| Tusket River | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Location | |
| Country | Canada |
| Province | Nova Scotia |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Source | |
| • location | Long Tusket Lake |
| Mouth | |
• location | Gulf of Maine |
• elevation | sea level |
| Length | 93 km (58 mi) |
| Basin size | 2,000 km (1,200 mi) [1] |
The Tusket River is a Canadian river located in Nova Scotia's Yarmouth County.
The Tusket River is a significant river system and drainage basin in Yarmouth County, southwest Nova Scotia. It has numerous branches and associated rivers, passes through several lakes, and has these features. Near its mouth, the river becomes a tidal estuary, with the water becoming brackish due to mixing of the river's fresh water with salt brought upstream from the Gulf of Maine by incoming tides.
The headwaters of the river lie in the Tobeatic Wilderness Area, which is part of the larger Southwest Nova Biosphere Reserve.
The river is nationally significant for its many coastal plain plant species. [2] Some, like the Plymouth Gentian (Sabatia kennedyana) and Pink Coreopsis (Coreopsis rosea) occur nowhere else in Canada. [3] These species occur on gently-sloping sand and gravel shorelines lower in the watershed. There is an online guide to assist with identifying all these species. [4] Wilson's Lake has one of the largest populations of Atlantic Coastal Plain plants in Canada, and is the site of the small but highly significant Tusket River Nature Reserve. [5] In 2011 botanists exploring a newly acquired protected area, the Jack and Darlene Stone Conservation Lands, discovered another rare plant species, Maleberry (Lyonia ligustrina), the first time this species has been found growing in Canada. [6]
Groundseltree (Baccharis halimifolia) reaches its northern limit in North America near the Tusket River Estuary. [7] This white-flowering shrub in the aster family ranges southward along the Atlantic Coastal Plain and Gulf Coastal Plain coastal plain to Florida and Texas.
Sport fishing in the Tusket River is very popular. The upper reaches, served by Trout Point lodge, were named one of the top 10 fishing spots in the world by The Guardian in 2006. [8]
There is a commercial "river herring" fishery in the river (alewife and blueback herring), which employs dip nets and fixed gill nets. [9]
Communities located along the Tusket River, from northeast to southwest, include:
Yarmouth is a town in southwestern Nova Scotia, Canada. A port town, its industries include fishing and tourism. It is the terminus of a ferry service to Bar Harbor, Maine, run by Bay Ferries.
Kejimkujik National Park is a National Park of Canada, covering 404 km2 (156 sq mi) in the southwest of Nova Scotia peninsula. Located within three municipalities, Annapolis, Queens, Digby, it consists of two separate land areas: an inland part, which is coincident with the Kejimkujik National Historic Site of Canada, and the Kejimkujik National Park Seaside on the Atlantic coast.
Coreopsis is a genus of flowering plants in the family Asteraceae. Common names include calliopsis and tickseed, a name shared with various other plants.
Clare, officially named the Municipality of the District of Clare, is a district municipality in western Nova Scotia, Canada. Statistics Canada classifies the district municipality as a municipal district.
Argyle, officially named the Municipality of the District of Argyle, is a district municipality in Yarmouth County, Nova Scotia. Statistics Canada classifies the district municipality as a municipal district.
The Mira River is a Canadian river located in eastern Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia.
The Tobeatic Wilderness Area is the largest protected area in the Canadian Maritimes, located in southwestern Nova Scotia. It contains nearly 120,000 hectares of land and spans parts of five counties, Annapolis, Digby, Queens, Shelburne and Yarmouth. Located adjacent to Kejimkujik National Park, it was formerly known as the Tobeatic Wildlife Management Area, and the Tobeatic Game Reserve.
Quinan, is a small French Acadian village in Yarmouth County, Nova Scotia, about 20 minutes inland from the town of Yarmouth and has approximately 320 inhabitants.
Route 308 is a collector road in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia.
Tusket is a small fishing community located in Yarmouth County, Nova Scotia on route 308.
The Tusket Islands are a chain of islands located in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Nova Scotia, south of the town Yarmouth.
Coreopsis rosea is a North American species of Coreopsis in the family Asteraceae. It has a discontinuous distribution in the eastern United States and Canada, found in Nova Scotia, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Georgia, and South Carolina.
Wedgeport is an unincorporated place in the Municipality of the District of Argyle in Southern Nova Scotia, Canada.
The North American Atlantic Region is a floristic region within the Holarctic Kingdom identified by Armen Takhtajan and Robert F. Thorne, spanning from the Atlantic and Gulf coasts to the Great Plains and comprising a major part of the United States and southeastern portions of Canada. It is bordered by the Circumboreal floristic region in the north, by the Rocky Mountain and Madrean floristic regions in the west and by the Caribbean floristic region of the Neotropical Kingdom in the south of Florida. The flora of the region comprises two endemic monotypic families, Hydrastidaceae and Leitneriaceae, and is characterized by about a hundred of endemic genera. The degree of species endemism is very high, many species are Tertiary relicts, which survived the Wisconsin glaciation and are now concentrated in the Appalachians and the Ozarks. A number of genera are shared only with the Canadian floristic province of the Circumboreal region. Moreover, as has long been noted, a large number of relict genera are shared with the relatively distant Eastern Asiatic Region and sometimes Southeast Asia. R. F. Thorne counted at least 74 genera restricted to eastern North America and Asia. The fossil record indicates that during the Tertiary period a warm temperate zone extended across much of the Northern Hemisphere, linking America to Asia.
The St. Mary's River is a river in Nova Scotia, Canada. At approximately 250 kilometres (160 mi), it is one of Nova Scotia's longest rivers. It runs through Guysborough County, Antigonish County, Halifax Regional Municipality, Colchester County and Pictou County of Nova Scotia and drains into the Atlantic Ocean at Sonora, Nova Scotia. The river drains an area of approximately 1,350 square kilometres (520 sq mi) and has four branches; the West, East, North and Main. It offers important Atlantic salmon habitat and the riverbanks are a habitat for the wood turtle.
Kemptville is a rural community in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia, located in the Yarmouth Municipal District and Yarmouth County. It is located approximately 38 kilometers northeast of the town of Yarmouth.
Sabatia kennedyana is a species of flowering plant in the gentian family known by the common name Plymouth rose gentian. It is native to eastern North America. It has a disjunct distribution, occurring in Nova Scotia, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Virginia, North Carolina, and South Carolina.
Platanthera flava, the palegreen orchid, is a species of pale-flowered orchid. It is native to eastern North America, from Texas east to Florida, north to Ontario, Quebec and Nova Scotia.
The FV Silver King was a Canadian herring seiner based out of Wedgeport, Nova Scotia.