Eight ecosystem
conservation targets,
37 Species at Risk
The Wolastoq / Saint John River Priority Place has eight ecosystem conservation targets, which represent and encompass the biodiversity within the Priority Place.
Within these ecosystems are found 37 Species at Risk, as well as many other species of conservation concern and cultural significance.
Aquatic ecosystems, including rivers, streams, and lakes, are abundant throughout Wolastoq.
Many Species at Risk that are classified as terrestrial species spend much of their life history in aquatic ecosystems, including Wood Turtle, Common Snapping Turtle and Eastern Painted Turtle.
Agro-ecosystems are ecosystems that are currently used and/or managed with the specific purpose of agriculture, and include natural and the man-made habitat features associated with them.
These cultivated and managed areas, particularly those near water, are used by a broad variety of species and can be areas of high biodiversity.
Common ecosystems found in agricultural landscapes include riparian and floodplain systems, freshwater wetlands, and patches of upland forest.
The Wabanaki-Acadian Forest encompasses Canada’s Maritime Provinces and extends south across the northeastern United States.
Due to its location between the hardwood-dominated forests of the south, and the softwood-dominated boreal forests to the north, the Wabanaki-Acadian Forest exhibits characteristics’ of both regions, leading to diverse forests with a large mixture of tree species, including Red Spruce, Yellow Birch, Sugar Maple, Red Oak, White Pine and Eastern Hemlock.
At least 82 priority species use the various forest habitats, and old forest communities provide habitat for a variety of federally listed species, such as the Canada Warbler, Chimney Swift, and Olive-sided Flycatcher.
Practices such as high grading for ship timbers, slash and burn clearing for agriculture, and intensive forest harvesting (clearcutting) have resulted in a Wabanaki-Acadian Forest that is heavily degraded and composed of more early-successional species than what would naturally occur.
Tolerant hardwood forests are forests dominated largely by late-successional, long-lived, shade-tolerant hardwood species such as sugar maple, beech, yellow birch, and red oak.
Stand-replacing natural disturbances are rare in this ecosystem, leading to uneven-aged forest structures which provide abundant wildlife habitat, and have a high potential to form old-growth forest stands. Additionally, tolerant hardwood forests typically feature-rich soils, which in turn support a diverse mixture of rare plants.
Appalachian Hardwood Forest (AHF) is a type of tolerant hardwood forest which was once abundant across northwestern New Brunswick, but which has been reduced to less than 1% of its original area.
These forests are known for their extremely high biodiversity and presence of rare and at-risk species such as butternut, basswood, and black ash.
Floodplain Forests are (typically) hardwood-dominated forests which develop on riparian floodplains.
These forests are regularly flooded, leading to enriched soils from alluvial sediments, and allowing a highly diverse assemblage of plants to grow in the understory.
Floodplain forest ecosystems play a significant role in maintaining landscape level biodiversity.
They provide important travel corridors, ensure bank stability, enhance water quality, and provide habitat for many wildlife species.
Forested wetlands are those wetlands (swamps, bogs, fens, marshes) that are dominated by trees and shrubs .
Wetlands have a water level that is either permanently, periodically or seasonally at or above the land’s surface with soils that are typically saturated and poorly draining; vegetation is adapted to wet conditions.
Freshwater wetlands, including marshes, fens, bogs, swamps, and vernal pools, are common throughout Wolastoq.
Wetlands have soils that are typically saturated in water and biodiversity that is adapted to wet conditions, and are among some of the most productive ecosystems, supporting a number of New Brunswick’s rare and endangered species.
Freshwater wetlands also provide key ecological services, including carbon storage, water quality improvement, and contribute to flood, drought, and erosion mitigation.
Riparian and shoreline systems refer to the transition zone between freshwater aquatic ecosystems – such as rivers, streams, wetlands, and lakes – and their adjacent ecosystems.
Within riparian areas, vegetation is influenced by the presence of water and is distinct from adjacent uplands. Floodplains are flooded intermittently, or seasonally, creating a unique and dynamic ecosystem.
Riparian and floodplain systems are used by a broad range of species, and typically support higher diversity and density of amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals than adjacent uplands.
Working together to conserve Species at Risk in the Wolastoq / Saint John River Priority Place