Amazing Ecosystem Resilience

Success story of Mariners Island Salt Marsh Rehabilitation

Access to Mariners Island at this point in time is not easy. The trail leading to the target area traversing Tanner Elton’s Affinity Guesthouse property is not cleared yet and the water table throughout the area is still very high. Struggling through the man’s tall invasive Canary grass jungle and over rather bumpy terrain characterizing the abandoned former cattle meadows to the West of Mariners Island is a formidable hurdle to overcome. However it proves well worth the effort. The extensive areas of exposed soil prominently showing after removal of the solid log cover over large parts of Mariners Island  in March 2015 has turned into a green sea of lush vegetation. In contrast to the solid layer of the exotic goosefoot (Chenopodium spec.) colonizing the exposed soil during the vegetation period of 2015, the same area is now covered by communities of native sedges (Carex spec) and rushes (Juncus spec.) interspersed with an increasing diversity of native marsh vegetation. Unfortunately some non-native species are also found mostly brought to the marshes through earlier agricultural activities. The mounds of decomposed woody material mixed with top-soil along the treed shoreline of the mill pond and scattered throughout the reclaimed marsh also show promising signs of colonizing vegetation. This artificially created habitat adds to the diversity of the salt marsh providing an important niche for numerous wildlife species.  The hand-cleaned runnels and drainage channels, a job well-done by Tom Reid’s crew from the Vancouver Island Conservation Land Management Programme following CERCA’s log removal, look very healthy and appear to be full of life.

Photo record of recovery process

Washed-up woody debris and plastic since 2015 clean-up

When Beate and I visited Mariners Island on 5 June to check up on the salt marsh vegetation  recovery process  we noticed very little new woody debris since the clean-up of March 2015. Except for a solid, still strapped together  log-boom bundle washed up onto the bay-facing shoreline of Mariners Island and apart from the odd log washed onto the salt marsh there were little other tell-tales of the spring floods and storms. I notified Western Forest Products about the log bundle and have been assured in writing that it will be removed ASAP. The logs washed onto the shoreline of the Westcan Terminal have been removed by WFP shortly after our notification.

We did encounter a fair amount of floating plastic materials accumulated mostly along the berms and mounds created last year. This shows that a regular garbage clean-up event should take place once per year. The next one is planned for late fall/early winter after termination of the vegetation period.A proper vegetation survey as part of our salt marsh recovery monitoring program will be carried out in early July during the peak of the flowering season facilitating plant species identification. As in the past the monitoring survey will be implemented jointly with Ducks Unlimited using the same geo-referenced sample plots as before.In summary, the first impression of the current vegetation status is that the salt marsh recovery process is well on its way, proof of a successfully completed project. It is amazing to witness how resilient ecosystems are  if given a chance to recuperate.

Goetz Schuerholz (Chair CERCA)