Marsh Madness

One of the most important habitats is wetlands, where the only buzzer-beater you’re likely to find here is when you swat at a mosquito or fly. Among the most productive of all ecosystems, wetlands provide food, water, and shelter for a dazzling array wildlife. Additionally, wetlands benefit people too. Besides recreational opportunities, wetlands provide flood control and water filtration. Not only are there freshwater and saltwater wetlands, but different varieties of each.  

Salt marshes are wetlands that flood with salt water at high tide. Obviously, they are found in coastal areas. They are a common feature in estuaries, areas where salt water mingles with fresh water. They are important habitat for seafood, including salmon, shrimp, and crab. The food our food eats is what draws them there (and the young salmon acclimate to the salt water), but they draw the critters that eat them. Salt marshes are important habitat for resident and migrating shore birds.

Saltwater marsh, Puget Sound

Saltwater marsh, Puget Sound

Freshwater wetlands are more varied. They include bogs, swamps, fens, and seasonal wetlands. Even shallow ponds are considered wetlands. The pond where I conduct my amphibian egg survey is considered wetlands.

Shallow pond freshwater wetland

Freshwater wetlands perform the important ecosystem services of flood control and water filtration. Wetlands do this by impounding rainwater and slowly releasing it downstream or absorbing it into the soil. They filter water by allowing sediments and pollutants settle out. Low water velocity lacks the necessary energy to carry those particles.

Like their salty counterparts, freshwater wetlands host a diverse community. In my pond, I have found two species of salamanders; three species of eggs; one species each of fish, freshwater shrimp, and snake; a river otter; insects galore; and birds too numerous to count. I have also seen deer and elk, coyote, and raccoon tracks and scats near the pond. I have no doubt that these critters are drinking from the pond.

Wet meadow wetland, Mount Rainier National Park

Just this morning I found myself in wetlands once again. This time the focus was on remove protective plastic tubes from trees that were planted three years ago. This site is in Washington’s Ohop Valley. The wetlands are seasonal freshwater, and since this is the rainy season the lands were wet. I didn’t notice much wildlife since I was looking down, but I did happen to see a ton of spiders and elk tracks and scats. The trees are important because they will shade out the invasive reed canary grass (which is swallowing everything) and cool the water temperature in the stream for the salmon. Water tolerant species such as willows were the most common tree I saw, and there were some others I didn’t recognize without leaves in the higher and drier areas.

Next time you drive past a soggy area, don’t be repulsed. Thank a wetland for your seafood and drinking water. Give a hoot and help protect our wetlands! Salt march information comes from our friends at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, while Washington State Department of Ecology provided information on freshwater wetlands ecosystem services.

NOAA (salt marshes)

WA Ecology (water filtration)      

Species of the Month: Garter Snakes

March’s Species of the Month is actually a genus containing species. To celebrate Saint Patrick’s Day, Nature Minute will take a broad look at the many different garter snakes, which likely did not immigrate to America after being driven out of Ireland. We’ll also explore the myth of Patrick’s divine snake charming. Information and picture this month come from University of Michigan’s Animal Diversity Web and Gartersnake.info. Our history lesson on Saint Patrick comes from National Geographic.

Scientific name: Thamnophis species

Kingdom: Animalia (animals)

Class: Reptilia (reptiles)

Order: Squamata (lizards and snakes)

Range: Subarctic Alaska and Canada to Central America

Habitat: Varied. They can be found in forest, grassland, desert, and marshy areas. Commonly found near water.

Lifespan: 2-3 years on average, 6-10 years in captivity

Diet: Varied. May include amphibians, small rodents, small birds, small fish, insects, worms, snails, and slugs.

Predators: Fish, bullfrogs, snapping turtles, larger snakes, raccoons, great blue herons, hawks and falcons, foxes, skunks, weasels, squirrels, owls, house cats, coyotes, and crows.

Conservation Status: Dependent on species. Butler’s garter snake is listed as threatened in Canada and Wisconsin and listed as endangered in Indiana. Narrow-headed, northern Mexican, and giant garter snakes are threatened throughout their ranges and San Francisco garter snake is endangered. Eastern ribbon snake is threatened or endangered in the US and Canada. The two-striped garter snake is protected in California but not yet listed as threatened or endangered. The checkered garter snake is listed as threatened in Kansas.

One of three near-identical species of garter snake in the Northwest

One of three near-identical species of garter snake in the Northwest

Mountain garter snake (from California Herps)

Red spotted garter snake (from California Herps)

Other Information: There are 35 species of garter snakes and many have numerous subspecies. On the whole, garter snakes are very numerous, in spite of the above listings. Like all other snakes, garter snakes swallow their prey whole. They do not squeeze their prey (non-constricting). Most garter snakes are semi-aquatic and will likely be found in or near water. They are cold-blooded and require less food energy to regulate their body temperatures than mammals, birds, and other warm-blooded animals. However, that requires them to bask in the sun or on hot rocks to keep warm. This is why most snakes you encounter are just sitting idly. Here in Washington, there are three species of garter snake: The western terrestrial, northwestern, and common. All look very similar and come in a variety of colors. The only way to tell them apart is by counting scales.

The legend of Saint Patrick driving the snakes from Ireland stems from the absence of snakes on the Emerald Isle and ties in nicely with the Christian image of the serpent as an agent of evil. The myth of driving snakes from Ireland is likely a metaphor for Patrick’s Christianizing the people, driving paganism out of Ireland. Snakes were driven, or rather kept from Ireland by the last Ice Age. It was too cold for snakes to live there and by the time it became warm enough the sea level rose to the point that they could not slither there from England.

UM Animal Diversity Web: http://animaldiversity.org/

Gartersnakes.info: http://www.gartersnake.info/

National Geographic: http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2014/03/140315-saint-patricks-day-2014-snakes-ireland-nation/

California Herps: http://www.californiaherps.com/index.html

Amphibian Egg Mass Monitoring

So far this season, I've been out to the pond five times with my partner Roger. We have found mostly Northwestern salamander eggs, solid heavy balls of jelly. There were a few long-toed salamander eggs out first time out. The second time out it snowed the whole time. Standing in a pond, surrounded by falling snow, is a very odd sensation. Unlike rain, snow falling on a pond leaves no ripples. Visibility was not diminished at all, unlike yesterday's survey. We had to quit early because of rain. To someone who has never looked into a pond the way I do, rain might not matter. But those ripples by the hundred make a continuous succession of tiny waves that make it impossible to see through the surface. Yesterday also marked the first time we heard the Pacific tree frogs chorusing around us. It was only a few, but it almost felt like I was surrounded. The real chorus started at night. I had to take a walk, and went past a different pond. It was abuzz with tiny frogs, all calling for mates. I decided to shine my flashlight in there to see if I could see any of them. One of them heard my footsteps and thought I might be a threat. It stopped calling. Withing seconds, the pond was silent. That is a defense mechanism you my have encountered. If you've ever heard a frog and tried to find it you know they stop croaking when you get too close. In a sea of green, you can't find that little green frog without following your ears. So it is with predators. I read about this reaction in Merlin Tuttle's "The Secret Life of Bats", in a chapter about frog-eating bats. It was my first time experiencing an entire pond going silent in unison.

Urban Ecology

When most people think of nature, they think of pristine wilderness or a patch of woods somewhere in the country. But nature is all around us, even in cities and towns. Large chunks of the natural world often go unnoticed simply because they are so familiar as to become invisible. This week Nature Minute introduces you to the wonderful world of urban ecology. For ecology purposes, "urban" refers to any developed area, not just inner cities.

            Most of the wild mammals you meet in our neighborhoods are considered a nuisance. Raccoons are infamous scavengers that thrive on garbage can buffets, while mice and rats make our homes their own.  Even charismatic animals like deer (eating our gardens and crashing our cars) and bears (raiding or trash cans and generally being scary) are a nuisance when they leave “the wild” and come into our communities.

Black-tailed deer in my back yard

            Then there are the animals you don’t meet. Crows and pigeons are all over the place yet we overlook them because they are so common. Coyotes have adjusted to our cities and towns, yet remain under the radar, earning them the name “ghost dogs”. I see their scats all the time, but I’ve only seen three coyotes in ten years.

            Squirrels, chipmunks, and many species of songbird live in our yards, but they live so close to our homes many people don’t even consider them when thinking of examples of wildlife. They may be used to being around people but they certainly aren’t tame.

Eastern gray squirrel outside my apartment

            Insects and plants also fall into the realm of the wild, though very few people would ever call a beetle, worm, or shrub wildlife. However, these organisms are the base of the food chain and in the absence of garbage, sustain the larger critters that share our neighborhoods.

Baby barn swallows nesting in a hole in wall of my house

            How can you make our urban areas more hospitable to wildlife? The National Wildlife Federation’s Certified Wildlife Habitat program is one way to start making a difference. Turn your yard into habitat by providing food, water, shelter, places to raise young, and using sustainable practices. In many areas, habitat is severely fragmented, and by turning your yard into a habitat island you can help wildlife move from place to place. Learn more at www.nfw.org or by asking me!

Invasion USA

Almost halfway through the week, I was informed that this is National Invasive Species Awareness week. To celebrate, I pulled yellow archangel, a spreading ground cover on Saturday morning. Invasive species are exactly what they sound like- species that invade an area they are not native to. They can damage an ecosystem and also cause economic harm.

Yellow archangel, named for its yellow flower (not shown- it's January)

Several crop pests, like the stinkbug, cause millions of dollars of damage to produce annually. It hails from Asia and was first spotted in the US in Allentown, PA, near my home at the time. I was living in stinkbug Ground Zero, which explains why I had a house full of these strange bugs I’d never seen before.

Stinkbug (courtesy Rutgers University)

Since this is Nature Minute and not The Economist, we’ll focus on ecosystem damage caused by invasives. Invasive species can be anything. In my outdoor rambles I’ve come across invasive birds, amphibians, and plants. Each can negatively impact an ecosystem in its own way. Though they don’t belong, they are able to thrive in absence of a biological control.

The American bullfrog is an introduced species in the Pacific Northwest. We will probably never get rid of them here. They have a voracious appetite and will just about anything that fits in its mouth. That includes the tadpoles of native amphibians. Lucky for us, great blue herons enjoy a nice fat frog.

American bullfrog

Scotch broom, my mortal enemy, is one of many invasive plants I work to eradicate from my conservation property. It is the devil’s weed, coming in the form of a shrub (or tree if it goes to old growth) which crowds out other plants that native animals eat. The animals could browse on Scotch broom if they wanted to, but it contains toxins. On the plus side, as a legume, it fixes nitrogen in the soil. However, most plants here are adapted to lower nitrogen soil and can suffer from an excess of it. The most effective (and time-consuming) way to eliminate Scotch broom is by hand. But take don’t rejoice over that cleared area too much; seeds remain viable for decades so removal requires vigilance.

Forest of old growth Scotch broom

Other problematic invasive species include Asian carp in the Mississippi River, nutria (a rodent of unusual size) in Louisiana and the Northwest, Himalayan blackberries everywhere, feral pigs and kudzu (a Japanese vine) in the South, zebra mussels in freshwater nationwide, and pythons in the Everglades.

Rodent of unusual size- nutria (courtesy of The Last Word on Nothing)

Kudzu swallowing a house (courtesy of Smithsonian Museum of Natural History)

Check with your state Agriculture Department to see what invasive species are near you. Remove what you can and check guidelines for preventing their spread.

Rutgers University: https://njaes.rutgers.edu/stinkbug/identify.asp

The Last Word on Nothing: http://www.lastwordonnothing.com/2014/08/11/snark-week-evil-has-a-new-name-and-buck-teeth/

Smithsonian Natural History: http://nmnh.typepad.com/the_plant_press/2014/05/china-expedition-2013-a-tale-of-typhoon-tossed-kudzu-by-ashley-n-egan.html