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Wetland issues

Changing Landscapes and Protected Areas II

The protection of fragments of large, rare, or pristine habitats that have managed, more by accident, to survive in our urban mosaic may desensitize us to the value of landscapes that are small or that hold "common" species and that are in balance with the stresses imposed by urban environments and the people who inhabit them. It may be that each bioregion, watershed or community has its own combination of habitats which have value to that community alone or which provide a characteristic landscape which defines that community as unlike another. If a local wetland holds only common painted turtles, that is an irreplaceable resource to the imagination of children who experience this common species. The imaginative processes of children are not affected by the absence of water lilies.


fig13-2 Wetlands provide an irreplaceable resource to the imagination of children.

Protected areas may not represent many of the important habitats, such as wetlands, in our communities. As well, these endangered spaces may not be large enough to maintain populations at a size to ensure their survival. The disturbed landscape surrounding protected areas or linking these may in fact support larger populations than the target areas. Hence, your efforts in maintaining and restoring habitat in which wild life can live, even if for a brief period of their life history, are important.


fig13-3 Protected areas may not represent all important habitats.

It is a mistake to think that once we have an established reserve system we no longer have to take a stake in the entire landscape and wild life habitat protection. We must live together on the limited land base, and especially on those few quality habitats which remain. Reserves and our own frog friendly backyards will benefit if they are managed as a system. It is important to remember an earlier discussion in which it was stated that our wetlands and other important habitats cannot be fixed in time. All ecosystems and habitats change, and some change dramatically in response to severe environmental disturbances that occur infrequently in our lifetime, but which species and their habitats have experienced many times. In a sense there is a built-in tolerance for change or loss, and healthy ecosystems do recover from the ravages of fire and flood. The unpredictable nature of these events results in a patchwork of habitats in different stages of recovery or succession. It is this habitat mosaic that is so important to wild life which may need disturbed sites for some part of their life history. We do not fully understand the relationship between habitats undergoing different rates of succession. It is wise to maintain a habitat mosaic and preserve a variety of options for wild life. Reserves need to be large enough to withstand some degradation and to have enough space to maintain remnant habitats while recovery is taking place.

Protected areas, Areas of Natural and Scientific Interest (ANSIs) and Environmentally Sensitive Areas (ESAs), need not be islands in a sea of disturbed land.
(Editor's Note: MTZ is encouraging schools to adopt ANSI and ESA designated wetlands. The reason for the adoption is threefold: to have these important sites recognized for their value to the community; to provide controlled access rather than to treat such areas on a hands off basis; and on an ongoing basis, to assist in monitoring and the collection of data on species diversity and abundance.)
They are recognized as centres of species and habitat richness. They may also act as reservoirs from which species can expand ranges through linkages, and your-frog friendly backyard, to colonize new or temporary habitats. But in years of environmental stress, these areas may provide refuges in which species can survive infrequent and unpredictable short term environmental disturbances.


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