WETLAND ECOLOGYBIOLOGY 4430

FALL 2014

Instructor: Dr. Peter LeeTechnician: Dr. Susanne Walford

Wetlands are not conventional wild areas. They do not cater to established, clas-sical concepts of vista, horizon, and landscape. By comparison with the Smokiesor the High Sierra, wetlands are claustrophobic. They force you inward, both uponyourself and upon the nonhuman world. They do not give you grand views; theyhumble you rather than reinforce your delusions of grandeur.

-P.A. Fritzell

...snakes hang thick from the cypress trees like sausage on a smokehouse wall;where the swamp is alive with a thousand eyes and all of them watching you...

-Jim Stafford

Cover image: Collecting wetland plants at Hurkett Cove Conservation Area. Class of 2012.

Contents

1 Syllabus 2014 51.1 Required materials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51.2 Lecture topics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61.3 Lab dates and topics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

1.3.1 Wild rice harvesting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81.4 Mark breakdown . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81.5 Suggested review material . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81.6 Safety considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

1.6.1 Field trips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91.7 Plant collection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

1.7.1 Field collecting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111.7.2 How to make a plant press . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121.7.3 Mounting and identifying your specimens . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

1.8 Plant identification tests . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141.9 Wetland project . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

1.9.1 Outline . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151.9.2 Marking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

1.10 Wetland ecosite key . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161.11 Some helpful plant ID hints for TAs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

2 Field Trip: Wild Rice Harvesting 372.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 372.2 Map . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37

3 Field Trip: Inland Wetlands 393.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39

4 Field Trip: Lake Superior Wetlands 414.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 414.2 Maps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42

4 Contents

5 Plant Identification: Marsh Plants 455.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 455.2 Meadow Marsh (Ecosite 46) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 465.3 Sheltered Marsh (Ecosite 47) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 465.4 Exposed Marsh (Ecosite 48) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 475.5 Open Water Marshes (Ecosites 49 & 50) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47

6 Plant Identification: Fen Plants 496.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 496.2 Treed Fen (Ecosite 40) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 506.3 Open Poor Fen (Ecosite 41) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 506.4 Open Moderately Rich Fen (Ecosite 42) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 506.5 Open Extremely Rich Fen (Ecosite 43) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 506.6 Shore Fen (Ecosite 45) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51

7 Plant ID Lab Test 1 Answer Page 53

8 Plant Identification: Bog Plants 558.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 558.2 Treed Bog (Ecosite 34) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 568.3 Open Bog (Ecosite 39) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56

9 Plant Identification: Swamp Plants 579.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 579.2 Poor Swamp (Ecosite 35) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 579.3 Intermediate Swamp (Ecosite 36) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 589.4 Rich Swamp: Cedar (Ecosite 37) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 589.5 Rich Swamp: Black Ash (Ecosite 38) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 589.6 Thicket Swamp (Ecosite 44) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58

10 Plant ID Lab Test 2 Answer Page 61

11 Inventory of Specimens as of 2014 63

Bibliography 72

Wetland Ecology (BIOL 4430) Fall 2014

1 Syllabus 2014

1.1 Required materials

Required materials include this lab manual and the textbook Wetlands published by Wiley. The3rd edition (Mitsch and Gosselink, 2000) is adequate. The 4th edition (Mitsch and Gosselink,2007) has dropped some sections from the 3rd edition that Dr. Lee feels are an integral part ofthe course. These sections can be found (for free) in the companion site for students (http://bcs.wiley.com/he-bcs/Books?action=index&itemId=0471699675&bcsId=

3998) as “bonus” chapters. A 5th edition is slated for 2015 (Mitsch and Gosselink, 2015), sopurchase a 4th edition with caution.

Pre-printed labels for your plant collection are required and available in the bookstore for under$2.00. You will also require at least 30 sheets of thicker quality, acid free paper (11.5×17 in) formounting your plant collection.

Consider using a field notebook during our trips to make notes about the plants for your collec-tion. A waterproof book and pencil are ideal for wet conditions. Scrap paper can be used aslabels to be placed in plastic bags during plant collection (use pencil; pen will rub off).

Newmaster et al. (1997) is recommended and is an excellent field guide; bring it with you to thefield! A copy is on reserve at the library. Another reference is Racey et al. (1996) which is nowavailable as a PDF at http://cfs.nrcan.gc.ca/publications?id=9298. A few ofits pages are included here as a quick reference guide. An online northern Ontario plant databasecan be found at http://www.northernontarioflora.ca/index.cfm. Additionalresources may be provided via the course website hosted on Desire to Learn.

6 1 Syllabus 2014

1.2 Lecture topics

Professor: Peter F. LeeOffice: CB4022Email: peter.lee@lakeheadu.ca

Lectures are scheduled for Mondays 10:30 am and Thursdays 2:30 pm in CB3013. The followingtopics will be covered:

1. Importance and classification of wetlands

2. Sediment chemistry of wetlands: Redox, N, P, organic matter

3. Water chemistry: Carbonate cycle, N, P

4. Production and adaptation of aquatic plants

5. Secondary production

6. Decomposition processes

7. Succession in wetlands

8. Sampling of wetlands

9. Survey of wetland types: Salt marshes, tidal freshwater marshes, freshwater marshes,southern swamps, bogs

10. Management of wetlands: Case studies

Midterm Exam Date: TBD

Final Exam Date: As per scheduling.

Wetland Ecology (BIOL 4430) Fall 2014

1.3 Lab dates and topics 7

1.3 Lab dates and topics

Technician: Susanne E. WalfordOffice: CB3014AEmail: swalford@lakeheadu.ca

Teaching Assistant: TBD

Labs are Thursday afternoons, although a SATURDAY FIELD TRIP FOR WILD RICE HAR-VESTING is new this year! All field trips are mandatory; dress appropriately (Section 1.6.1.)There are NO lectures field trip days as we leave at 2:30 pm (still assemble in CB3013). We willreturn to Lakehead University by 6:30 pm.

Table 1.1: Laboratory schedule for Fall 2014.Lab Date Description Location

Lab 1 Sept. 11 Introduction & Safety CB3013Lab 2 SAT. SEPT. 13 FIELD TRIP: Wild rice harvesting Whitefish LakeLab 3 Sept. 18 FIELD TRIP: Inland wetlands Boreal Rd.Lab 4 Sept. 25 FIELD TRIP: Lake Superior wetlands Hurkett CoveOpen Lab Oct. 2 Plant mounting and Group project CB3013Open Lab Oct. 9 Plant mount, ID and Group project CB3013

Lab 5 Oct. 16 ECOTYPES: Meadow marsh, shelteredmarsh, exposed marsh, open water marsh

CB3013

Lab 6 Oct. 23 ECOTYPES: Treed fen, open poor fen,open moderately rich fen, open extremelyrich fen, shore fen

CB3013

PLANT TEST 1 Oct. 30 Labs 5, 6 CB3013

Lab 8 Nov. 6 ECOTYPES: Treed bog, open bog CB3013Lab 9 Nov. 13 ECOTYPES: Poor swamp, intermediate

swamp, rich cedar swamp, rich black ashswamp, thick swamp

CB3013

PLANT TEST 2 Nov. 20 Labs 8, 9 CB3013

ANNOUNCEMENT Nov. 24 Public notice for project (1 page) CB3013GROUP PROJECT Due Nov. 27 STUDENT PRESENTATIONS CB3013

PLANT COLLECTION Due Dec. 1 12:30 pm Individual collection CB3027

Fall 2014

8 1 Syllabus 2014

1.3.1 Wild rice harvesting

We will depart Lakehead University from the Agora at 9 am and return at approximately 5 pm.Exact times TBD. You will need to bring a lunch and dress for the weather (which can changequickly). Harvesting will be done with First Nation peoples either by canoe and/or airboat. Sincethis is the first year for this field trip, details are pending.

1.4 Mark breakdown

• Lecture component

– Midterm exam: 15%

– Final exam: 35%

• Lab component

– Wetland plant identification tests (two): 15%

– Wetland plant collection: 15%

– Wetland group project: 20%

1.5 Suggested review material

It is likely some time since first year plant biology. You should review basic botany, includ-ing nomenclature, taxonomy and terminology (e.g. parts of a plant). Any first year plant bi-ology textbook will suffice. Botany Illustrated (free if logged into library system) may help:http://www.springerlink.com/content/w3107p/?MUD=MP (Glimn-Lacy and Kaufman, 2006) Thesections on “Names and Terms”, “Root Types and Modifications”, “Stem Modifications”, “LeafTypes and Arrangement” and “Leaf Modifications” would aid in plant identification. Plant fam-ilies for the plants in the study sets are also of value.

1.6 Safety considerations

Students will be given a safety orientation for the biology labs. You must know the location of eyewash stations, safety showers, fire exits, fire pull stations, fire blankets, first aid kits, emergency

Wetland Ecology (BIOL 4430) Fall 2014