The project collects baseline data on tidally-influenced brackish wetlands within the Saint John River system within the Port of Saint John study area, and which impact marine ecosystems by the various ecosystem services they provide; including absorbing water in storm events and reducing erosion and runoff into the marine environment, filtering chemicals and sediment out of water before it is discharged into the ocean, and providing food and habitat for wildlife. Salt water enters the Saint John River and affects river salinity as far inland as Fredericton, NB (Carter and Dadswell 1983).
The focus of the baseline evaluation will be to follow the Wetland Ecosystem Services Protocol for Atlantic Canada (WESP-AC), developed by Dr. Paul Adamus (Oregon State University) and the New Brunswick Department of Environment and Local Government to rapidly characterize the ecosystem services of wetlands within the study area, as well as to collect species data (including invasive species). The standardized protocol involves a desktop assessment and a field visit to each wetland.
The dataset contains a Non-tidal WESP-AC spreadsheet (.xlsx) for each wetland, a species spreadsheet (.csv), and a geodatabase (.gdb) of wetland boundaries, a centroid, monitoring tracks, and boundary of the Port of Saint John study area. Field visits were done on the following dates: Hog Island (July 23, 2019), Sunset Valley (July 24, 2019), Marsh East of Pig Island (Aug 13, 2019).
This project is conducted under the Department of Fisheries and Oceans' Coastal Environmental Baseline Program; part of the national Oceans Protection Plan.
