A new golf course was built in Florida. The golf course was built over some existing marshes, which in Florida requires the builder of the course to create more marshlands somewhere else. These newly created marshlands, called mitigation areas (mitigating, or making up for the loss of wetlands), are required to be monitored twice a year to see that they are created correctly and that the newly created wetland is growing and progressing toward offering the same ecological function as the wetlands that were destroyed. This monitoring is conducted by qualified wetland biologists.
At nine of the ten marshland mitigation areas of this golf course, the wetland biologist finds good growth and progression toward the goal of reaching the same ecological function. Marsh grasses are growing and there is good coverage of plants, and animals like crabs and herons can be seen. However, in the 10th area, there is only one plant visible, no animals, and it is not clear why. The wetland biologist must determine what the problem is and solve it to get the marshland mitigation area to grow and function like the others.
Area 1-9
Area 10
Area 10
Wetland biology is a growing area within the fields of biology and the biological sciences. Biology is the study of all life – plant and animal – and how they react with their environment. Wetland biology is about the relationship between a wetland environment and the plant and animal life that lives there. They are often called upon to determine how healthy and ecologically functional certain wetlands are. They can be called upon to test water and soil, conduct surveys of animal and plant life, or conduct formal monitoring over time. Formal monitoring involves establishing permanent, fixed locations in which to assess the percent coverage of certain plants. Formal monitoring involves taking photos, generating charts and graphs and comparing the growth or health of the area over time. Informal monitoring might involve a simple check to see if the area is alive and determining if the area is relatively healthy, given age and circumstances surrounding the area.
Education or skills required: The minimum education required to become a wetland specialist is to complete a bachelor's degree in science majoring in ecology or a similar discipline. To progress a career as a wetland specialist a masters or Ph. D. is required.
Please answer this question on your Wetlands Activity Sheet.
Which two of the following items will the wetland biologist most likely check, in order to solve the mystery?
The area could have been impacted by someone illegally dumping chemicals, trash or other things into the water. Dumping is a problem in Florida, with many natural wetlands impacted and even killed by this illegal activity. The images below are typical when dumping has occurred in or near a wetland.
Usually with dumping, you see tire tracks leading to the wetland and also barrels, boxes or bags thrown into the water or around the area. The wetland biologist did not note any of these signs in Mitigation Area 10.
The plant on the right is seen in mitigation area 10
Identify the plant seen in mitigation area 10 by using the images below
Spartina alterniflora – smooth cordgrass
Found in marshes along both east and west US coasts. Very common plant.
Agalinis maritima – Saltmarsh False Foxglove
Less common that cordgrass, but still fairly common saltmarsh species, usually living in areas that are not submerged deeply.
Borrichia frutescens – Sea Ox-eye Daisy
Common marsh plant found around the edges of marshes where they trend toward sand and dunes.
Sagittaria latifolia – Arrowhead
Common freshwater pond plant. Has white flowers in the spring.
Pontederia cordata – Pickerelweed
Common freshwater pond plant, related to the hyacinth that clogs waterways all over Florida. However, this plant doesn’t take over everything and has good ecological value. Has purple flower in spring.
Nuphar lutea – Spatterdock or yellow pond lily
Grows in up to four feet of fresh water, produces a round, yellow flower in spring. Leaves can float on the surface of the water like lotus leaves, or stick out of the water as shown here.
Run off occurs when fertilizer from crops, golf courses or lawns is carried into ponds, lakes and streams when rain water ‘runs off’ the grass or field. Run off can cause waterway to become ‘eutrophic’ or die from excess nutrients. This process usually involves ‘green water’ or water that has a lot of algae and excess plant growth. The images below are all examples of water impacted by run off.
There could be a biological reason for the mitigation area to die off. These include things like a significant overgrowth of snails that damage the plants, opening them up to infection by a fungus. Or a disease of cordgrass that could kill off most of the plants seen in the mitigation area. These types of biological impacts can often be identified by the appearance of the area.
Overgrowth of snails that lead to fungus
Saltmarsh die off due to disease
Healthy saltmarsh
After exploring the information above and recording data you think is important on your worksheet, please consider what the next steps will be to solve the problem. Knowing what the problem is constitutes the first step. What second and third steps do you think the wetland biologist should take to bring this mitigation area back to life?
Wetland
Land consisting of marshes or swamps; saturated land.
Tidal Marsh
Marsh found along rivers, coasts and estuaries which floods and drains by the tidal movement of the adjacent estuary, sea or ocean.
Mitigation
The action of reducing the severity, seriousness, or painfulness of something. In this case, the mitigation areas being monitored exist to reduce the ecological severity of building a golf course in an area with salt water marshes by creating new marshes.
Fresh Water
Any naturally occurring liquid/solid water containing low concentrations of dissolved salts.
Tamper
Interfere with something causing damage or unauthorized changes.
Topography
The arrangement of the natural and artificial physical features of an area.