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Wetlands

Wetlands. Photo by R. Grippo. Introduction. Currently very hot area in resource management Called by many names  swamps, bogs, fens, marshes, vernal ponds, pocosins (NC) Important in ecological restoration because >50% of natural wetlands have been destroyed. Ecosystem Services of Wetlands.

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Wetlands

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  1. Wetlands Photo by R. Grippo

  2. Introduction • Currently very hot area in resource management • Called by many names  swamps, bogs, fens, marshes, vernal ponds, pocosins (NC) • Important in ecological restoration because >50% of natural wetlands have been destroyed

  3. Ecosystem Services of Wetlands • Sponge effect - decrease flood peak and increase flow during drought

  4. Flooding in the mid-South, Nov., 2001

  5. Farmland flooding

  6. Ecosystem Services of Wetlands • Sponge effect - decrease flood peak and increase flow during drought 2. Groundwater cleansing – wetlands metabolize water  increase water quality (biological filters)

  7. Ecosystem Services of Wetlands • Sponge effect - decrease flood peak and increase flow during drought • Groundwater cleansing – wetlands metabolize water  increase water quality (biological filters) • Decreased shoreline erosion – plants stabilize banks

  8. Lacustrine wetlands in Pine Barrens, southern NJ Photo by R. Grippo

  9. Coastal mangrove swamp, Belize, Central America Photo of R. Grippo and Penn State student

  10. Ecosystem Services of Wetlands • Sponge effect - decrease flood peak and increase flow during drought • Groundwater cleansing – wetlands metabolize water  increase water quality (biological filters) • Decreased shoreline erosion – plants stabilize banks • High in primary productivity (2nd only to tropical rainforest) = reduce greenhouse effect

  11. History of Wetland Destruction • Towns usually built on stream corridors • Tradition  drain swamps (malaria, etc) • Agriculture  87% of losses to increase tillable land • Unequal distribution of losses • Coasts • Northern tier • Southern coastal plain • Major river basins

  12. History of Wetland Destruction • Towns usually built on stream corridors • Tradition  drain swamps (malaria, etc) • Agriculture  87% of losses to increase tillable land • Unequal distribution of losses • Coasts • Northern tier • Southern coastal plain • Major river basins • 1955  1975 loss of of 550,000 acres of wetlands/year  CWA passed to prevent further loss  still lost 92,500 acres/yr up to 1985  reauthorize CWA , tighten laws much more  still a big problem (saw on last weeks field trip) • State with most wetlands = Alaska (only lost 1% so far) Note: wetlands are the 1º target of restoration efforts because 50-90% of historical wetlands are gone

  13. Regulation • Section 404 of Clean Water Act - “No dredged or fill material can be placed into any waterway of the US (including wetlands) Note: does not prevent draining, clearing or polluting wetlands (but hard to get permission to do)

  14. Section 404 (con’t) • Gives implicit authority to EPA, and Army Corps of Engineers to manage wetlands Note: COE not allowed to delineate, only verify • Section 404 permits - need before dredge/fill Note: these are rarely denied, process just made so difficult that permit is usually withdrawn • US FWS and NRCS (National Resource Conservation Service) place classification on soil that determines whether there is a wetlands or not.

  15. Wetland Conservation provision of the Food Security Act of 1985 (Swampbuster) • designed to discourage the conversion of wetlands into non-wetland areas • Previously, farmers allowed to use converted (filled) wetlands as part of acreage for determining subsidy (USDA encouraged loss of wetlands!) • Swampbuster - USDA now withholds certain subsidies if convert wetland

  16. Wetlands converted into agricultural land

  17. Definition of Wetlands • Palustrine - swamp-like, no deep open water • Lacustrine - associated with deep water lake, pond • Riverine - associated with stream, river

  18. Lacustrine wetlands

  19. Riverine wetlands near State College, PA Photo by R. Grippo

  20. Palustrine wetlands, Merchants Millpond, NC Photo by R. Grippo

  21. Florida Everglades Photo by R. Grippo

  22. Everglades along coast of Florida Bay Photo by R. Grippo

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