Brackish marsh at Lawrencetown on the Eastern Shore of Nova Scotia 13Jul2023

I studied this marsh in the summer of 1975 with the collaboration of Cathy and Paul Keddy who were graduate students at Dalhousie University at the time. It lies across the road from the very popular Lawrencetown Beach; waters off the nearby headland are a popular surfing area. I created a Project for the larger marsh area: https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/east-lawrencetown-ns-brackish-marsh

The marsh borders a tidal, brackish lake. Proceeding from 'the road' towards open water, one crosses a sequence of what we described as 14 visually distinct zones. View extracts from a scientific paper posted on the web at http://versicolor.ca/LawrencetownBrackishMarsh/

I visited the marsh again on June 9, 2005; I am posting some plant photos from that visit on iNaturalist, partially to refresh my memory, as I will be accompanying participants in a Botany Field Class there shortly... close to 48 years after the 1975 survey. More to follow... hopefully.

July 15, 2023: Successful venture yesterday as a "Guest Prof." in the Dalhousie University summer field class Flora of Nova Scotia, instructors Sean Haughian & Nick Hill. New entries from the field class participants can be viewed on the Project Page, but the focus of the class was on collection of materials to prepare formal botanical specimens of flowering angiosperms, not on making posts on iNaturalist. The instructors were impressed with the site, I think, especially the diversity of sedges, and the very diverse 'buckbean meadow' at the beginning of the route from the road towards Lawrencetown Lake. Overall, the site seemed to have changed very little from 1975.

Posted on July 13, 2023 12:45 PM by jackpine22