Wetland Evaluation-Cootes Paradis

Cootes Paradise

The Cootes Paradise wetland is located at the west end of Hamilton Harbor , a natural bay on Lake Ontario . It supports a wide variety of plants and animals and is an important habitat of the region . During our field visit , we evaluated the various components used by Southern Ontario Wetland Evaluation System (SOWES ) to understand the wetlands value in the ecosystem

According to SOWES , the four components to be evaluated include Biological Components , Social Components , Hydrological Components and Special Features Component . Due to time limits , only an abbreviated

evaluation was carried out of three of the four components . The Special Features were not evaluated . Based on the scores obtained , the Cootes paradise wetland is an extremely valuable habitat of the region . We shall now look at individual scores to further understand the value of the wetland

The Growing Degree-day is greater than 3600 and the soil type is a mix of clay , sand and silt . Additionally , the wetland type is marsh . These factors bring the Productivity score to 34 .3 which is among the best score . Hence , the Cootes Paradise wetland has a high productivity value

The abbreviated score , it is quite high . This shows that the wetland is biologically extremely diverse and increases its value as an important habitat . Also , according to the royal Botanical garden , it is the most important waterfowl staging habitat and the largest nursery habitat in the region . Based on the findings...