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The Wetland Book pp 591–604Cite as

Coastal Wetlands of Manitoba’s Great Lakes (Canada)

Abstract

The province of Manitoba, Canada, contains three of the world’s largest freshwater lakes; Lakes Winnipeg, Winnipegosis and Manitoba. A significant feature of these lakes are their extensive coastal wetlands. A GIS-inventory found the Manitoba Great Lakes have six times more wetlands per km of shoreline than the Laurentian Great Lakes. Lake Winnipeg has a coastal wetland area of 1,404 km2, Lake Manitoba has 564 km2, and Lake Winnipegosis has 742 km2. Netley-Libau Marsh (222 km2) on Lake Winnipeg, and Delta Marsh (185 km2) on Lake Manitoba, are believed to be the largest freshwater coastal wetlands in North America. These wetlands provide many benefits to their adjoining lakes, and provide important wildlife and fisheries habitat. However, lake-level regulation, nonpoint source nutrient pollution and invasive species are significant threats to these coastal wetlands and the ecosystem benefits they provide.

Keywords

  • Coastal wetlands
  • Delta Marsh
  • Lake Manitoba
  • Lake Winnipeg
  • Lake Winnipegosis
  • Netley-Libau Marsh

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute for Wetland and Waterfowl Research, Ducks Unlimited Canada, Stonewall, MB, R0C 2Z0, Canada

    Dale Wrubleski & Pascal Badiou

  2. Department of Biological Sciences, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB, R3T 2 N2, Canada

    Gordon Goldsborough

Authors
  1. Dale Wrubleski
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  2. Pascal Badiou
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  3. Gordon Goldsborough
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Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Dale Wrubleski , Pascal Badiou or Gordon Goldsborough .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Institute for Land, Water and Society, Charles Sturt University, Albury, New South Wales, Australia

    Dr. C. Max Finlayson

  2. Department of Natural Resources, Kentville, Nova Scotia, Canada

    G. Randy Milton

  3. Nature Management Services, Cambridge, United Kingdom

    R. Crawford Prentice

  4. Institute for Land, Water and Society, Charles Sturt University, Albury, New South Wales, Australia

    Nick C. Davidson

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Wrubleski, D., Badiou, P., Goldsborough, G. (2018). Coastal Wetlands of Manitoba’s Great Lakes (Canada). In: Finlayson, C., Milton, G., Prentice, R., Davidson, N. (eds) The Wetland Book. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-4001-3_190

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