| Wetlands Restoration Workshop: | |
- report invasives to BC Invasives and polluters to RAPP
- help map remaining BC wetlands
- identify species in local wetlands with inaturalist + merlin
- subscribe to BCWF Bog Blog
- identify the type of bog in GCL with guide to wetlands
- check out plant list for bogs in section 5.2.2
- contact Tom (bog restoration expert)
- create impoundment dam to protect wetland from ditches*
- dig core trench at bottom edge of wetland to stop drainage
- core trench: 70cm thick, compacted every 15cm (clay)
- Coarse Woody Debris habitat critically important
- remove organic topsoil to farming areas (not bog-friendly)
- David Polster Rough-Loose Technique: make pits+mounds
- collect seeds from nearby wetlands, then straw mulch
- ask local First Nations about their local relevant knowledge
- Dusty's Technique for monitoring 5x5m sq GPS id species
- incl health status, density etc
| - BC political culture is fish-centric (need to realize some fish must have wetlands to reproduce)
- if you build it (wetlands), they WILL come! sometimes as soon as the next day
- wetlands are the kidneys of the Earth (slowing + purifying streams to collect sediment nutrients)
- estimated value of wetlands ecological services in Lower Mainland: 18 billions CAD in 2010
- removing ditches can refill wetlands in hours!
- removing invasives is a form of decolonization
- show respect to the farmers who ingeniously drained wetlands to feed populations
- best to restore wetlands on marginal lands, not prime farmland
- cows do not eat hydric plants
- Tom Biebighauser has designed over 6,000 wetland restoration projects
- A Guide to Creating Vernal Ponds, USDA Forest Service, 33 pages, 2003.
- Wetland Drainage, Restoration, and Repair, University Press of Kentucky, 2007.
- Wetland Restoration and Construction – A Technical Guide. 186 pages, 2011
- Restoration of Wetlands Damaged by Off-Highway Vehicles. 238 pages. USDA 2015
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- wetland loss is 3x rate of forest loss (1970-2015)
- 85% lost in BC, especially Lower Mainland + OK valley
- causes:
- dams, drainage, peat harvesting, clearcuts, loss of beavers,
- invasives, climate change, increased water use, ranching,
- recreation and resource-extraction tire tracks, pollution runoff
- Invasives:
- reed canary grass, thistles, giant hogweed, American Bulfrog,
- English holly, green frog, Japanese knotweed, Himalayan blackberry
- DFO thought (till now) beavers were harmful to Salmon
- Beavers are the natural solution to restoring wetlands
- headcuts on ditches are horrible long term fast eroders
- 1/10 deg slope ditch suffices to drain a wetland
- only 3 days to empty out after heavy rains with ditch
- *most impoundment dams leak; require maintenance
- must find ALL hidden ditches (LIDAR helps)
- Canada geese are a native annoyance w/o predators
- humans behave like they dont want to stay on this planet
| - Alyssa Purse, Molly (IT), Alana (Q&A), BCWF, WHC
- there are 198 First Nations in BC
- City of Richmond people attended last year
- BCWF (est. 1966) is the largest non-profit in BC (includes hunters and fishers)
- BCWF launched WEP (Wetlands Education Program) in 2009; uses: QGIS, eDNA
- 600 wetland species in BC, 1/3 of which MUST have wetlands for part of lifecycle
- 360 deg tour of a bog; + video of second day of Cortes Island workshop
- slide presentations: loses+values , wetlands classification
- BC govt guide to wetlands classification - see below
- 20 sphagnum species in BC - impossible to distinguish with naked eye
- ditches incredibly effective at lowering water table to bottom of ditch 2km radius
- Mr. French's rocky, ceramic or cedar debris drains + cover ditch also super effective
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F=Fens, B=Bogs, S=Swamps, M=Marshes, 50's=estuaries,
Bogs: low lying, surface water table, no seasonal water flow, rainwater only, high acidic, nutrient poor, sphagnum dominated, labrador tea,boglaurel, stunted trees
Fens: high altitude, peatland, slightly acidic, multiple sources of water, cottongrass dominated, organic soil, think: flooded soccer field, dragonflies
Marshes: thick layer of organics on top of sediment; periodical flooding, nutrient rich mineral soil, can be alkaline, cattails, bullrushes, amphibians
Swamps: edgesof riparian areas, humic layer, faster moving water, shrubs/trees, cedar swamps, mangroves, skunk cabbage, willow, hardhack, pit/mound topography
Open Shallow Water: depth <2m midsummer, common near marshes, edges of fully open water, floating vegetation,pond lilies, easy to get stuck in (dangerous)
https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Example-of-an-edatopic-grid-showing-the-matrix-of-ecosite-series-classified-in-the-Boreal_fig2_325866582
| Peatland Restoration Guide: New Brunswick 2003 | Canadian Sphagnum Peat Moss Association (CSPMA) |
- First remove inappropriate species + make sure donor site has the right species
- Solve the hydration issue: blocking ditches, pumping, solid berms, pools, yearly flooding, etc
- Scrape top 10cm from donor site, shred it, spread it 1:10 ratio (donor area: restore area)
- Cover with loose fluffy straw
- Yearly Monitoring in 2nd, 3rd and 5th year after restauration
| Restoration Success if all 3:- Rewetting of Restoration site
- Reintroduction of Diaspores
- Straw Mulch
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| - bogs make up 11% of Canada’ s territory
- accumulation of peat is only about 0.5 to 1 mm per year
- restoration takes 5 years
- needs a donor site only 1/10 of the size of the to-be-restored site
- much greater biodiversity in peatlands with pools
- research on peatland restoration only started in 1993
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