Pierre River Mine Project

WATER AENV SIRS 15 – 43
Section 12.1
Jeglum, J.K. 1971. Plant Indicators of pH and Water Level in Peatlands at Candle
Lake, Saskatchewan. Canadian Journal of Botany 49:1661-1676.
Kotowski, W., J. van Andel, R. van Diggelen, and J. Hogendorf. 2001.
Responses of Fen Plant Species to Groundwater Level and Light
Intensity. Plant Ecology 155:147-156.
Laitinen, J., S. Rehell, and J. Oksanen. 2008. Community and Species Responses
to Water Level Fluctuations with Reference to Soil Layers in Different
Habitats of Mid-boreal Mire Complexes. Plant Ecology 194:17-36.
Locky, D.A., and S.E. Bayley. 2006. Plant Diversity, Composition, and Rarity in
the Southern Boreal Peatlands of Manitoba, Canada. Canadian Journal of
Botany 84:940-955.
Price, J.S., and J.M. Waddington. 2000. Advances in Canadian Wetland
Hydrology and Biochemistry. Hydrological Processes 14:1579-1589.
Thormann, M.N., S.E. Bayley, and A.R. Szumigalski. 1998. Effects of
Hydrologic Changes on Aboveground Production and Water Chemistry
in Two Boreal Peatlands in Alberta: Implications for Global Warming.
Hydrobiologia 362:171-183.
Whitehouse, H.E., and S.E. Bayley. 2005. Vegetational Patterns and Biodiversity
of Peatland Plant Communities Surrounding Mid-boreal Wetland Ponds
in Alberta, Canada. Canadian Journal of Botany 83:621-637.
ii. Observations from adjacent undisturbed wetlands are not currently available.
EIA, Appendix 5-6, Terrestrial Monitoring Programs, Section 4, page 8,
describes the general wetlands monitoring program that will be implemented
to determine potential change to wetlands associated with the project and will
include undisturbed reference monitoring plots to gauge the time it will take
for remaining affected wetlands to return to their former functionality.
iii. Adjacent undisturbed wetlands have not been monitored and, therefore, these
observations are not available. However, based on the literature, differences
in plant species composition, abundance and structure associated with
wetlands types are a result of the hydrological regime and chemical
parameters influencing the wetland (Thormann et al. 1998; Whitehouse and
Bayley 2005). Vegetation species diversity in wetlands, in particular
peatlands, is strongly associated with water depth and nutrient gradient (Vitt
and Chee 1990; Whitehouse and Bayley 2005).
Vegetation in peatlands has adapted to short-term and small seasonal
fluctuations in water levels. However, when changes in water level are
persistent and exceed seasonal normals, changes to vegetation communities
can occur. Long-term changes in water levels, with durations over many
seasons can affect vegetation species presence/absence in peatlands.
Changes in hydrology can be associated with the following responses by
vegetation; however, precise responses are dependent on site-specific factors:
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