Assessment of the Resilience of Great Lakes Coastal Wetlands to a Changing Climate

Executive Summary

Coastal wetlands are one of the most productive ecosystems in the Great Lakes region and play an important role in protecting biodiversity and ecosystem function.

Climate models show warmer and wetter future conditions across the Great Lakes. As the range of possible temperatures increase, future lake levels are projected to increase in variability and extremes. As the Great Lakes conservation community plans for climate change, it is crucial that coastal wetlands are resilient and continue to provide valued ecosystem services for the benefit of people and freshwater ecosystem outcomes. To achieve climate resilience, conservation requires the integration of climate science, knowledge of climate vulnerability and best adaptation approaches to prevent against climate change impacts.

Canada’s Assessment of the Resilience of Great Lakes Coastal Wetlands to a Changing Climate study was led by Environment and Climate Change Canada and launched in 2017 under the Great Lakes Protection Initiative. The study focused on improving the understanding of Great Lakes coastal wetland vulnerability to plausible climate change scenarios and identified coastal wetlands most at risk of becoming degraded or lost. The study also explored adaptation approaches best suited to enhance coastal wetland resilience to projected future climate changes. This information guides management decisions and will be used to work with stakeholders and partners to develop priorities for action to improve coastal wetland health, function and resilience.

The results of this study show that the coastal wetlands with the lowest capacity to adapt and cope are located in Lake St. Clair, the Detroit River and western lakes Erie and Ontario. These wetlands are influenced by agriculture and urbanization, a high density of invasive plants, hardened shorelines (natural and human-caused) and limited land protection.

Without adaptation action, coastal wetlands will likely be severely impacted or lost. Environment and Climate Change Canada identified best approaches for increasing the resilience of Great Lakes coastal wetlands to projected climate change. The approaches are based on extensive literature reviews, broad engagement and expert input.

Assessing the Sensitivity of Great Lakes Coastal Wetlands to Climate Change [PDF - 3.3 MB]

Future Hydroclimate Variables and Lake Levels for the Great Lakes Using Data from the Coupled Model [PDF - 12.29 MB]

Great Lakes Coastal Wetland Response to Climate Change Using the Coastal Wetland Response Model (CWRM) [PDF - 31.21 MB]

Great Lakes Coastal Wetland Adaptive Capacity to Climate Change [ - 13.39 MB]

Assessing the Vulnerability of Great Lakes Coastal Wetlands to Climate Change [PDF - 3.27 MB]

Adapting to Climate Change Solutions to Enhance Great Lakes Coastal Wetland Resilience [PDF - 8.76 MB]

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Date modified:: 2024-09-19

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Assessment of the Resilience of Great Lakes Coastal Wetlands to a Changing Climate

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