Emergent vegetation in Netley-Libau Marsh: Temporal changes (1990–2013) in cover in relation to Lake Winnipeg level and Red River flow

Abstract

A time-series (1990–2013) of classified vegetation cover maps was produced for Netley-Libau Marsh, a 26,000 ha coastal wetland on Lake Winnipeg, to assess its current status and verify earlier trends of emergent vegetation loss. Open water area in the marsh was measured from late-summer Landsat images for 20 years; three classes of vegetation types (emergents, wet meadows, upland) could also be identified for 12 images covering the same period. Temporal changes in area and distribution of marsh vegetation were related to adjoining Lake Winnipeg water-level and Red River discharge, as well as marsh connectivity and bathymetry. From 1990 to 2002, an increase in open-water areas and decrease in emergent vegetation coincided with rising levels and flows. The year 2003 marked major wetland regeneration and a decrease of open-water area under extremely low water-levels and flows. From 2005 to 2013, open-water area remained consistent, under high but variable levels and flows. A strong negative correlation was found between area of emergent vegetation and mean Red River discharge in the previous June-July. Superimposition of the limit of new emergent vegetation observed in 2003 with depth contours surveyed in 2010 revealed the dynamic nature of marsh bathymetry. Periods of extremely low water as short as one year (2003) induced a marked expansion in emergent vegetation cover that persisted over the next ten years despite higher water-levels. Rather than being gradual, changes in the spatial extent of Netley-Libau Marsh vegetation appeared to proceed by fits and starts, wherein periods of relative stasis were disrupted by major changes in abundance.