Summary and Conclusions

Fifty years after Big Meadow Bog was ditched for agriculture, conservation concern about the possible extirpation from Canada of the Endangered Eastern Mountain Avens initiated and galvanized a restoration program. There were many elements considered in addressing the benchmark research needed prior to on the ground restoration; these are summarized below with other understandings that may affect the survival of “Avens” in a time of rapid climatic warming. This conclusion reinforces the multidisciplinary nature of this restoration project. Ecosystems develop from the interplay of biota and the physical environment. The various book chapters describe a wide range of disciplinary perspectives including a geological approach that sees through millennia of peat to grapple with past climate changes, physical studies of the hydrological regime, and chemical studies of the impact of thousands of gulls on the redox state of mercury and the “ornithogenic” distribution of plastic wastes and associated contaminants. In addition, chapter authors consider the impact of the ditching and gulls on greenhouse gas production and forecasting how recent climate changes may impact biological communities and the future of Avens in Canada. These physicochemical studies are the abiotic setting for the biotic studies on the ecology of the Avens, its mycoflora, and the avifauna that include passerines as well as the “native invasive” herring gulls. A key chapter in this book is the engineering study of how the bog’s hydrology was restored. These studies all relied on the goodwill and involvement of the local community of Westport, Brier Island. Their interest and concern for this ecosystem was our starting point and the role of the community is as strong now as it was at the project beginning. In 2024–2025 the Brier Island Trails Committee will complete the boardwalk that restores community and visitor access to the bog. As of the fall of 2024, more than 7,000 people have visited Big Meadow Bog and read the educational signage about the bog’s restoration and the conservation campaign for the Eastern Mountain Avens.