Pennsylvania Wetlands

transcript

Katherine Verbeke Pa Wetlands 1

Pennsylvania• 29 million acres• 407 000 acres are wetlands• 4 000 of those have been restored since

1990• Various wildlife programs• To maintain and restore when necessary

Three general types in Pa

• Forested• Scrub – shrub wetlands• Emergent Wetlands

Forested wetlands

Scrub-shrub wetlands

Emergent wetlands

Forested wetlands• Dominant plants mature woody plants• Tall trees over 20 feet tall• Red and silver maples• Black gum• River birches• Green ashes• 220 000 acres

Black gum tree

River Birch

Green Ash

Scrub-shrub wetlands•Dominant plants • Scrub• Shrub•139 000 acres

• less than 20 feet tall•Alders•willows

Spicebushes

High-bush blueberries

Winterberries

Swamp honeysuckle

Chokecherry

Emergent wetlands•52 000 acres•Marshy areas•Plants are rooted in soil but• Emerge above water

Emergent plants

• Rushes• Sedges• Grasses

Wetlands at work

• Habitats• Food• Spawning grounds• Nurseries for aquatic life

Habitat• Bacteria• Protists• Plants• Animals• Threatened and endangered

Threatened• Those species

that may become endangered

• Bald Eagle

Endangered

•Those species that soon become extinct•Bog Turtle

In the US

•Wetlands make up only 5%• They are home to nearly

35% of the threatened and endangered species

Pennsylvania•Many of the more than 500

plant species• Of concern i.e. threatened and

endangered• Live in or near the wetlands

Amphibians• 80% of the state’s amphibs live

in and around wetlands• 25% of all the state’s 41 species

of reptiles spend nearly all their lives• +120 species of birds live in, on

or around the wetlands

Food factories• High primary

productivity rates• Plants – major

organisms• Base of the

wetland food web

Food • Above the water line - eaten• Decomposing plants provide

nutrients bacteria protists

FungiInvertebrates

Food Chain• Higher order

organisms• Eat the

producers and the consumers

Spawning grounds and Nurseries

• 200 species of amphibians• All wild ducks• Geese• Swan• Bitterns• Herons

Flood plains of larger rivers

• Freshwater fishes

Bullhead

Northern pike

Muskellunge

Walleyes

Bluegills

Coastal wetlands• Shell fish and commercial game fish

Salmon

Flounder

Striped bass

Bluefish

Menhaden

Cycling nutrients• Plants drive the ecosystem•Make the food• Photosynthesis• Plants retain the food they

Oxygen

•Used for respiration by heterotrophs

Plants

•Move nutrients •Phosphorous•Nitrogen

Buffer zones

•Riparian barriers• Function as a sponge•Absorb Excess runoff• Slowly release it back to

the environment

Benefits

•Help reduce flood damage to crops•Help control rate and volume of runoff in urban areas

Protect coastlines from erosion

• Roots of all wetland plants hold soil• Plants absorb the action and force of

waves• Break up the flow of streams and

river currents• Buffer storm surges

Prevents•Hurricane damage• Tropical storm damage• To roads, houses and other

structures

Pollution control• #1 pollutant in Pa (by volume) sediment• Wetlands slow the river• Sediment is deposited• Improves water quality for

wildlife

Air pollution• Plants absorb and

store Carbon• Reduces

Greenhouse gases• Lessens global

warming

Suburban swamps• Urbanization has disrupted • Destroyed wetlands• Associated with• Streams rivers• And creeks

Pa waterways• Critical to development of cities• Pittsburgh• Philadelphia• Scranton/Wilkes Barre• Harrisburg

Best practice approach•Preservation of open space

in urban areas•Philly – by 2020 will lose

173 000 acres of open space

Negative aspects• Reduce recreational areas• Less attractive to businesses• Reduce quality of air and water• Landscapes increase risk of

flooding

Benefits• Vegetation improves air and water

quality• Filter out gases by photosynthesis• Filter out chemicals in water• Habitats for wildlife• Lessen flooding

Urban wetlands• Remnants of streams and rivers prior

to development• Result from poorly or inadequate

development• Example: drainage ditches• May provide habitat for variety of

plants and animals

Benefits•Buffer runoff from

pavement• Empty lots•Minimize flooding

Filter• Iron, lead, copper in urban

runoff•Aid in water treatment of

large volume of sewage and storm runoff

Pennsylvania Wetlands

Documents