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Using Satellite Imagery to Assess Macrophyte Response to Water-level Manipulations in the Saskatchewan River Delta, Manitoba

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Abstract

QuickBird satellite imagery and object-based classification were used to map emergent macrophyte response in wetlands that were partially drawn down during a three-year period (2007–2010) in the Saskatchewan River Delta, Manitoba, Canada. Generalized logistic models were used to classify vegetation genera in three drawdown and three high-water (control) wetlands. User accuracy of models averaged 74 %, and was lower in partial drawdown wetlands (72 %) than in high-water wetlands (77 %). In partial drawdown wetlands, emergent macrophytes (especially Typha spp. and Carex spp.) senesced significantly after the first year of lowered water levels but senescent areas decreased over following years. Plants were not completely dead in dewatered areas and emergent stands recovered by the third year after drawdown. Open water area in the partial drawdown wetlands gradually decreased due to clonal expansion of Sparganium spp. Vegetation areas in high-water wetlands remained unchanged throughout the study period. Although partial water-level drawdowns temporarily influenced the growth of emergent macrophytes they did not expose the seed bank and did not result in substantial, prolonged changes in spatial arrangement of vegetation areas. The combination of high-resolution satellite imagery, object-based classification and logistic modeling was useful for documenting vegetation response to management in these remote, boreal wetland systems.

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Acknowledgements

Project funding was provided by Manitoba Hydro, Ducks Unlimited Canada, Manitoba Conservation and Water Stewardship, Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, and the Kelsey Conservation District. We thank Bill Tedford for his technical assistance with this project. We are indebted to the staff of Ducks Unlimited Canada in The Pas, including Shaun Greer, Robin Reader, Dave Clayton, Chris Smith, and Dave White. Thank you to our field assistants Heath Brown, Quinn Constant, and Jonathan Harris. Garth Ball, Dale Cross, and Cam Hurst from Manitoba Conservation and Water Stewardship provided equipment and allowed us to use their field camp and bunkhouse.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biological Sciences, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba, R3T 2N2, Canada

    Mark S. Baschuk & Gordon L. Goldsborough

  2. Ducks Unlimited Canada, P.O. Box 1160, Stonewall, Manitoba, R0C 2Z0, Canada

    Mark S. Baschuk, Llwellyn M. Armstrong & Dale A. Wrubleski

  3. Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Organismal Biology, Iowa State University, 253 Bessey, Ames, IA, 50011-1020, USA

    Michael D. Ervin & William R. Clark

Authors
  1. Mark S. Baschuk
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  2. Michael D. Ervin
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  3. William R. Clark
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  4. Llwellyn M. Armstrong
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  5. Dale A. Wrubleski
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  6. Gordon L. Goldsborough
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Correspondence to Mark S. Baschuk.

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Baschuk, M.S., Ervin, M.D., Clark, W.R. et al. Using Satellite Imagery to Assess Macrophyte Response to Water-level Manipulations in the Saskatchewan River Delta, Manitoba. Wetlands 32, 1091–1102 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13157-012-0339-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13157-012-0339-z

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