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This earthcache is at a sitting spot along the boardwalk In Pokagon State Park.
INDIANA'S WETLANDS
Indiana's wetlands are "in-between" places that provide a transition between land and water. There are many types of wetlands, including marshes, swamps and bogs. They are important for flood control, controlling shoreline erosion, and water quality - but they are even more important for the wildlife they host. They are home to a large variety of plants and animals which are adapted to living in wetland conditions. Wetland habitats, in fact, contain the highest diversity of plants and animals in Indiana - including many endangered species. Pokagon's wetlands are no exception, as they play host to several endangered species, such as the rare ladyslipper orchid, and not-so-endangered, such as skunk cabbage. Three types of wetlands are found in Indiana:
Lacustrine wetlands, which are permanently flooded lakes, rivers, and smaller basins containing water deeper than six feet deep. These account for 16% of Indiana's wetlands.
Palustrine wetlands, which are shallow-water wetlands containing water-loving plants. These are usually less than six feet deep, and include ponds, marshes and bogs. This is the type of wetland that Pokagon plays host to. These are the largest percentage of Indiana's wetlands, and account for almost 80% of all wetlands.
Riverine wetlands are river and stream systems containing flowing water in a channel.
All these wetlands perform valuable functions to humans and wildlife. They absorb and store massive amounts of excess water and release it gradually. This has the effect of not only slowing floodwaters, but cleaning them and filtering them before release. It also stabilizes stream and river flows. Because of this, some heavily urbanized areas in northwest Indiana are actually working to create more wetlands in order to not only provide an area where people can observe wildlife, but the area will also provide major flood control assistance. The wetlands also filter pollutants and contaminants out of the water before releasing it back into the rest of the water system. Wetlands also provide an abundance of food, shelter, and habitat for fish and wildlife. The DNR estimates that more than 900 species of animals rely upon wetlands at some point in their lives. Muskrat and beavers, for example, are completely dependent upon wetlands. Many important sport fish are also dependent upon wetlands, because they spawn in the wetlands, which serve as a nursery ground.
THE HISTORY OF THE WETLANDS
The wetlands were formed by the retreat of the same Ice Age glaciers that formed Hell's Point, Lake Lonidaw, Lake James and the Fort Wayne Moraine. As the glaciers retreated, they left more water than could possibly be diverted into rivers, and when they also carved out lakes and ponds, some eventually started to fill in. These became the wetlands we know today. You can still see them filling in, in fact. Cat-tails, marsh-grasses, and other flora will continue to grow and gradually fill in the bottom of the shallower areas of the wetlands - which then become drier, encouraging more plant life to grow. This plant life in turn continues to grow, die and decay, creating more loam and soil, and so on. This soil is very rich in nutrients, and in the past, farmers that moved to Indiana began to drain the wetlands so they could convert them into tillable land. This has resulted in Wetlands becoming one of Indiana's endangered natural resources. Indiana used to be covered in about 5.6 million acres of wetland. Of those millions, only about 800,000 acres remain today.
I would like to give credit to the book "the Natural Heritage of Indiana" edited by Marion T. Jackson and published by Indiana University Press for a lot of the information found in this write up.
POKAGON'S WETLAND
Your journey for this Earthcache will begin at the trailhead coordinates provided. You will journey along Trail 6 to the boardwalk, and the cache coordinates will take you to a widened place on the boardwalk at an excellent location to view and hear the wildlife. From here you should be able to easily see and / or hear at least 3 different forms of wildlife that are supported by this wetland.
NOTE: there will be no need to leave the trail for any reason. Any logs mentioning the cachers leaving the trail OR the picking, taking, or otherwise removing any wildlife will be DELETED.
This area is a Dedicated Nature Preserve, and contains many rare and endangered species of wildlife. Please leave them where they are so that they can continue to grow.
To Log this cache:
1)Picture of yourself at the coordinates.
2)Name three different forms of life you saw (or heard) while in the marsh. This can be either plants or animals. Pictures of the wildlife is preferred but not necessary. Descriptions of the sounds are required if you are claiming an animal based on sound alone.
3)Tell me if there are any signs of water flow and describe. If it is winter and frozen, then add that as well.
Additional Hints
(No hints available.)