Tag Archives: ecosystem

Drought leaves Southern Ontario Thirsty

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Cootes paradise our filter “Aquifer” almost dries-up
Friday September 14 2012

Dry Cootes Paradise

Thirsty for clean water
Thirsty for images
Seasons dictate life and beauty
We are heading into Autumn……………………………NOW

Another day

I hope we have not sealed our fate regarding pollution, degradation and population.  In my opinion, awareness and education do not seem to be working.  High school grads are now overweight and hooked to their cell phones, and are mostly still ignorant about their environment after years of education.  Immigrants seem to be unable to read signs that are not in their language.

As above so is below

Our water has to deal with so much.  How long can we sustain what sustains us?  If we are “what we eat,” we are full of crap ;) .

Juvenile Black crowned night heron

Black crowned night heron

This year the images were hard to come by due to the lack of visible wildlife along many of our regional hiking/biking trails and conservation areas.  The City of Hamilton has outdone themselves by oiling mute swan eggs to the point that only one signet was born in Hamilton Harbour.  Still, this year was worse than all other years for e-coli bacteria.  So why do they blame the swans?  It is unwarranted and heavy handed management.  At least the RBG does not oil the eggs of mute swans.

Broad-winged Hawk

Southern Ontario Lacking Water
Continuing poor seasons threatens our way of life.
Southern Ontario’s severe weather leaves farmers with crop losses.
Water quality suffers, and all that feeds or lives from the water, which includes humans, suffer also.  Coulson said the warm spate of weather has been caused by warm fronts moving in from the southern states, which is not unusual but, because of the lack of snow, the air is not being cooled by the time it reaches Ontario.

Busy Canadian Beaver

Normally we still have snow cover over winter.  The warmer air masses, when they encounter snowpack, it modifies them and cools them off.  They would have travelled hundreds of kilometers over snow.

Monarch Butterfly

Big rain was too little, too late

Last Year -much needed water this year

Farmer Jim Vuckovic has been wishing for rain for weeks. But the way it came pouring down Sunday in a torrential storm wasn’t what he had in mind.

Great Egret with Fish

Rather than helping his dried out crops, the winds and heavy water further damaged some of his distressed corn.

Great Blue Heron

And now the 35-year-old corn, wheat and soy farmer in Beamsville finds himself contemplating one of his worst growing seasons in memory — at least with his corn fields, which are about half as high as they should be for this time of year.

Hide and seek

“I don’t ever recall it being this dry. A lot of the crops are damaged beyond saving,” says Vuckovic. “A lot of the damage is irrevocable … It’s been a bad year. Obviously, yields will be nowhere near what we’re use to.”

In Flight

Vuckovic’s farm was toured by provincial Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs Minister Ted McMeekin on Tuesday.

“I saw a field of corn (Tuesday) that was clearly distressed,” McMeekin said. “The soy beans were doing OK. More importantly, the farmer was pretty distressed with the situation.”

Greater Yellowlegs

Gross Goo! Antibiotic Resistance Flourishes In Freshwater Systems

Green Antibiotic resistant -Goo

McMaster University researchers have now discovered that floc – “goo-like” substances that occur suspended in water and that host large communities of bacteria – also contain high levels of antibiotic resistance.
“This has important public health implications because the more antibiotic resistance there is, the less effective our antibiotic arsenal is against infectious diseases,” said Lesley Warren, the principal investigator for the study that looked at floc in different freshwater systems.The research was led by Warren, professor of earth sciences and Gerry Wright, scientific director of the Michael G. DeGroote Institute for Infectious Disease Research, both of McMaster, along with Ian Droppo, a research scientist at Environment Canada.

Morning flights

They examined floc collected from Hamilton Harbour, which is impacted by sewer overflow; Sunnyside Beach in Toronto, which is impacted by wastewater; a rural stream near Guelph, impacted by light agricultural activities; and a remote lake in a natural preserve area in Algonquin Park, accessible only by float plane.

One fine morning

Researchers analyzed the water and floc samples for trace element concentrations and the presence of 54 antibiotic resistant genes.

Sixteen egrets

They were surprised to discover that genes encoding resistance to clinically relevant antibiotics were present in floc bacteria at all four sites, although resistance varied in intensity based on human influence. That is, there was less antibiotic resistance detectable from Algonquin Lake compared to Hamilton Harbour, which harbored the highest concentration of floc trace elements.

“What this tells us is that antibiotic resistance is widespread in aquatic environments ranging from heavily impacted urban sites to remote areas,” said Warren. “Yet, it also demonstrates that areas with greater human impact are important reservoirs for clinically important antibiotic resistance.Floc are vibrant microbial communities that attract contaminants such as trace metals that are markers of resistance, Wright said.
Warren added the study of antibiotic resistance in floc has never been done, “and we are only scratching the surface. The presence of environmental bacterial communities in aquatic environments represents a significant, largely unknown source of antibiotic resistance,” she said. “The better we understand what is out there, the better we can develop policies to safeguard human health as best we can.”The research has been published in the science journal Applied and Environmental Microbiology. Funding for the study was received from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada and Environment Canada.

Wild Orchid

Contacts and sources:
Veronica Mcguire

McMaster University

Environment Canada.
Wikipedia
Photography
Doug Worrall
Lois Mcnaught

Hamilton Harbour Fish and Wildlife Restoration Project

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Hamilton Harbour Fish and Wildlife Restoration Project

Wednesday December 28 2011

Signet Mute Swan

 

As Site Coordinator the  next post will be a year in review at Elements Photoblog.

Water-sports

I wish everyone a great New Year with the Optimism we need to  keeps  Nature reviving.

Text or to scull a bit

Many new images of people, places and a few older images.

Dundas Conservation area

All the best

 

Doug Worrall

Strong wings

In 1997 the operation of a carp barrier/fishway began at the Cootes Paradise marsh, blocking the passage of carp into the marsh during spawning season but allowing the migration of all other spawning fish. As a result, aquatic vegetation has made a dramatic recovery throughout Cootes Paradise and the harbour. Fisheries monitoring has indicated a positive change in the composition of the fish community, including an increase in numbers of top predators and in species diversity. Recently, over 200 spawning pike were counted at the Cootes Paradise fishway. Prior to restoration, only 19 pike were recorded at the fishway. Similarly, waterfowl numbers in Cootes Paradise have increased dramatically due to the increased distribution and abundance of aquatic plants. Birds have been staying longer in the marsh and gaining strength for their migratory flight south.

Blooms

Wildflowers

The Grindstone Creek pike spawning marsh has been a 20-year restoration effort. The Grindstone Trail, connecting Cherry Hill Gate to Sunfish Pond is open to the public and provides educational interpretation and protects the flood plain by directing the large number of visitors to the boardwalk. Tours are open to groups and can be arranged by contacting Royal Botanical Gardens.

Mated Mallard ducks June 1 2011

Female mallard June 1 2011

To date, habitat restoration efforts and improvements to public access have laid a strong foundation for continuing enhancement. Research and monitoring provide essential feedback for the design and construction of the next phases of habitat and public access projects.

Harbourfront park june 13 2011

 

Scientists with Fisheries and Oceans Canada, the Canadian Wildlife Service, McMaster and Brock Universities and the Royal Botanical Gardens are co-ordinating monitoring and research to advance fish and wildlife habitat restoration throughout the Great Lakes. The Fish and Wildlife Habitat Restoration Project in Hamilton Harbour and Cootes Paradise proposes to create 372 ha of fish habitat, 299 ha of wildlife habitat, 16 km of shore habitat for fish and wildlife and 9 km of trails. Substantial progress has already been made:

Sculling Partners

Invasive species

  • Shoreline rehabilitation and a new trail at Chedoke Creek
  • Development of a carp barrier/fishway, aquatic plant nursery and breeding and nursery ponds for amphibians and reptiles in the Cootes Paradise marsh
  • Pike spawning habitat, rehabilitated flood plain habitat and a new boardwalk at Grindstone Creek
  • Restoration of the lower Grindstone Creek, employing recycled Christmas tree
  • Shoreline naturalization and development of underwater reefs at Bayfront Park
  • Shoreline naturalization, beach restoration, development of reefs and a new trail at LaSalle Park
  • Shoreline naturalization, and the development of colonial nesting bird islands, underwater reefs, trail and lookout at the Northeastern Shoreline
  • Sand dune rehabilitation and a new trail at Burlington Beach

Decline and Recovery of Cootes Paradise

Cootes Paradise

Once nearly 100% covered by emergent and submergent
aquatic plants, the extent of marsh vegetation has declined to
85% cover in the 1930s, and to only 15% in 1985. A variety
of stresses were responsible for this decline. Human development
and farming in the watershed contaminated the marsh’s
tributary streams with sewage effluent, eroded soil, and chemical
runoff. Within the marsh, carp activity physically damaged
and destroyed the marsh plants. Carp activity and eroded soil
from the watershed also muddy the marsh water, limiting light
penetration and plant growth. Controlled lake water levels,
and the introduction of non-native plant species have also
disrupted marsh ecology. For the restoration of Cootes Paradise
to be successful, RBG and other partners in the HH-RAP
agreed that an effective carp control program and pollution
abatement programs in the watershed were necessary.

Redwinged blackbird feeding

 

Doug Worrall Photographer