Development of an Inventory of Coastal Wetlands for Eastern Georgian Bay, Lake Huron

Midwood, Jonathan D.; Rokitnicki-Wojcik, Daniel; Chow‐Fraser, Patricia

doi:10.5402/2012/950173

Cited by 11 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 25 publications

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“…Additionally, differences in the characteristics of the ecosystems studied may partially explain this discrepancy as overall habitat supply and the size of high-quality habitat patches likely differ. The mark-recapture study was conducted in Georgian Bay, Lake Huron, an area that has thousands of small (<2 ha) wetlands (Midwood, Rokitnicki-Wojcik, & Chow-Fraser, 2012) and comparatively little human influence (Chow-Fraser, 2006). Bowfin in Toronto Harbour may therefore simply have to move farther to reach distinct areas of preferred habitat types.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Tracking bowfin with acoustic telemetry: Insight into the ecology of a living fossil

Midwood

Gutowsky

Hlevca

et al. 2017

Ecology of Freshwater Fish

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Little is known about the spatial ecology and behaviour of bowfin (Amia calva), despite the fact that it is an important freshwater carnivore, the last living member of the Amiiformes and effectively a living fossil. In the summer of 2013, acoustic telemetry transmitters were surgically implanted in ten bowfin captured in Toronto Harbour on Lake Ontario. Using a stationary acoustic telemetry array that covered most of the 18-km 2 harbour, the residency and movement patterns of bowfin were tracked from their release until November 2014. Detected bowfin ranged in size from 562 to 725 mm total length and included six males and three females (one female was not detected). Bowfin showed high site fidelity with most fish detections concentrated in embayments and within the Toronto Islands, areas characterised by relatively high stable water temperatures and submerged vegetative cover. Statistical modelling revealed that bowfin residency was significantly affected by season, body size, sitespecific estimates of vegetative cover and an interaction between body size and season. Bowfin residency increased with vegetative cover and was highest for large fish during the winter and fall months. Despite the overall high site fidelity exhibited by individuals, several bowfin were mobile over the spring and summer months and moved 5.2-12.9 km among telemetry receivers in the inner and outer harbours. The results of this study provide insight into the seasonal habitat preference, home range size and activity level of this unique fish. K E Y W O R D SAmia calva, embayment, nearshore, residency, Toronto, wetland

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Tracking bowfin with acoustic telemetry: Insight into the ecology of a living fossil

Midwood

Gutowsky

Hlevca

et al. 2017

Ecology of Freshwater Fish

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Impacts of declining water levels on the quantity of fish habitat in coastal wetlands of eastern Georgian Bay, Lake Huron

Fracz

Chow‐Fraser

2012

Hydrobiologia

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Change detection of wetland vegetation under contrasting water-level scenarios in coastal marshes of eastern Georgian Bay

Rupasinghe,

Chow-Fraser

2024

Landsc Ecol

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Context Global climate change has resulted in extreme water-level (WL) fluctuations in Eastern Georgian Bay (EGB) and has affected its high-quality wetlands. Beginning in 1999, EGB experienced 14 years of extremely low water levels (Period 1), followed by 6 years of rapidly increasing water levels starting from 2014 (Period 2). During Period 1, trees and shrubs invaded the high marsh, but with inundation, they died out and transitioned into the novel Dead Tree (DT) Zone (DTZ) during Period 2. Objectives We related long-term changes in wetlands vegetation zonation to different levels of anthropogenic impacts and the Vulnerability Index (VI) scores and wetland sensitivity to WL extremes. Methods We used images acquired in 2002–2003 (IKONOS) and 2019 (KOMPSAT-3 and Pleiades-1A/1B) for four areas (19 wetlands) in EGB with varying anthropogenic impact. We used object-based classification to map land cover in two periods, followed by change detection. We related the percent areal cover of DT in wetlands to corresponding VI scores. Results We obtained > 85% overall and > 70% DT mapping accuracies. Wetlands with the least anthropogenic impact had the smallest DTZ. Percentage areal cover of the DTZ was significantly and positively correlated with wetland VI. Without exception, the amount of meadow marsh in wetlands was significantly reduced in Period 2. Conclusions Wetlands with higher VI scores and anthropogenic impact were associated with greater changes in wetland zonation and conversion into DTZ following extremes in water levels. This study provides important insights into how coastal marshes in EGB are responding to extreme water-level fluctuations induced by climate change.

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Development of an Inventory of Coastal Wetlands for Eastern Georgian Bay, Lake Huron

Cited by 11 publications

References 25 publications

Tracking bowfin with acoustic telemetry: Insight into the ecology of a living fossil

Tracking bowfin with acoustic telemetry: Insight into the ecology of a living fossil

Impacts of declining water levels on the quantity of fish habitat in coastal wetlands of eastern Georgian Bay, Lake Huron

Change detection of wetland vegetation under contrasting water-level scenarios in coastal marshes of eastern Georgian Bay

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