Wetlands are Wonderous

Written by Jaclyn Adams

There are four different types of wetlands in The Land Between: bogs, fens, swamps, and marshes. Within The Land Between, 14% of the area are wetlands, which at the time of this article (2022)  includes 55 Provincially Significant Wetlands and 49 Locally Significant Wetlands (1).

Wetlands are home to many different plant species ranging from floating plants, to shallow and deep water species, to trees. Wetland habitats also provide homes for animals such as beavers, frogs, turtles, muskrats, ducks, and geese, and essential food sources for species such as moose (2). 

But even more than these animals, wetlands provide services to all living things, including us humans, by improving water quality, reducing erosion and flooding, helping combat climate change, replenishing groundwater, creating food sources, and providing us with cultural and recreational experiences.

Wetlands in The Land Between bioregion, connect with most of our  lakes and river systems, and they aid in regulating water quality. Wetlands can help filter water runoff by catching pollutants such as minerals and nutrients from nearby human activities such as fertilizers and even heavy metal pollutants from combustion engines. The native plants and microorganisms catch these pollutants and absorb them before they can travel to other water sources. Wetlands are considered to be “Nature’s Kidneys”, since they can absorb and retain pollutants from the environment, much like human kidneys in the body. 

When it comes to climate change, wetlands act as a carbon sink, which means they can trap excess carbon from the air and store it in the soil (3).

Wetlands can also reduce soil erosion and help decrease flooding by storing water and releasing it slowly to other nearby bodies of water. Wetlands can collect water from snow melt in the spring, store it, and then slowly drain it back into neighbouring lakes and rivers in the summer and fall thereby keeping base flows regular, or lake levels normalized. 

Groundwater, which is water located and stored under the soil, is an important resource around the world. It is a finite supply that is protected from surface pollutants, which makes it more valuable (4). Along with slowly releasing water to lakes and rivers, wetlands also drain into nearby groundwater stores.

Wetlands provide support for entire food chains; their plants are sources of food for moose, beavers, turtles…the natural algae also feeds smaller organisms, which feeds fish and birds and amphibians, which in turn feed their predators such as osprey and mink. Wetlands are also an essential nursery area and staging areas (feeding areas) for fish as they offer food and shelter. 

Not only do wetlands provide many environmental benefits, they are also popular recreation areas. No matter where you live or what you do, no one can deny the physical, psychological, and spiritual benefits of being outdoors. In the past, wetlands were seen as unattractive and undeveloped (5). However they are now increasingly more valued due to their abundance of wildlife and their natural, untamed beauty. Whether you want to hike, fish, hunt, bird watch, or paddle, wetlands provide space to do all of the above…and they provide a sense of privacy or intimacy that many lakes lack, to commune with nature.

The Provincial government of Ontario requires wetlands to be evaluated under a system, to determine whether they are Provincially Significant, and therefore whether they will receive increased protection under their directives. However, not all wetlands are evaluated and some that are, yet are not deemed significant provincially, can actually be very valuable locally. Both provincially significant and locally important wetlands are often identified in municipal Official Plans as Environmentally Protected or EP zones. The province directs municipalities to protect EP zones for the benefit of our community’s health, wealth, and general wellbeing. 

Wetlands are essential to a healthy watershed and community; and many of the wetlands you observe have been around for hundreds of years. Despite their value and history, threats to wetlands are present, and the primary problem is land conversion and especially for human development (6). While many wetlands are protected under government policies, municipalities may not have the capacity to be proactive in their protection of wetlands, with limited enforcement officials. The province also uses a complaint or infraction system to apply their controls for wetlands that harbour Species at Risk. Therefore, private landowners, just like you can help conserve these important ecosystems by safeguarding wetlands on your own land, and by reporting filling or illegal conversions to your municipal bylaw officer and also, in case of fish or rare species that live within these basins, to the OMNRF or OMECP call centres. 

“Cherish the natural world because you’re part of it and you depend on it”- Sir David Attenborough

Sources:

1. Kawartha Conservation. (n.d.). Understanding your Watershed. Retrieved from https://www.kawarthaconservation.com/en/environmental-sciences/understanding-your-watershed.aspx
2. Conolly, J. (2020). Archaeology and paleogeography of a Lake-Wetland complex: Modeling the postglacial evolution of the Kawartha Lakes, Ontario. Geoarchaeology, 1-18.
3. Armstrong, N. (2019). The importance of wetlands. Retrieved from https://www.natureconservancy.ca/en/blog/archive/the-importance-of-wetlands.html
4. Konstantinos, V., Nerantzis, K. (2021). Groundwater Quality and Groundwater Vulnerability Assessment. Environments 21(8), 100.
5. Nicholas, G. (2001). Wet Sites, Wetland Sites, and Cultural Resource Management Strategies. The Environmental and Cultural Heritage of Wetlands (23), 262-270
6. Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry. (2017). A Wetland Conservation Strategy for Ontario. Retrieved from https://www.ontario.ca/page/wetland-conservation-strategy