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T8.3 Freshwater Wetlands

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T8.3 Freshwater Wetlands PAGE .............................................................. 170 ▼ T8.3 FRESHWATER WETLANDS Wetlands are all surface areas of land that are satu- Wetlands can also be artificially created either rated with water for at least part of the year. They are indirectly by construction projects, such as hydro- characterized by poorly drained soils, hydrophytic electric dams, or directly by the building of impound- vegetation and biological activity adapted to wet ments for wildlife habitat (see T12.8). environments. Wetlands occupy the transitional zone on the landscape between the aquatic and ECOLOGICAL FUNCTIONS upland areas and exhibit some properties of each. The development of a wetland depends upon the Wetlands are environmentally important for a climate, the surface configuration of the land, the number of reasons: they provide natural filtration type of bedrock and soil (mineral or organic), the and storage of water (water recharge); they aid in degree of inundation or flooding and the nutrient flood reduction and control, acting like a sponge for status of the water supply that feeds it. Marshes are releasing water in dry seasons or retarding surface wetlands dominated by emergent aquatic vegeta- flow, thus slowing down the rate of overland flow to tion such as grasses, sedges and rushes. Wetlands streams; they are a natural storage base for carbon dominated by wooded vegetation are swamps. by absorbing carbon in the form of peat; they are a The majority of wetlands in Nova Scotia are natural sink for pollutants; they assist in stabilizing peatlands—wetlands characterized by an accumu- shorelines and riverbanks, thus reducing erosion; lation of peat. Those that are dependent on precipi- and they provide wildlife habitat for plants and ani- tation for moisture and nutrients are ombrotrophic mals, including some rare and endangered species, bogs and are dominated by sphagnum mosses. such as the Thread-leaved Sundew and the Four- Peatlands fed by water moving through mineral soil toed Salamander (see T10.12 and T11.18). T8.3 and dominated by sedges are known as fens. Freshwater Wetlands usually occur in areas containing a high WETLAND CLASSIFICATION Wetlands water table or where surface-water flow becomes obstructed. A lake or pond becomes slowly infilled A number of wetland classification systems have with organic and inorganic sediments and is then been devised in order to group wetland types into units that can be defined and characterized, prima- rily for management and conservation purposes. Peat is the partially decomposed remains of plants which Surveys can then be conducted and inventories com- have been accumulating in Nova Scotia since the last glacial piled which provide important information on the period at an approximate rate of 0.5 mm per year. This is the size and distribution of wetlands, as well as their source of the peat moss that we use as a soil conditioner in resource values. gardening. Wetlands Inventory An extensive wetlands inventory has been carried out invaded by peat-forming vegetation.1 (A gradual by the Nova Scotia Department of Natural Resources, build-up of peat can eventually transform some with the Canadian Wildlife Service, for the whole prov- wetlands into peatlands.) Paludification is the proc- ince. Wetlands are classified according to the dominant ess where bogs expand to cover previously dry land vegetative type and the depth and permanence of sur- due to a gradual rising of the water table. Another face water and are scored according to their wildlife process known as primary peat production can take value.3 The eight wetland categories are: bog, shrub place where peat-forming plants establish them- swamp, wooded swamp, deep marsh, shallow marsh, selves on moist but not waterlogged soils.2 This is meadows, seasonally flooded flats, and open water. All most often characteristic in areas with high rainfall wetlands of 0.25 hectares or greater in Nova Scotia are and low evaporation, such as in southwestern Nova included in the inventory and compiled into a data Scotia (Region 400) or the Cape Breton highlands base. Wetlands scoring 65.0 or higher have been iden- (Region 200). tified in the Atlas of Important Freshwater Wetlands and Coastal Wildlife Habitats.4 Natural History of Nova Scotia, Volume I: Topics © Nova Scotia Museum of Natural History .............................................................. PAGE 171 ▼ Figure T8.3.1: Peatland density of Nova Scotia.5 T8.3 Freshwater Wetlands Peatlands Inventory described in detail in the Wetlands of Canada, pub- The Nova Scotia Peatland Inventory was compiled by lished by the National Wetlands Working Group.7 the Nova Scotia Department of Natural Resources in response to a need for information on potentially valu- Other Classification Systems able peat resources throughout the province. Peatlands Another relevant document concerning wetland clas- greater than 10 hectares were mapped and each area sification in Nova Scotia assesses wetlands in rela- coded to reflect the dominant peatland form. Informa- tion to their landscape context. “A Landscape Ap- tion on peat quality, quantity and composition was proach to the Interpretation, Evaluation and Man- collected. The inventory has been divided into three agement of Wetlands”8 regionalizes wetlands based main classes: bog (raised, sloping or flat), fen (sloping on the Peatland Areas of Nova Scotia5 and divides the or flat) and swamp (flat). Figure T8.3.1 shows the distri- province into fourteen wetland regions (six of these bution of peatlands in Nova Scotia.5 have been subdivided). The dominating wetland type determines the region. Subregions are delineated Canadian Wetland Classification System based on changes in the amount of landscape cov- The Canadian Wetland Classification System repre- ered by wetlands and major differences in geology. sents a synthesis at the national level of existing The Natural History of Nova Scotia divides classification systems which have been devised freshwaters into several habitat types. Lakes and across Canada. It is based on ecological parameters ponds are represented by open water-lentic, bot- that influence wetlands. It consists of five wetland tom-lentic and edge-lentic. Rivers and streams are classes (bog, fen, marsh, swamp and shallow water), categorized as open water-lotic, bottom lotic and which have been further subdivided into two more edge-lotic. Peatlands are defined as either bogs or specific levels: wetland form and wetland type.6 fens. Other wetlands described are swamps and fresh- Within Nova Scotia, two wetland regions (including water marshes (see H3 and H4). four subregions) have been identified. These are © Nova Scotia Museum of Natural History Topics: Natural History of Nova Scotia, Volume I PAGE .............................................................. 172 ▼ The terminology used by the various classifica- ACID RAIN tion systems is not always consistent. Table H.1 in the Introduction to Habitats compares the terms Acidic precipitation can have a negative impact on employed in this document with those found in the some types of wetlands. A wetland-sensitivity rating Nova Scotia Wetland Inventory, the Nova Scotia system has been proposed by Kessel-Taylor in which Peatland Inventory and the Canadian Wetland Clas- wetlands are divided into four classes of sensitivity:10 sification System. 1. Low sensitivity (marshes, rich fens and shallow waters): These wetlands possess adequate WATER QUALITY OF WETLANDS buffering capacity to neutralize acid precipitation The water quality of wetlands can be affected by 2. Moderate sensitivity (bogs): Some adverse inflowing water and runoff, groundwater inflow, pre- effects from acid precipitation can be expected cipitation, vegetation and the relative contributions on some of the raised hummocks in bog of all these factors. systems however, since most bogs are already Wetlands can affect water quality within a water- acid, acid precipitation would generally have no shed in a number of ways. Highly productive freshwa- appreciable effect ter marshes may disperse nutrients to the rest of the 3. Moderate to high sensitivity (swamps): In drainage system. Conversely, in wetlands with low nutrient-poor swamps, buffering capacity is productivity, such as peatbogs, waters may become small, due to minor minerotrophic input. A more acidified and nutrients absorbed. All wetlands high volume of acid precipitation could not be generate dissolved carbon, which increases colour, neutralized and therefore the potential for thus lowering light penetration. They also provide increased acidification is high natural organic acids which lower pH levels. This 4. High sensitivity (poor fens): characterized by phenomenon is much more pronounced in bogs. low alkalinity and low mineral input; conse- The effects of wetlands on water quality in Nova quently their buffering capacity is minimal. Scotia are substantial, considering they represent a comparatively small percentage of the total surface A study of sources of sulphate ions and acidity in T8.3 area of the province. Wetlands occupy about 5 per wetlands and lakes in Nova Scotia revealed that, Freshwater cent of the province; however, approximately 50 per during the ice-free period, sea-salt-corrected sul- Wetlands cent of lakes and rivers in the region show relatively phate concentrations were nearly three times higher high colour levels, indicative of natural organic acids in the south end of the province than those found in (NOA), measured as dissolved organic carbon (DOC) northern areas. This
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