Grant: Strategic Projects - Group

Our proposed research falls within the scope of understanding factors augmenting or limiting healthy ecosystems. The Bay of Fundy is a very productive and dynamic ecosystem that is economically important. Strong tidal currents in the bay erode surrounding cliffs of soft siltstone and shale, leading to the establishment of extensive mudflats in the upper bay. These mudflats are rich habitats, densely inhabited by an amphipod, Corophium volutator (hereafter Corophium). These amphipods appear to consolidate sediments by their burrow-building activities and so stabilize the mudflats. Also, they are rich in fatty acids and are a major food of fish and migratory shorebirds. Given its worth and uniqueness, the upper Bay of Fundy has been designated part of the Western Hemisphere Shorebird Reserve Network, as well as a biosphere reserve in UNESCO's Man and the Biosphere network. Our proposed research is timely in that planned short-term changes in use of tidal barrier causeways located near the mudflats and longer-term changes brought about by global warming will likely affect water flows and sedimentation rates, and increase temperatures and sea levels. Any natural or anthropogenic factors that threaten the health of Corophium populations also threaten the productivity of the coastal regions in which they reside, and biodiversity found therein. We will model the interactions between Corophium and other species (parasites, competitors, predators) and abiotic processes (sedimentation rates, temperature changes). We are interested in how such interactions observed today will be affected by global climate change and regional management decisions concerning the fate of causeways. We will assess connectivity between Corophium populations in the upper bay, whether demographic rescue is possible when/if local Corophium populations crash, and the extent to which dietary needs of migratory shorebirds may be affected by changing Corophium populations. We will also identify productive sites that would become the focus of conservation activities by federal, provincial or non-profit agencies (Environment Canada, Nova Scotia Dept. Natural Resources, New Brunswick Dept. Natural Resources, Nature Conservancy of Canada).