Summary
While the Western Boreal Forest is a large and diverse region, there is still a major gap in knowledge whether the variability in the hydrochemistry of surface waters is homogeneous across the area or if regions of unique chemistry signatures exist. The Western Boreal Forest covers a total of six Canadian ecozones, extending from the northern Yukon and Northwest Territories, south to British Columbia and east to Manitoba. The region is also experiencing rapid change due to forestry, oil and gas exploration, agriculture, and climate change. This extensive region contains millions of lakes, with its own unique hydrological systems, controls and interactions, and excessive peatland-wetland-pond complexes covering up to 50% of the landscape in certain regions. The response of Western Boreal ponds to future climate change, potential water quality impacts influenced by enhanced resource activity and proper watershed management cannot be effectively assessed without a better understanding of the natural variability of pond hydrochemistry. Between the period of 2001 and 2003, over 900 ponds were sampled in cooperation with Ducks Unlimited Canada (DUC) and tested for chemistry (nutrients, ion facies, pH, etc.). Using this data, I have assessed the baseline hydrochemistry and visualized general patterns across different hydrological controls (i.e. permafrost, geology, topography) and response variables (i.e. nutrients and ion facies) at the regional level. The results of my analyses showed that there is a considerable dissimilarity in hydrochemistry across the Western Boreal Forest and the landscape drivers identified at this regional scale explain little in the variability of pond chemistry. This validates the use of local research to drive pond management across Western Canada.