Field work has just begun in the watershed and is being carried out by our summer interns Keeler Colton, Jonas Gow and Arianne Janes. Keeler worked last summer on the Jijuktu’kwejk watershed as our summer ecology intern and is currently in his final year of the Acadia Biology program. Arianne Janes, a recent graduate of the NSCC Natural Resource Environmental Technology program, will be assisting with their summer research. Keeler and Jonas are budding naturalists with a passion for freshwater ecosystems, wildlife conservation, river snorkelling, and fish behaviour.
This summer our interns will be identifying beaver activity throughout the Jijuktu’kwejk watershed. Once certain areas are identified they will be comparing overall biodiversity of areas with beaver dams and areas without. They will be assessing the health of the ecosystems by overall biodiversity, water quality, riparian health, and habitat suitability. Methods such as aquatic invertebrate surveys, fish and bird surveys, and riparian assessments will be used this summer to get a better understating of what areas are in need of support. One of the goals this summer is to encourage dam building in areas without beavers to improve habitat for native wetland species. This summer Jonas and Keeler will also be looking for endangered species such as wood turtles and bank swallows, identifying cold water refugia areas for native fish species, monitoring turtle egg laying sites, and tracking water quality.
Keep an eye out this summer for future updates and events as our team works to restore our watershed!
The Jijuktu’kwejk Watershed Alliance 