Marsh restoration at Point Pelee National Park

Parks Canada's report on conservation from 2018 to 2023

Conservation priority: Restoration and recovery
Location: Point Pelee National Park, Ontario

To restore natural processes in the marsh ecosystem of Point Pelee National Park, Parks Canada has taken action to remove invasive European Common Reed (Phragmites) and Cattail plants in targeted areas.

A combination of different management techniques is being used, including controlled herbicide application, targeted European Common Reed removal, and the use of aquatic cutting machines to create channels and ponds within the invasive Cattail mats.

Project highlights

1830 m² invasive European Common Reed treated
2543 m² invasive Cattail removed to create open water
945m of edge habitat created through open water creation

Tarra Degazio in chest waders handles invasive reeds while calf deep in a muddy wetland. There is a boat and team members behind her. — Tarra Degazio, Resource Management Officer, removes invasive European Common Reed from the wetland in Point Pelee National Park. Photo: Sophie Deschamps/Parks Canada

Context

An aerial view of a vast wetland with a winding river flowing through it. The river is covered in lily pads, and tall reeds line the banks. — An open channel within Point Pelee National Park’s marsh habitat provides open water and edge habitat, promoting biodiversity. Photo: Brian Morin/Parks Canada

Point Pelee National Park supports the highest diversity of at-risk wildlife and plants of all national parks in Canada. It is a designated Ramsar Wetland of International Significance: a recognition by the Convention on Wetlands that lists wetlands of significant value to humanity as a whole. The marsh ecosystem, which makes up over 70% of the park, has been in decline for decades due to changes in water flow, declining water quality, and invasive plant species. These changes have led to a loss of crucial open water and nearshore habitats, vital for the survival and recovery of species at risk, and for conserving wildlife and plant diversity in the marsh.

Outcomes

Three people in chest waders and hi-vis shirts, work removing invasive reeds in a wetland. Two cut down the reeds with a hedge trimmer. — Parks Canada’s Resource Conservation team members use a hedge trimmer to cut invasive European Common Reed stems below the waterline to drown the plant. Photo: Sophie Deschamps/Parks Canada

Two people crouch on a boardwalk above a wetland. Data collection equipment lies around them, as they record what they find on a clipboard. — Team members collect data on European Common Reed removal within Point Pelee National Park’s wetland. Photo: Sophie Deschamps/Parks Canada

An amphibious vehicle with large wheels drives through a muddy wetland, collecting vegetation, while a smaller vehicle cuts vegetation. — The Aquatic Vegetation Cutter and Aquatic Weed Harvester work in tandem to create open water channels through invasive Cattails within the marsh. Photo: Tarra Degazio/Parks Canada

Invasive European Common Reed and Cattails have been removed from thousands of square meters of Point Pelee’s marshes. Gains resulting from removal efforts are being monitored by partnering with researchers from Trent University and Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry. The results are proving positive through both on the ground observations and plot assessments, showing benefit to marsh birds, fish, reptiles, invertebrates, and native aquatic plants.

Species at risk

A close-up of a young heron chick hiding in the stems of a large-leafed plant. The chick has soft, downy feathers and large, round eyes. — A Least Bittern nestling peeks out from behind Spatterdock in an area which had treatment for invasive European Common Reed take place the previous year. Photo: Tarra Degazio/Parks Canada

Species at risk like the Least Bittern, Swamp Rose Mallow, and Snapping Turtle were also found to be benefiting from the invasive management work.

Parks Canada partnered with the Department of Fisheries and Oceans as well as researchers from Lakehead University, replicating past population studies to determine the state of species at risk fish and turtle populations within the marsh. The results suggest that turtle nest protection has been successful in supporting turtle populations. As of 2023, further results are still being analyzed.

Growing support

An aerial view of a wooden boardwalk through a vast wetland. Two people in a canoe paddle along a narrow channel between tall, golden reeds. — Open water and edge habitat, like shown here in Point Pelee National Park, is crucial to biodiversity within the marsh habitat. Photo: Scott Munn/Parks Canada

Knowledge sharing is taking place with Caldwell First Nation and Walpole Island First Nation, along with other experts and land managers, leading to the development of a community of practice. Together, this community of practice is encouraging similar conservation activities outside of Point Pelee National Park. In 2023, Parks Canada worked with Walpole Island First Nation, lending aquatic machinery to the First Nation to use to increase open water within their own wetlands and received valuable knowledge from the nation on their restoration efforts.

The project’s successful outcomes also saw appreciation by visitors. New canoe routes, improved viewscapes, and increased wildlife viewing opportunities, like turtle basking platforms, and updates to marsh interpretation programming are contributing to an improved visitor experience. Public awareness and support of marsh restoration is quickly growing through community and visitor engagement which is highlighting the importance of active management efforts in controlling invasive species to restore and protect biodiversity.

“If you look at a map you will see all those waterways throughout Mother Earth, and that’s like if you look at yourself and see those veins. That’s the same system for Her, and we acknowledge the Water because it’s living and it has spirit; We have a responsibility to take care of Her.”

—Carrie Ann Peters, Caldwell First Nation

Video

Watch how Parks Canada scientists are removing invasive European Common Reed and Cattail from Point Pelee National Park to restore marsh habitat.

Transcript

Hi. My name is Andrew

and I’m the project coordinator for the Marsh Restoration Project.

Hi, I'm Emma.

I'm a resource conservation technician working on the project

and I'll also be driving some of the machinery at the marsh.

So we're here.

at Point Pelee National Park

marsh, and we're about to head out and start a restoration for the day.

The goal of the project is to create new open and edgewater

habitat out here in the marsh and remove invasive species.

So if we’re all set let's hit the water

Point Pelee is part of the traditional territory of the Three Fires Confederacy of First Nations, composed of the Ojibway, Odawa and Potowatomi.

Point Pelee National Park’s

marsh is an extremely important habitat

because it's one of only a few left

in the Great Lakes region, one of the largest left in southwestern Ontario.

It's an important stopover for migratory birds.

It's home to no less than 19 species at risk,

and it's a wetland of international significance.

[Text] Since the 1950s, open water habitat in the marsh has been reduced by 10 percent, or 100 hectares, due to the encroachment of invasive species.

[Text] Invasive cattails and phragmites are the species that pose the greatest threat to marsh habitat diversity in Point Pelee National Park.

Invasive species pose a problem for Point Pelee’s

marsh because they form a dense monoculture like the one you can see

behind me, where nothing else can grow, no animals can move through.

So you can imagine as a turtle moving to your nesting grounds,

it can be very difficult to move from one spot to another.

Very few other plants are able to grow in that sand.

[Text] Specialized machinery is used by staff at Point Pelee to cut channels through the dense invasive cattail growth.

Now that we're out

in the management area on the cat tail mat,

the next step is to launch our canoe and our kayak

and send a team out to do some scouting of the area

that we're planning on working in before the machinery starts.

So they'll be looking for any plant or animal or snail species out there

and they'll be scouting a route for the machines to go.

So while we were doing our surveys this morning, we found this water

snake in the management area that needed to be relocated.

So we've captured it and we're going to set it

free outside of our area that we're working.

[Text] Once the team has surveyed the area for any wildlife that needs to be relocated, they tie biodegradable flags marking where the machines can cut through.

So we're out here at Point Peele’s marsh standing on the cattail mats.

And the process here is to create new open water habitat by carving into them

using the machine back there called the Swamp Devil.

It's a large vegetation cutter and it's meant to carve its way

into the cattail mats and open up that water.

And then we have Em over here on the weed

harvester, and she's collecting any inventory that's left behind.

And what she does with that is backs it up over to the mats

and leaves them in piles that we can check.

After all, the cattail mats have been collected.

They're piled into piles and we're going to go through them.

We're going to take pictures of the piles.

We're going to take a GPS point of the pile.

We're going to measure the piles.

We're going to take the height, the length, width,

and then we're going to go through the pile and check

to make sure that there is no wildlife that needs to be relocated.

All right. So Maddie and I have two jobs.

There is data collection in the canoe, which was me today, and pile checking,

which is Maddie.

And from the looks of us, you can obviously see there's

a bit of a difference

in cleanliness.

Okay, so we've just finished a day out in the field.

We're back at the dock packing everything up.

We're going to do a little debrief and then head back to the visitor center.

We had a really good day out there.

A good amount of cattail mats, had some quality time with the machines,

and now we're heading back for some good showers.

[Text] Parks Canada, Caldwell First Nation and Walpole Island First Nation work together to conserve the park’s natural heritage and traditional history.

We're back at the marsh boardwalk.

And I'm joined by Carrie Ann,

who's the culture and language coordinator for Caldwell First Nation.

Today Carrie Ann is going to talk to us about ceremony

and the significance of Point Pelee’s

Bonjour! Miigwech for inviting me to the marsh boardwalk.

If you look at a map, you'll see all those waterways throughout Mother Earth.

And that's kind of like if you look at yourself

and you see those veins, right?

So that's the same system for her.

And we acknowledge the water

because it's living and it has spirit.

So we have a responsibility to take care of her.

This project will serve Park’s Canada's mandate

by improving the ecological integrity of our marsh habitat

and providing visitors with opportunities to learn and explore the park.

Ultimately, our goal for this project is to see

wildlife come back into the areas that we're managing and

to see them thrive again in areas where we've removed invasive phragmites,

we've already started seeing native plants and turtles and birds

coming back into those areas and even out where we're cutting through

channels, we've started seeing animals using the mudflats for habitat.

Thanks so much for watching.

And if you're ever in Point Pelee National Park,

keep an eye out for our team out there working

and all the habitat that we've created.

[Text] The team aims to create 80,000 M² of open water by cutting channels and ponds through the invasive cattail mat. So far, Point Pelee staff have also removed 11,865 M² of invasive phragmites.

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