RESEARCH - SPECIES AT RISK HABITAT

PROJECT	HERP (Habitat Ecohydrology for Reptiles in Peat)
FIELDWORK LOCATION	Northern Ontario Barrens and Bog Ecosystems Landscape (NOBEL) (Georgian Bay, ON)
KEYWORDS	energy-water-ecosystems nexus, peat burn severity, wildland-society issues, ecosystem regime shifts, greenhouse gases, mitigation and adaptation, boreal water futures
MEDIA	"Citizen scientists wanted for project"  Parry Sound North Star
OVERVIEW	We are developing innovative approaches to rehabilitate and restore degraded moss dominated peatlands and vernal rock pools to functional ecosystems.  We have established a method for the re-establishment of Sphagnum mosses on degraded peatlands and open rock barrens. Our innovative method consists of re-establishing the hydrological regime of the impacted wetland, harvesting plants in a peatland and spreading them as fragments or peat blocks in the impacted sites, and covering them over with mulch to protect them. With this human intervention, a widespread moss cover can be obtained within three to five years on abandoned mined sites depending on local conditions. The goal of our restoration and reclamation is to restore the net carbon sink function of managed peatlands and to re-establish habitat for species at risk in vernal rock pools in Ontario rock barrens.

All research personnel handled turtles under approved research permits.