Minesing Wetlands

{{Short description|Wetland in Ontario, Canada}} {{Infobox protected area | name = Minesing Wetlands | alt_name = | iucn_category = | image = 300px | image_alt = | image_caption = Aerial view of Minesing Wetlands, August 2013; Angus, Ontario, at bottom center, Barrie at right | image_size = | map = | map_alt = | map_caption = | map_width = | location = | nearest_city = Barrie | coordinates = | coords_ref = | region = | area = {{convert|60|km2|sqmi}} | established = | visitation_num = | visitation_year = | governing_body = | url = | module = {{Designation list | embed = yes | designation1 = Ramsar | designation1_offname = Minesing Swamp | designation1_date = 31 October 1996 | designation1_number = 865<ref>{{Cite web|title=Minesing Swamp|website=Ramsar Sites Information Service|url=https://rsis.ramsar.org/ris/865|access-date=25 April 2018}}</ref>}} }} '''Minesing Wetlands''' or '''Minesing Swamp''' is a Ramsar boreal wetland in central Ontario, Canada, stretching from the western periphery of Barrie to Georgian Bay.{{sfn|Hock|1987|p=H19}} It was identified and classified through the International Biological Program. It is "the largest and best example of fen bog in southern Ontario",{{sfn|Ministry of Natural Resources: IBP}} one of the "most diverse undisturbed wetland tracts in Canada"{{sfn|Ministry of Natural Resources: RAM}} and is a provincially significant Area of Natural and Scientific Interest.{{sfn|Ministry of Natural Resources: ANSI}} The term ''minesing'' is of Ojibwe origin and means "island", referring to an island located within Lake Edenvale, which encompassed the present-day wetlands and surrounding areas.{{sfn|Bowles|Laverty|Featherstone|2007}}

The swamp's hydrology "provides for an interconnected network of swamps, fens, bogs and marshes".{{sfn|Ramsar Convention Bureau: Annotated Ramsar List}} It acts as a reservoir that absorbs floodwater during spring thaw, from which a slow and steady flow is released throughout the summer into the Nottawasaga River system.{{sfn|Hock|1987|p=H19}} This also prevents spring flooding of Wasaga Beach.{{sfn|Hock|1987|p=H19}}

Approximately {{convert|39|km2|sqmi}} of the {{convert|60|km2|sqmi}} is owned or managed by the Nottawasaga Valley Conservation Authority.{{sfn|Bowles|Laverty|Featherstone|2007}} The remainder is owned by the Ministry of Natural Resources, the Simcoe County, and private landowners. It straddles the three townships of Clearview, Essa and Springwater.{{sfn|Bowles|Laverty|Featherstone|2007}}

It provides habitat to over 400 plant species, of which 11 are provincially rare.{{sfn|Ministry of Natural Resources: RAM}} Minesing Wetlands is an important staging area for thousands of migratory waterfowl,{{sfn|Ramsar Convention Bureau: Annotated Ramsar List}} and is the largest wintering ground for white-tailed deer.{{sfn|Ramsar Convention Bureau: Annotated Ramsar List}} It supports numerous plant species which are at the extremities of their natural range, including those indigenous to the arctic tundra in the north and the Carolinian forests to the south, and is home to the "largest pure stand of silver maple in the province".{{sfn|Ramsar Convention Bureau: Annotated Ramsar List}} Provincially rare birds indigenous to the swamp include the blue-winged warbler, prothonotary warbler, cerulean warbler, golden-winged warbler and the blue-grey gnatcatcher.{{sfn|Ramsar Convention Bureau|1996}} It is the only location in Canada where the Hine's Emerald dragonfly can be found.<ref>{{cite web |author1=COSEWIC |title=Hine's emerald (Somatochlora hineana): COSEWIC assessment and status report 2011|url=https://www.canada.ca/en/environment-climate-change/services/species-risk-public-registry/cosewic-assessments-status-reports/hines-emerald-2011.html |website=Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada |publisher=COSEWIC |access-date=17 April 2026 |date=2011}}</ref>

Minesing Wetlands is a popular recreation area which draws many tourists. Canoeing is a common activity in the area, though inexperienced canoeists should be wary of spring flooding.

==Research== A number of research projects are conducted throughout Minesing Wetlands. An analysis of the hydrology of wetland systems in the swamp began in the mid-1990s, with primary goals to "characterize the water balance of a selected plot within the fen" and to examine "the correlations between vegetation and hydrology".{{sfn|Bradford|1987}}

==Notes== {{Reflist}}

==References== {{refbegin}} *{{cite web|url=http://nvca.on.ca/ws_par/groups/public/@pub/@nvca/documents/web_content/nvca_000339.pdf|title=Minesing Wetlands Biological Inventory|last1=Bowles|first1=Robert L.|last2=Laverty|first2=Jolene|last3=Featherstone|first3=David|date=February 2007|access-date=4 February 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120320030309/http://nvca.on.ca/ws_par/groups/public/@pub/@nvca/documents/web_content/nvca_000339.pdf|archive-date=20 March 2012|url-status=dead|df=dmy-all}} *{{cite web|url=http://www.civil.queensu.ca/hydrol/minesing/ |title=Minesing Swamp research project |last=Bradford |first=Andrea |publisher=Queen's University |date=28 October 1987 |access-date=3 August 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070902010050/http://www.civil.queensu.ca/hydrol/minesing/ |archive-date=2 September 2007 }} *{{cite news|title=Vultures and gnatcatchers make Minesing swamp hum|last=Hock|first=Gail|newspaper=Toronto Star|date=2 May 1987}} *{{cite web|url=http://nhic.mnr.gov.on.ca/areas/areas_report.cfm?areaid=707|title= Natural Areas Report: MINESING SWAMP (ANSI) |publisher=Ministry of Natural Resources|access-date=3 August 2007|ref={{harvid|Ministry of Natural Resources: ANSI}} }} {{Dead link|date=October 2010|bot=H3llBot}} *{{cite web|url=http://nhic.mnr.gov.on.ca/areas/areas_report.cfm?areaid=7862|title= Natural Areas Report: MINESING SWAMP (IBP)|publisher=Ministry of Natural Resources|access-date=3 August 2007|ref={{harvid|Ministry of Natural Resources: IBP}} }} {{Dead link|date=October 2010|bot=H3llBot}} *{{cite web|url=http://nhic.mnr.gov.on.ca/areas/areas_report.cfm?areaid=10971|title= Natural Areas Report: MINESING SWAMP (RAM)|publisher=Ministry of Natural Resources|access-date=3 August 2007|ref={{harvid|Ministry of Natural Resources: RAM}} }}{{Dead link|date=October 2010|bot=H3llBot}} *{{cite web|url=http://www.ramsar.org/wn/w.n.canada2.htm |title=Two New Canadian Sites Mark 25th Anniversary of the Ramsar Convention |publisher=Ramsar Convention Bureau |date=16 November 1996 |access-date=3 August 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070713220051/http://www.ramsar.org/wn/w.n.canada2.htm |archive-date=2007-07-13 |ref={{harvid|Ramsar Convention Bureau|1996}} |url-status=dead }} *{{cite web|url=http://www.ramsar.org/profile/profiles_canada.htm |title=The Annotated Ramsar List of Wetlands of International Importance - Canada |publisher=Ramsar Convention Bureau |access-date=3 August 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070715195356/http://www.ramsar.org/profile/profiles_canada.htm |archive-date=2007-07-15 |ref={{harvid|Ramsar Convention Bureau: Annotated Ramsar List}} |url-status=dead }} {{refend}}

==External links== * [https://web.archive.org/web/20110706190020/http://www.natureconservancy.ca/site/News2?page=NewsArticle&id=7361&news_iv_ctrl=0&abbr=on_ncc_ History of Minesing]

Category:Landforms of Simcoe County Category:Ramsar sites in Ontario Category:Areas of Natural and Scientific Interest Category:Wetlands of Ontario Category:Protected areas of Simcoe County