There are often obvious visual signs that indicate that roads disrupt the hydrology of wetlands. Roads act as dams and block underground water flow; as a result, trees on the “upstream” side of a road can become waterlogged and either die or become stunted, whereas on the “downstream” side of a road, a prolonged drop in the water table can cause the trees to root deeper and grow taller than normally observed in a wetland. Interestingly, this phenomenon does not occur consistently. In fact, the same road constructed through two different wetlands may disrupt tree growth patterns at one location where as the other location look almost identical on both sides of the road. This study examines the conditions that maintain wetlands: landscape position, soil substrate and water chemistry and compare those parameters to the vegetation community composition and individual plant species occurrences. I will demonstrate effects road fragmentation has on forested wetlands and determine the factors that influence the magnitude of those effects.
Data analysis is in progress and the results will be posted to this site soon. Results are anticipated to assist with the development of best management practices pertaining to linear feature planning and construction and wetland flow mapping- all of which strive for a common goal of minimizing human impacts on important wetland ecosystems. |
Figure 1. Image from the ALPAC K road near Athabasca Alberta. Clear signs of water impoundiment on the right side.
|
Figure 2. Also an image from the ALPAC K road. This wetland has no clear signs of water impoundment.
|
Caitlin WillierMSc. Student
Nielsen Applied Conservation Ecology Lab Department of Renewable Resources University of Alberta Through my research, I am dedicated to finding solutions to the challenges faced by conservation efforts. I have committed myself to environmental research, as it is a dynamic field that is still developing and growing, as well as becoming increasingly relevant to the long-term sustainability of our resource-based economy.
|