THE
WETLAND
Along
with endangered and threatened species, birds of prey, and areas of
unique natural beauty, wetlands came under the protection of the federal
government during the 1 980's. The reasons for this are simple; wetlands
are unique and special areas and their destruction means the destruction
of a number of important natural resources. These resources include
rare plants and animals, breeding grounds for fish, amphibians and
waterfowl, and tracts of land integral to the control of floods and
the natural purification of water in the water cycle.
To
be able to control wetland areas, the federal government needed to
both create a legal definition for wetlands and to place that control
under a particular division of government. The controlling body is
the Army Corps of Engineers, under whose jurisdiction is both the delineation
and management of areas defined as wetland. Other modifications which
happen near or in water such as dredging, filling, flood control and
draining already fall under the jurisdiction of the Army Corps. The
delineation of jurisdictional wetlands relies on three criteria. These
criteria have changed in recent years, and may do so in the near future,
so the following description is general. The first criterion is the
presence of a particular ground water regime, or wetland hydrology.
For an area to be declared a wetland, it must be covered or saturated
with water for a significant time during the growing season. Secondly,
a hydric soil criterion must be met. Because of prolonged waterlogging,
soils in wetlands are deprived of oxygen. As a result of this, wetland
soils may be bluish-grey (gleyed), they may be mottled or have a patchy
coloration, or may even be covered with a layer of unrotted organic
material (histic epipedon). Lastly, a wetland area must fit the hydrophytic
vegetation criterion. This criterion demands that a significant portion
of the vegetation be made up of plants which are likely to be found
growing in a wetland environment. A publication exists which places
the plants which grow in North America into categories of their likelihood
of being found in a wetland. If all of these criteria are met in an
area, it is a jurisdictional wetland, and permits from the Army Corps
must be obtained before it is altered in a fashion which would affect
its wetland character.
Generally,
sites under an acre in size are exempt from permitting. The existence of
larger wetland sites however, may either stop a particular construction
project or require specialized techniques of construction to reduce damage
to the natural ecosystem. The marshy area before you is a jurisdictional
wetland. It is inundated or saturated virtually throughout the growing
season, the soil is both mottled and gleyed, and wetland vegetation abounds.
See the brass plaques on the railing for drawings to help you identify
wetland species observable from this deck.
-------Forrest
J. Smith
-------Professor
of Biology
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