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)