Hypolimnetic upwelling in coastal embayments of Lake Ontario; implications for restoration

Sulewski, Nicole (author)
Bendell, Leah (thesis advisor)
British Columbia Institute of Technology School of Construction and the Environment (Degree granting institution)
Simon Fraser University Faculty of Environment (Degree granting institution)
(Degree granting institution)

Dissertation/thesis

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© Nicole Sulewski, 2018. All rights reserved. No part of this work covered by the copyright heron may be reproduced or used in any form or by any means – graphics, electronic, or mechanical including photocopying, taping, or information storage and retrieval systems – without written permission of the author.
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British Columbia Institute of Technology

2018-04-16

45 pages

Coastal wetlands are an important ecosystem in the Great Lakes basin, providing spawning grounds and warm-water refuge for numerous fish and benthic invertebrate species during cold water upwelling events. Urbanization along the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario has led to a depletion of coastal wetlands, replacing them with artificial embayments. Three artificial embayments, the Credit River estuary, and one coastal marsh in Mississauga, ON were studied to determine if the artificial embayments function as warm-water refuge during upwelling events. Temperature loggers were placed in each study site and temperature was recorded every 15 minutes from July to October 2017. Upwelling events were isolated from the data, and frequency, magnitude, and duration of upwelling was determined. Most study sites had a frequency of 4 upwelling events throughout the study period. The average duration of upwellings varied from 30 to 70 hours, and the average temperature change ranged from -7.1ᵒC to -11.9ᵒC. All of the study sites seemed to buffer upwellings by reducing the magnitude of temperature change and increasing the duration of upwelling events to varying degrees. These results will inform the creation of future wetlands, restoration of existing embayments, and conservation of Great Lakes coastal wetlands.

ecological restoration
coastal embayments
coastal marsh
upwelling
warm-water refuge
Lake Ontario

Wetland conservation
Restoration ecology
Estuarine area conservation
Marsh conservation

electronic

Ontario

Master of Science