, simple disturbances like the trampling taken by sensitive swamplands and fens when snowmobiles cross them in winter are threatening some of the rarest plants to be found - plants like ... the prairie white-fringed orchid." (Scott Smallwood, Ducks Unlimited Canada, Conservator 1990)

With the first European settlers came human induced pressures on the Minesing Swamp. By the 1880's, most of the higher quality timber in the Swamp's forests had been logged. Areas of the bottomland and lowland forest and even the heart of the Swamp were cleared for agriculture. Agricultural drains, some constructed in the early 1900s, wreaked havoc with the Swamp's hydrology. The clearing of upstream lands caused high sediment loads in the watercourses flowing into the Swamp. Much of this sediment was deposited in the channels and forests within Minesing. The results of these pressures included changes in stream courses and rising water levels with dieback of the more water sensitive species being the outcome. High nutrient levels in agricultural runoff have contributed to eutrophication and changes in species composition within the Swamp. Dutch Elm Disease, which was introduced from Europe, has had a significant impact on the deciduous forests of Minesing Swamp.

The potential invasion by Purple Loosestrife is a relatively new concern. To date, this alien species has only been observed in small numbers near the perimeter of the Swamp. The Swamp is still threatened by upstream sediment, nutrient, and other contaminant loadings. Aggregate extraction, landfilling, and residential and ski resort development in the ground water recharge areas to the east of the Swamp are of concern. Recreational activities including the use of wheeled motorized vehicles and snowmobiles within the Swamp have perhaps the most direct impacts on the Swamp. Even walking in the sensitive peats can lead to the compression, oxidation or erosion of the peat and cause permanent damage.

WETLAND WATER BALANCE

Accurate water balances are fundamental to many wetland studies such as those involving the calculation of chemical balances or the prediction of the effects of natural or anthropogenic changes on wetlands.

Detailed monitoring of hydrological conditions is being carried out at a plot within the fen. At this plot, information is being collected to allow the quantitative evaluation of:

rainfall;
snowmelt;
evapotranspiration;
surface water inflows and outflows;
ground water inflows and outflows; and
storage.

Each component of the water balance will be measured independently, thereby allowing an estimation of the error in the balance to be calculated.

VEGETATION AND HYDROLOGY

"As with most wetlands, patterns of water flow, and quantity and quality of water supply, are major factors influencing form and function. Conversely, wetlands are known to have a significant influence on the quantity and quality of water release. Minesing Swamp elegantly exemplifies this complicated relationship." (Ed and Rysa Hanna)

While the importance of hydrology is emphasized in this study, the role that vegetation fulfills in feedback mechanisms affecting both water quality and quantity is also recognized. In fact, wetlands may best be viewed as complex hydrobiological systems. The complexity of wetland hydrology, and the interdependence of the factors controlling it, underscore the need for an interdisciplinary study such as the Minesing Swamp Research Project.

Water quality and moisture gradients have been recognized as instrumental to the distribution of vegetation. This study, however, will probe further into the underlying factors responsible for such gradients. Base-line conditions in the Minesing Swamp will be established and will prove helpful in predicting the consequences of natural and anthropogenic changes in the hydrology, and in assessing alternative protection and mitigation measures for this remarkable site. Beyond this, however, the research results will be invaluable to the protection of other wetlands and will provide insight into design variables important for the success of wetland restoration, creation and construction projects.

Forty-five monitoring stations are being used to study the correlation between vegetation and hydrologic parameters. Information is being collected on microtopography, soil properties, quantity and quality of water, species presence and relative cover, and evidence of disturbances.

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Last Updated Oct. 28 / 97