2.1.2 Matchedash Bay–Gray Marsh
The Matchedash Bay and Gray Marsh wetland complex (44°45’ N, 79°40’ W; hereafter Matchedash) is located in central Ontario near the southeastern end of Lake Huron’s Georgian Bay, spanning the boundary of the Georgian Bay and Lake Simcoe-Rideau Ecoregions at the interface of the Mixedwood Plains and Ontario Shield Ecozones (Crins et al., 2009). Similar to the Pelee wetland, the Matchedash wetland is approximately 1100 ha in surface area (including large open water areas) and is designated as both a Provincially Significant Wetland in Ontario (MNRF, 2015) and a RAMSAR Wetland of International Significance by UNESCO (Wilson and Cheskey, 2001). Matchedash is primarily Crown Land (much of it designated and protected as a Provincial Wildlife Area), but there are several parcels owned and managed by Ducks Unlimited Canada under the Eastern Habitat Joint Venture project (Ducks Unlimited, 2011). Licensed trapping is permitted and occurs throughout the wetland.
Both wetlands consist of approximately 700 ha of robust emergent marsh vegetation (MNRF, 2015) which is considered to be suitable muskrat habitat (Bellrose and Brown, 1941; Clark, 1994; Proulx and Gilbert, 1983). Cattails (Typha spp.) are by far the dominant plant species at both sites, comprising 89% of the marsh vegetation at Pelee (Markle et al., 2018) and representing the most common wetland cover type at Matchedash (Gartner Lee Limited, 1990). The invasive European common reed (Phragmites australis ssp. australis ) is also present in each marsh (~ 6.5% of the marsh vegetation at Pelee; unknown coverage at Matchedash), along with relatively low coverage by narrow-leaved emergents, forb marsh and graminoid meadow marsh community types (Markle et al., 2018; Gartner Lee Limited, 1990; Sadowski pers. obs.).