Managing species at risk habitat in the Georgian Bay Biosphere Reserve through wetland water level crowdsourcing
iWetland is a project focusing on wetland research, stewardship, and community outreach in the Georgian Bay Biosphere Reserve (GBBR) on Eastern Georgian Bay. The GBBR is the world’s largest freshwater archipelago and is comprised of a mosaic of wetlands, forests, and open rock barrens. The region is host to several reptile species at risk (SAR), including several freshwater turtle species, and Ontario's only venomous snake, the Massasauga Rattlesnake.
All of these species rely on wetland habitat for various critical life stages including hibernation and nesting. Therefore, it is important we understand the properties and behaviour of wetland habitat to help conserve critical habitat, and potentially develop new guidelines for habitat reclamation.
The hydroperiod (timing and magnitude of water level fluctuations) in wetlands plays an important role for determining habitat suitability for reptile SAR. The iWetland project was started in 2016 to assess the suitability of using crowd-sourced data to monitor water level over a portion of the GBBR.
How It Works
Follow the steps in this infographic and/or print out your own copy here and see the map below for the locations of our iWetland stations.
Use the map below to find a well near you!
The map below shows where the iWetland wells are located. You can zoom in and out with the "+" and "-" icons or, alternatively, hover your mouse over the map and use ctrl + scroll. As you zoom in, more individual wells will appear, and you can click on the red markers for pop-ups showing images of the site and graphs made by citizen scientists!
Connect with iWetland
McMaster Ecohydrology is proud to be the iWetland project lead.This project is funded in part by the RBC Blue Water Initiative, made possible by a generous gift from the RBC Foundation.
