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Pennsylvania Wetlands

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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

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Three general types in Pa

• Forested• Scrub – shrub wetlands• Emergent Wetlands

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Forested wetlands

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Scrub-shrub wetlands

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Emergent wetlands

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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

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Black gum tree

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River Birch

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Green Ash

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

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Trees

• less than 20 feet tall•Alders•willows

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Spicebushes

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High-bush blueberries

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Winterberries

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Swamp honeysuckle

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Chokecherry

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

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Emergent plants

• Rushes• Sedges• Grasses

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Wetlands at work

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

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

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Threatened• Those species

that may become endangered

• Bald Eagle

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Endangered

•Those species that soon become extinct•Bog Turtle

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In the US

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

35% of the threatened and endangered species

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Pennsylvania•Many of the more than 500

plant species• Of concern i.e. threatened and

endangered• Live in or near the wetlands

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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

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Food factories• High primary

productivity rates• Plants – major

organisms• Base of the

wetland food web

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

nutrients bacteria protists

FungiInvertebrates

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Food Chain• Higher order

organisms• Eat the

producers and the consumers

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Spawning grounds and Nurseries

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

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Flood plains of larger rivers

• Freshwater fishes

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Bullhead

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Northern pike

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Muskellunge

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Walleyes

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Bluegills

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Coastal wetlands• Shell fish and commercial game fish

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Salmon

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Flounder

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Striped bass

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Bluefish

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Menhaden

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

make

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Oxygen

•Used for respiration by heterotrophs

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Plants

•Move nutrients •Phosphorous•Nitrogen

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Buffer zones

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

the environment

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Benefits

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

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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

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

structures

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

wildlife

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Air pollution• Plants absorb and

store Carbon• Reduces

Greenhouse gases• Lessens global

warming

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

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

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Best practice approach•Preservation of open space

in urban areas•Philly – by 2020 will lose

173 000 acres of open space

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

flooding

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Benefits• Vegetation improves air and water

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

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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

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Benefits•Buffer runoff from

pavement• Empty lots•Minimize flooding

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Filter• Iron, lead, copper in urban

runoff•Aid in water treatment of

large volume of sewage and storm runoff