Aquatic vegetation trends from 1992 to 2012 in Hamilton Harbour and Cootes Paradise, Lake Ontario
Keywords:
macrophyte, Secchi depth, areal extent, maximum depthAbstract
Over the past two hundred years, anthropogenic activities have resulted in the substantial decline of the once extensive wetlands in both Hamilton Harbour and Cootes Paradise. Some of the key stressors for aquatic vegetation have been infilling, sustained high water levels and level regulation in Lake Ontario, and reduced water clarity because of eutrophication and suspended sediments. Designated an Area of Concern in 1985, remediation efforts have included upgrades to the sewage treatment plants discharging into the harbour to reduce eutrophication and the 1996 construction of a fish barrier to exclude large Carp from entering Cootes Paradise to reduce turbidity. Over the past ten years, Cootes Paradise has seen a 120% increase in the areal extent of emergent vegetation, but this still represents less than 20% of the circa 1900's marsh area. Despite substantial reductions in Carp density in Cootes Paradise, submerged aquatic vegetation has been sparse and typically found at depths of less than 0.5 m, likely because of impaired light penetration.
Following a significant improvement in water clarity in Hamilton Harbour between 1987 and 1997, submerged aquatic vegetation in the harbour proper expanded, achieving a mean maximum depth of 2.9 m in 2012. Species richness was considerably lower in Hamilton Harbour when compared to Cootes Paradise; however, the species composition in both these areas indicated degraded conditions throughout the time period of our assessment. Using our recent dataset, we tested relationships that had been previously established in the literature between emergent extent and water levels for Cootes Paradise and also the connection between maximum depth of submergent colonization and Secchi depths but simple univariate tests were not significant. A combination of small sample size, simple tests, and a small range for the independent variable may be issues in establishing simplified response relationships and are likely oversimplifications of vegetation response in the area that require more complex modelling.
References
Albert, D.A., Minc, L.D., 2004. Plants as regional indicators of Great Lakes coastal wetland health. Aquat. Ecosyst. Health Mgmt. 7(2), 233–247.
BioSonics, 2000. BioPlant Version 1.0. Seattle, WA, USA.
Brassard, P., Morris, W., 1997. Resuspension and redistribution of sediments in Hamilton Harbour. J. Great Lakes Res. 23(1), 74–85.
Carpenter, S.R., 2010. Changing views of ecological change. Trends in Ecology and Evolution 25(4), 205–206.
Chaichana, R., Leah, R., Moss, B., 2011. Seasonal impact of waterfowl on communities of macrophytes in a shallow lake. Aquat. Bot. 95, 39–44.
Chambers, P.A., Kalff, J., 1985. Depth distribution and biomass of submersed aquatic macrophyte communities in relation to secchi depth. Can. J. Fish. Aquat. Sci. 42, 701–709.
Charlton, M.N., Le Sage, R., 1996. Water quality trends in Hamilton Harbour: 1987 to 1995. Water Qual. Res. J. Canada. 31 (3), 473–484.
Chow-Fraser, P., 1998. A conceptual ecological model to aid restoration of Cootes Paradise Marsh, a degraded coastal wetland of Lake Ontario, Canada. Wetlands Ecology and Management 6, 43–57.
Chow-Fraser, P., 1999. Seasonal, interannual and spatial variability in the concentrations of total suspended solids in a degraded coastal wetland of Lake Ontario. J. Great Lakes Res. 25(4), 799–813.
Chow-Fraser, P., 2005. Ecosystem response to changes in water level of Lake Ontario marshes: lessons from the restoration of Cootes Paradise Marsh. Hydrobiologia 539, 189–204.
Chow-Fraser, P., 2006. Development of the wetland water quality index for assessing the quality of Great Lakes coastal wetlands. In: T. Simon, J. P. Stewart (Eds.), Coastal Wetlands of the Laurentian Great Lakes: Health, Habitat and Indicators. Author House, Bloomington, Indiana, 137–166.
Chow-Fraser, P., Lougheed, V., Le Thiec, V., Crosbie, B., Simser, L., Lord, J., 1998. Long-term response of the biotic community to fluctuating water levels and changes in water quality in Cootes Paradise Marsh, a degraded coastal wetland of Lake Ontario. Wetlands Ecology and Management 6, 19–42.
Court, A., Reddick, D., 2014. Emergent and meadow marsh vegetation summary of Hendrie Valley Sanctuary. RBG Report No. 2014-7. Royal Botanical Gardens, Hamilton, Ontario.
Croft, M.V., Chow-Fraser, P., 2007. Use and development of the wetland macrophyte index to detect water quality impairment in fish habitat of Great Lakes coastal marshes. J. Great Lakes Res. 33, 172–197.
Crow, G.E., Hellquist, C.B. (Eds.), 2000. Aquatic and wetland plants of northeastern North America: a revised and enlarged edition of Norman C. Fassett's A manual of aquatic plants. The University of Wisconsin Press, Madison, Wisconsin, USA.
Daw, C., 2011. Ecological land classification of Cootes Paradise Marsh. RBG Report No. 2011-01. Royal Botanical Gardens, Hamilton, Ontario.
Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada. Canadian tides and water levels data archive. http://www.isdm-gdsi.gc.ca/isdm-gdsi/twl-mne/index-eng.htm#s5. Accessed March 5, 2014.
Department of Marine and Fisheries of Canada. 1926. Map of Burlington Bay, Lake Ontario 1915, surveyed by Mr. G.A. Bachand. Ottawa, Ontario.
Doolittle, A.G., Bakelaar, C.N., Doka, S.E., 2010. Spatial framework for storage and analyses of fish habitat data in Great Lakes' areas of concern: Hamilton Harbour Geodatabase Case Study. Can. Tech. Rep. Fish. Aquat. Sci. 2879.
Duarte, C.M., Kalff, J., 1986. Littoral slope as a predictor of maximum biomass of submerged macrophyte communities. Limnol. Oceanogr. 31(5), 1072–1080.
Dugdale, T.M., de Winton, M.D., Clayton, J.S., 2001. Burial limits to the emergence of aquatic plant propagules. New Zealand Journal of Marine and Freshwater Research 35(1), 147–153.
Epp, J. M., 2012. Emergent and meadow marsh vegetation summary, RBG Report No. 2012-6. Royal Botanical Gardens, Hamilton, Ontario.
Hakanson, L., Jansson, M., 1983. Principles of Lake Sedimentology. Springer-Verlag, New York.
Hamilton Harbour Remedial Action Plan Writing Team, 1992. Remedial action plan for Hamilton Harbour: environmental conditions and problem definition: second edition of stage 1 report. Hamilton, Canada.
Hiriart-Baer, V.P., Milne, J., Charlton, M.N., 2009. Water quality trends in Hamilton Harbour: two decades of change in nutrients and chlorophyll a. J. Great Lakes Res. 35, 293–301.
Hiriart-Baer, V.P., Boyd, D., Long, T., Charlton, M.N., Milne, J.E., 2016. Hamilton Harbour over the last 25 years: Insights from a long-term comprehensive water quality monitoring program. Aquatic Ecosyst. Health Mgmt. 19(2), 124–133.
Holmes, J.A., 1988. Potential for fisheries rehabilitation in the Hamilton Harbour-Cootes Paradise ecosystem of Lake Ontario. J. Great Lakes Res. 14(2), 131–141.
Hudon, C., Lalonde, S., Gagnon, P., 2000. Ranking the effects of site exposure, plant growth form, water depth, and transparency on aquatic plant biomass. Can J. Fish. Aquat. Sci. 57 (Suppl. 1) 31–42.
Ibelings, B.W., Portielje, R., Lammens, E.H. R.R., Noordhuis, R., van den Berg, M.S., Joosse, W., Meijer, M.L., 2007. Resilience of alternative stable states during the recovery of shallow lakes from eutrophication: Lake Veluwe as a case study. Ecosystems 10, 4–16.
International Joint Commission (IJC), 2014. Lake Ontario St. Lawrence River Plan 2014: Protecting against extreme water levels, restoring wetlands and preparing for climate change. Windsor, ON. http://www.ijc.org/files/tinymce/uploaded/LOSLR/IJC_LOSR_EN_Web.pdf
Lippincott, H.A., 1985. Great Lakes vertical datum. Proceedings of the Third International Symposium on the North American vertical datum. 1985 April 21–26. National Geodetic Information Center, NOAA, Rockville, USA.
Lougheed, V.L., Chow-Fraser, P., 2002. Development and use of a zooplankton index of wetland quality in the Laurentian Great Lakes basin. Ecol. Appl. 12, 474–486.
Lougheed, V.L., Crosbie, B., Chow-Fraser, P., 1998. Predictions of the effect of common carp (Cyprinus carpio) exclusion, food-web interactions on water quality, zooplankton, and the restoration of Cootes Paradise Marsh. Can. J. Fish. Aquat. Sci. 55, 1189–1197.
Lougheed, V.L., Theÿsmeÿer, T., Smith, T., Crosbie, B., Chow-Fraser, P., 2004. Carp exclusion, food-web interactions, and the restoration of Cootes Paradise Marsh. J. Great Lakes Res. 30(1), 44–57.
Lundholm, J.T., Simser, W.L., 1999. Regeneration of submerged macrophyte populations in a disturbed Lake Ontario coastal marsh. J. Great Lakes Res. 25(2), 395–400.
Minns, C.K., Cairns, V.W., Randall, R.G., Crowder, A., McLaughlin, A., 1993. Macrophyte surveys of littoral habitats in Great Lakes' areas of concern: the Bay of Quinte, Hamilton Harbour and Severn Sound – 1988 to 1991. Can. Tech. Rep. Fish. Aquat. Sci., 1936.
Painter, D.S., McCabe, K.J., Simser, W.L., 1988. Past and present limnological conditions in Cootes Paradise affecting aquatic vegetation. NWRI Contribution No. 88-47, Burlington, Canada.
Reddick, D., 2013. Ecological Land Classification of Grindstone Creek Marshes. RBG Report No. 2013-12. Royal Botanical Gardens, Hamilton, Ontario.
Reddick D., Theÿsmeÿer T., 2012. 20 year trends in water quality, Cootes Paradise and Grindstone Marsh. Royal Botanical Gardens, Burlington, Ontario.
Sager, E.P.S., 1996. Factors influencing the light environment in Cootes Paradise, Hamilton Harbour, and other coastal marshes of Lake Ontario. Water Qual. Res. J. Canada 31(3), 553–575.
Sager, E.P.S., Whillans, T.H., Fox, M.G., 1998. Factors influencing the recovery of submersed macrophytes in four coastal marshes of Lake Ontario. Wetlands 18(2), 256–265.
Schrage, L.J., Downing, J.A., 2004. Pathways of increased water clarity after fish removal from Ventura Marsh; a shallow, eutrophic wetland. Hydrobiologia 511, 215–231.
Seilheimer, T.S., Chow-Fraser, P., 2006. Development and use of the Wetland Fish Index to assess the quality of coastal wetlands in the Laurentian Great Lakes. Can. J. Fish. Aquat. Sci. 63, 354–366.
Smith, T., Lundholm, J., Simser, L., 2001. Wetland vegetation monitoring in Cootes Paradise: measuring the response to a fishway/carp barrier. Ecological Restoration. 19(3), 145–154.
Theÿsmeÿer, T., 2003. Environmental considerations Lake Ontario water regulation as it pertains to the coastal marsh Cootes Paradise. RBG Report, Royal Botanical Gardens, Hamilton, Ontario.
Thomasen, S., Chow-Fraser, P., 2012. Detecting changes in ecosystem quality following long-term restoration efforts in Cootes Paradise Marsh. Ecological Indicators 13(1), 82–92.
Threader, R.W., Hodson, P.V., Cairns, V.W., 1985. The history of Hamilton Harbour and its limnology. Can. Tech. Rep. Fish. Aquat. Sci. 0000, 1-144.
Valere, B.G., 1996. Productive capacity of littoral habitats in the Great Lakes: field sampling procedures (1988 – 1995). Can. Manuscr. Rep. Fish. Aquat. Sci. 2384.
Wei, A., Chow-Fraser, P., 2005. Untangling the confounding effects of urbanization and high water level on the cover of emergent vegetation in Cootes Paradise Marsh, a degraded coastal wetland of Lake Ontario. Hydrobiologia 544(1), 1–9.
Whillans, T.H., 1982. Changes in marsh area along the Canadian shore of Lake Ontario. J. Great Lakes Res. 8(3), 570–577.
Wilcox, D.A., Xie, Y., 2007. Predicting wetland plant community responses to proposed water-level-regulation plans for Lake Ontario: GIS-based modeling. J. Great Lakes Res. 33(4), 751–773.
Wood, K.A., Stillman, R.A., Clarke, R.T., Daunt, F., O'Hare, M.T., 2012. The impact of waterfowl herbivory on plant standing crop; a meta-analysis. Hydrobiologia 686(1), 157–167.
Published
Issue
Section
License
Manuscripts must be original. They must not be published or be under consideration for publication elsewhere, in whole or in part. It is required that the lead author of accepted papers complete and sign the MSU Press AEHM Author Publishing Agreement and provide it to the publisher upon acceptance.
