Threats to aquatic habitat in coastal marshes of Georgian Bay: climate change, invasive species and human impacts

Abstract:

Of the key ecosystem services provided by wetlands, one of the most important is the provision of habitat for numerous fish, birds, and wildlife species. Nowhere is this more important than in the thousands of pristine coastal marshes lining the shoreline of eastern Georgian Bay. What brings trophy-size fish such as the muskellunge and northern pike into these quiescent areas? What are they doing? How long do they stay? What else do we find there? These questions have consumed my students and me since 2003, and along the way, we have uncovered a few things about these magical places.