Dr. Rebecca Rooney is an Associate Professor in the Department of Biology at the University of Waterloo. Rebecca carries out research in wetland ecology and is a world expert on biomonitoring and wetland assessment. She examines how human-caused and natural ecological disturbances influence wetland communities, including birds, invertebrates and plants. She tackles fundamental questions around how communities assemble and what defines them, including the relative importance of biological interactions, environmental conditions, and landscape factors. She is keenly interested in the role of rare species and novelty in ecological processes.

Her research supports the implementation of wetland policy, invasive species management, and the protection of species at risk. Her results improve the design of restored and reclaimed wetlands, provide tools for evaluating their integrity, and identifies the most successful techniques for invasive species control.

Wetlands punch above their weight class when it comes to ecosystem services. Covering only 6% of Ontario’s Mixedwood Plains ecoregion, they provide habitat for over 20% of the province’s species at risk. Based on their habitat value alone, wetlands should be considered keystone ecosystems for biodiversity conservation. But wetlands do so much more. They purify water, prevent flooding, sequester and store carbon dioxide, protect our shorelines from erosion, provide recreational and culturally significant experiences, and are a source of food and medicines. Combined, these services have been valued at $50 billion annually for Ontario’s Mixedwood Plains. Unfortunately, wetlands are disappearing. We’ve already lost 60-80% of the historic wetland coverage in southern Ontario, more than the global average of 50-60%. Worse, the pace of wetland loss is actually accelerating rather than slowing down. According to the 2021 State of Ontario’s Biodiversity Report, the pace of loss between 2011 and 2015 was about double that from 2000-2011. Urbanization is a key driver of wetland loss in the Mixedwood Plains, leading to wetland degradation, hydrologic alteration, and ecological isolation in remnant wetlands. Yet these degraded wetlands can still provide valuable ecosystem services and are worth protecting and restoring. Wetlands destroyed to make way for residential or commercial development, are increasingly replaced by stormwater management ponds. These ponds are managed as part of the sewer system infrastructure, but they may also comprise the only wetland-type habitat available in urban landscapes. Can urban planning and best management practices help us enhance the biodiversity conservation value of these ponds and bolster the habitat quality of remnant urban wetlands? In this presentation, Dr. Rooney will discuss the value of wetlands generally, with special attention to urban “working wetlands” and the potential role of stormwater management ponds in urban biodiversity conservation.