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December 2020 - Issue 54
The Wetland Knowledge Exchange (WKE) is the official voice of the Canadian Conservation and Land Management Knowledge Network's Wetland Knowledge Portal. The WKE is a venue for sharing wetland information to raise awareness, increase information transfer, and build a community of practice. Explore the Wetland Knowledge Portal here 

Monthly Webinar Series 

This month Becky Edwards with Ducks Unlimited Canada will present on Ducks Unlimited Canada’s Satellite-Based Wetland Inventories: Advancements and Applications.

January 19, 2021, 12:00 - 1:00 MST
Register here
 
Did you miss some of the past webinars?  Check them out here.
Ducks Unlimited Canada is looking for feedback on the latest version of the Alberta Wetlands Classification System Field Guide. Feedback will influence the success of the field guide. 

Interested in giving your feedback? Follow the link below to learn more. Feedback is to be returned by January 29th, 2021.
 
Learn More

News

What’s green, soggy, and fights climate change?

Canada’s boreal is home to 25% of the world’s remaining primary forest

Peatlands keep a lot of carbon out of the Earth’s atmosphere, but that could end with warming and development

Mapping wetlands and riparian areas in our Peace Region

Events

American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting 2020
December 1-17, 2020

View a full list of events here. 

New Resources

Hydrological monitoring at Evergreen Park

To an untrained eye, it may not always be obvious that you are walking through a wetland. Some wetlands have water visible at the surface, whereas others have water just below the surface vegetation or even deeper. This concept is called the water table, a threshold that measures where the soil becomes fully saturated, meaning that the soil's pores are entirely occupied by water, leaving no space for air. The water table also varies between seasons, an area that looks dry in the fall could present as an enormous pool of water in the spring. Improving our understanding of wetland hydrology is part of the toolbox (along with soil temperature, vegetation communities, rainfall, etc.) for understanding environmental controls on wetland processes, which will help with conservation and best management decision making.

In the fall of this year, a Hydrology Monitoring Pilot Project was initiated at  Evergreen Park in the County of Grande Prairie, Alberta. In partnership with Dr. Scott Ketcheson at Athabasca University, Ducks Unlimited Canada and the Evergreen Learning and Innovation Society installed monitoring wells across the site to measure how the water table fluctuates in different boreal wetland types. The project's goal is to collect hydrology data to improve our understanding of boreal wetland hydrology at this site and support the development of a Wetland Centre. Learn more about hydrological monitoring, the Hydrology Monitoring Pilot Project and the Wetland Centre here.
Effects of warming on plant community composition in boreal fens

Landscapes across the globe are expected to shift with a predicted increase in global air temperature. In Sphagnum dominated, nutrient-poor peatlands, studies have demonstrated that increased temperature will induce transitions from Sphagnum moss dominated systems to vascular (e.g. Carex sedges) dominated systems. This could lead to soil biochemistry changes due to the differences in decomposition rates associated with different plant types, thus altering how the peatland functions and its carbon storage potential.

Lyons et al. (2020) conducted a study to expand on these findings by comparing the effect of increased air temperature on species diversity (the number of unique species found at a site) and plant community composition (the specific species found at a site) between a nutrient-rich, sedge-dominated fen and a nutrient-poor, Sphagnum-dominated fen. Lyons et al. found that there was little difference in species diversity between sites compared to the control plots. In the Sphagnum dominated fen, there was a significant decrease in moss presence, while in the Carex dominated fen, there was a significant increase in above ground biomass. With these findings, Lyons et al. suggest that warming initially increases Sphagnum mortality, with vascular species introduction occurring over a larger timescale, rather than vascular plants slowly replacing non-vascular species. Lyons et al. also found that plant community heterogeneity increased with warming in both fen types. Increased heterogeneity in the fen plots indicates that the effect of climate warming on plant communities is more unpredictable in boreal peatlands than previously suggested. Learn more here.
Drivers of reptile overwintering habitat suitability

Habitat degradation and loss due to development and climate change threaten many species' habitats, including reptilian species. Reptiles are critical in wetland ecosystems, acting as indicator species, contributing to predator-prey dynamics, and contributing to energy flow cycles within and between ecosystems. Resilient wetlands contribute to the long-term suitability of overwintering habitat and can serve as climate change refugia for reptiles.

To better understand the processes and characteristics that make wetlands resilient, Markle et al. (2020) examined wetland ecosystem feedback and interactions, including biogeochemical, thermal, ecological and hydrological feedback. Understanding the interconnected nature of temperature, dissolved oxygen, and water table position are vital in conserving northern reptile species. Markle et al. then present an integrated framework to help predict how wetlands may change and the effects of these changes on habitat suitability for specific reptilian species. Markle et al. encourage users to use these results to influence management decisions and research on the impacts of disturbances such as climate change, development and land-use change reptile habitat. Learn more here.
Did You Know?


Photo: Mady Macdonald/Dreamstime.com

Have you heard of drunken forests? These unique forests occur in permafrost regions where the permafrost is thawing. When permafrost thaws, it causes the ground to sink or slump. In peatlands, where species such as black spruce have shallow root systems, this causes the trees to lean sharply and appear staggered across the landscape. Thus the name, drunken forests.
 
Drunken forests are common in the northern peatlands, where permafrost is prevalent. However, the effects of permafrost thaw are not isolated to trees and impact infrastructure such as roads and homes. Learn more here.
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