{"id":70858,"date":"2025-08-15T05:29:22","date_gmt":"2025-08-15T05:29:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/70858\/"},"modified":"2025-08-15T05:29:22","modified_gmt":"2025-08-15T05:29:22","slug":"deep-impacts-manitoba-wildfires-could-threaten-aquatic-ecosystems-winnipeg","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/70858\/","title":{"rendered":"Deep impacts: Manitoba wildfires could threaten aquatic ecosystems – Winnipeg"},"content":{"rendered":"

Raging wildfires have left visible scars on much of Manitoba\u2019s landscape this season, but the impacts of the fires can go much deeper, including right to the bottom of the lake.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Researchers say this year\u2019s record-setting wildfire season could be taking a toll on aquatic ecosystems.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe loss of habitat \u2014 the trees and the brush around the lake systems \u2014 that introduces more light and that can cause a whole host of problems where we potentially have algal blooms,\u201d said Alexandra Schoen, a researcher and fish culture programs manager for the Province of Manitoba.<\/p>\n

\u201cUV light can disrupt fish egg development.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Click<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t2:24
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tManitoba First Nations demand change to wildfire strategy\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

Schoen says the wildfires can create a range of other risks to fish and aquatic ecosystems, including disrupting the food web, changing the water\u2019s temperature and chemistry, and the loss of trees and vegetation on land can create increased runoff into bodies of water.<\/p>\n

Story continues below advertisement<\/p>\n

\u201cThat could be as simple and silt and dirt that\u2019s flooded into the lakes or it could be more toxic \u2014 so, chemicals from the fire retardants that are being sprayed up north and all over the province,\u201d Schoen explained.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tWorkers check for tags on a brown trout at the Whiteshell Fish Hatchery.\t\t\t\t <\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tJosh Arason \/ Global News\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\u201cThose can have a whole host of problems \u2014 both physically, like clogging fish gills, potentially, but it can also have indirect effects like physiologial effects, like changing fish behaviour or changing how they feed or reproduce.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\"Get<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tGet daily National news<\/p>\n

Get the day’s top news, political, economic, and current affairs headlines, delivered to your inbox once a day.<\/p>\n

Terri-Lee Reid, a freshwater conservation researcher with the Canadian Wildlife Federation, says wildfires can also have some environmental benefits, including allowing for regrowth of vegetation and regeneration of nutrients in soil. Certain trees, she says, like the jackpine and lodgepole pine, require heat from fires to open their cones and release seeds.<\/p>\n

\u201cDepending on the number of wildfires, the intensity of the wildfires, the location of the wildfire, how healthy the ecosystem was before the fire and how much rain falls after the fire, wildfires can also have harmful impacts to our freshwater,\u201d Reid said.<\/p>\n

Story continues below advertisement<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tCounting fish at the Whiteshell Fish Hatchery.\t\t\t\t <\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tJosh Arason \/ Global News\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\n\t\tTrending Now\n\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"\/<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\tGavin Newsom mounts retaliation to counter Texas redistricting efforts\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n

\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"\/<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\tWine, candy and room service: How Ottawa spent $170,000 on Canadian ISIS women\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n

Reid also says the longer and more intense wildfire seasons could mean longer-lasting impacts on aquatic ecosystems.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are seeing more fires and more intense fires and that can certainly have an impact on our freshwater,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cEspecially if the fires are occurring near fresh waterbodies, or if the same areas keep being impacted by fires, because then they will have little time to recover in between.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Click<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t2:26
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tKinew accuses group of Republicans of pitching \u2018timber tantrum\u2019 over wildfire smoke\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

Schoen, who also conducts research at the Whiteshell Fish Hatchery, says the wildfire season has also prevented fisheries from stocking certain lakes in northern Manitoba. She says the true impact won\u2019t be known until they are able to get into the wildfire zones, and some of the impacts could go far beyond this wildfire season.<\/p>\n

Story continues below advertisement<\/p>\n

\u201cThere can be these really prolonged effects,\u201d Schoen said. \u201cSometimes you\u2019re dealing with changes that last for days, and sometimes with pH or water chemistry, you\u2019re dealing with changes that last years.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tMore on Science and Tech
\n\t\t\tMore videos\n\t\t<\/p>\n

\n\t\t&copy 2025 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Raging wildfires have left visible scars on much of Manitoba\u2019s landscape this season, but the impacts of the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":70859,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[49,48,295,44302,66],"class_list":["post-70858","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-environment","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-environment","tag-manitoba-wildfires","tag-science"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70858","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=70858"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70858\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/70859"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=70858"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=70858"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=70858"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}