WOODS, Oliver - 2007

An Integrative Approach to Prioritizing Aquatic Habitat Restoration Sites in the Wooden’s River Watershed, Nova Scotia

Presently, there is a gap in the literature where local ecological knowledge (LEK), community-based monitoring (CBM), mapping technologies, and fish habitat models are collectively incorporated into site selection, monitoring, and aquatic habitat restoration. This thesis attempts to bridge this gap by developing an approach to site selection which incorporates CBM, LEK, mapping technologies, and fish habitat models to assess aquatic habitat quality and quantity and to identify sensitive areas requiring added protection and/or restoration.

The Wooden’s River Watershed, located on the Chebucto peninsula, Nova Scotia, was the study area used to test the methodology. The results generated from this research have identified that the temperature variable appears to be a significant limiting factor, therefore highlighting the importance of the cool, groundwater fed tributaries likely acting as refuge areas in time of maximum summer temperature. Furthermore, the results indicate that the drumlins cored by Lawrencetown till existing in the lower portion of the watershed do in fact benefit local pH, however their capacity to buffer the larger bodies of water appears to be minimal.

The methodologies used in this research have proven to effectively prioritize several aquatic habitat restoration initiatives in a manner which can be easily adopted by members of the community and stewardship groups alike.