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Wetlands
Wetlands encompass many different habitats including ponds, marshes, swamps, and peat lands. They are areas where land and water meet and are wet for an ecologically significant pat of the year. Wetlands may be temporally flooded each day as with tidal marshes, or filled seasonally with water from melting snow. Plants and animals present in wetlands are from land and water habitats making them highly productive environments. Wetlands function as ecotones, transitions between different habitats, and have characteristics of both aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems (Figure 1).
Wetlands are found along the shorelines of oceans, lakes, rivers, and in local depressions. The water in natural wetlands derives from tidal flows, lakes, flooding rivers, or connections to groundwater. The water table in wetlands is at or near the surface, and the land is often covered with shallow water.
Functions
Wetlands serve many functions:
1. Water filtration and purification
Wetlands have often been described as the kidneys of the landscape because of the role they play in water and chemical cycles. Wetlands filter out sediment and decomposing plant matter from the surrounding environment, as well as other pollutants, so that the water they discharge is cleaner than that which entered the wetland. In this manner, wetlands act as both a sink and source, storing and passing on vital resources to their local environment.
2. Groundwater supply
Wetlands store excess water and replenish local groundwater supplies.
3. Erosion control
Grasses, sedges and cattails stabilize the shorelines in wetlands by reducing the energy of waves, currents, and other erosive forces. Their roots trap sediments preventing the loss of valuable agricultural and residential land.
4. Flood control
Many wetlands are associated with the floodplains surrounding rivers. When these rivers swell in times of heavy rainfall or spring runoff, the wetlands store excess water which is gradually transferred to groundwater reserves rather than flowing overland.
5. Nutrient retention and export
Wetlands retain nutrients, especially nitrogen and phosphorous, through accumulation in subsoil or storage in vegetation. Wetlands remove nutrients from water, preventing eutrophication (nutrient overloading), thus improving water quality, and act as a nutrient source returning them to their surroundings.
6. Wildlife habitat for plants and animals, most notably waterfowl, fish and shellfish
7. Recreation
Ramsar
The Convention on Wetlands, also known as Ramsar Convention, after the city in Iran where it was adopted in 1971, is an inter-governmental treaty which provides the framework for national action and international cooperation for the conservation and wise use of wetlands.
The definition of wetlands included in the Convention is deliberately broad, encompassing “areas of marshes, fen, peat land or water, whether natural or artificial, permanent or temporary, with water that is flowing or static, fresh, brackish or salty, including areas of marine water the depth of which at low tide does not exceed six metres”. It may also include riparian (the interface between land and streams) and coastal zones adjacent to the wetlands, and islands or bodies of marine water deeper than six meters at low tide lying within the wetlands. These characteristics form the basis for classifying wetland types contained in the ‘Ramsar Classification of Wetland Type’, into 20 types of inland wetlands, 12 types of marine & coastal wetlands, and 10 types of human & man-made wetlands.
Malpeque Bay Wetlands
According to the Ramsar Classification System, Malpeque Bay is comprised of the following 5 types of marine and coastal wetlands:
Type 1 – Marine waters – permanent shallow waters less than 6 m deep at low tide; includes sea bays, straits.
Type 2 – Subtidal aquatic beds; includes kelp beds, sea-grasses, tropical marine meadows.
Type 5 – Sand, shingle or pebble beaches; includes sand bars, spits, sandy islets.
Type 8 – Intertidal marshes; includes salt marshes, salt meadows, saltings, raised salt marshes, tidal brackish and freshwater marshes.
Type 10 – Brackish to saline lagoons with one or more relatively narrow connections with the sea.
The altitude of these wetlands ranges from sea level to 8 m in height.
The Malpeque Bay wetlands has a total area of 24,000 hectacres (ha), comprising 80 ha of saline ponds, 260 ha of sand beach, 640 ha of sand dunes, 700 ha of salt marsh, 2200 ha of islands, 7600 ha of shallow estuarine water and flats, and 12,960 ha of open water.
Physically, Malpeque Bay is a coastal lagoon system protected from the open sea (Gulf of St. Lawrence) by a 25 km-long coastal sandspit and dune formation. A 1 km-wide channel at the eastern tip of the sandspit provides for the main exchange of tidal waters between the bay and open ocean. Some 23 small rivers and creeks contribute fresh water to this wetland, thus producing principally an estuarine regime. Numerous small salt marshes (average size 5 ha) are scattered along the coastline which is characterized by a band of intertidal sand-mud that varies in width from 0.5m to 1000m.
Ecologically, the majority of the bay is shallow (average depth 4m, maximum 13m), with numerous shoals. These shallow, productive, coastal waters account for 31% of the site area, and eel grass (Zostera marina) dominates half (3800 ha) of this area. The 25 km protecting sandspit has wide sand beaches (260 ha) and several small saline ponds. Areas of overwash occur at intervals, but an extensive dune system vegetated with marram grass (Ammophilia breviligulaya) dominates. The bay contains 9 islands, 5 wooded and 4 covered with grasses and shrubs.
This shallow, productive bay is an important nursery area for fin and shell fishes, most notably Malpeque Bay oysters and soft shelled clams. Wildlife use of the area is considerable. Peak numbers of Canada Geese (Branta canadensis) reach 14,000 in spring and nearly 20,000 during the fall. Of particular importance to these geese are the eel grass flats and intertidal areas. Up to 3000 Red-breasted Merganser (Mergus serrator), 1200 Greater Scaup (Athya marila), 1500 Black Duck (Anas rubripes) and 750 Green-winged Teal (Anas crecca carolinensis) can be observed in the peak fall periods. Smaller numbers of Pintail (Anas acuta), Common Goldeneye (Bucephala clangula), and scoters (Melanitta sp.) also occur. Shorebirds are abundant about the bay from mid-July to early fall, and several pairs of nesting Piping Plover (Charadrius melodus) occur at overwash sites on the outer beach. Some of the islands are colonial nesting sites for seabirds, and Big Courtin Island is the largest (300) Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias) colony in the province.
The posted coordinates are at one of the 23 rivers/creeks that contribute fresh water to this wetland; the creek flows north into the bay while the opposite direction creates a back marsh. This estuary (where fresh water and salt water come together) is extremely nutrient-rich because of sediment deposition.
To claim this Earthcache:
1. Take and post a picture of you and your GPSr at the posted coordinates and e-mail me the answers to the following questions:
2. According to the Ramsar Classification of Wetlands, what type of marine and coastal wetland is represented at the posted coordinates?
3. Estimate the water’s flow rate at the posted coordinates.
Do NOT post your answers on your log, encrypted or otherwise.
DO NOT LOG AS A FIND UNTIL YOU HAVE A PICTURE READY TO POST AT THE TIME OF LOGGING A FIND FOR THIS EC. Logs with no photo of the actual cacher logging the find or failure to answer required questions through e-mail will result in a log deletion without notice. Exceptions will be considered if you contact me first.
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