Inland Wetland EarthCache

The boardwalk through the wetland area begins at :
N 40° 12.795 W 111° 37.875

What are wetlands?

There are many definitons of wetlands. Wetlands are areas where water is the primary factor in determining the types of plants, soils and wildlife that can be found there. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's definition of a wetland is: Wetlands are areas where water covers the soil, or is present either at or near the surface of the soil all year or for varying periods of time during the year, including during the growing season. Wetlands have been defined as land, including submerged land, (excluding tidal wetlands), which consists of any of the soil types designated as poorly drained, very poorly drained, alluvial and flood plain by the Natural Resource Conservation Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
There are two main categories of wetlands: salt water, or coastal wetlands, and freshwater, or inland wetlands.
This cache requires you to visit an inland wetlands.

Types of wetlands The US Fish and Wildlife Dept. lists twenty types of wetlands, but more common types include swamps, marshes, bogs, and vernal pools.
Swamp - dominated by trees or shrubs usually with relatively mineral rich soils, flooded for much of the year.
Marsh - often continuously inundated with water and dominated by grasslike species and usually with relatively mineral rich organic soils.
Bog - a peat-accumulating wetland with little or no influence by the surrounding or underlying mineral soil. Typically acidic pH, with low nutrient availability, and dominated by sphagnum mosses, shrubby heath species and conifer trees.
Fen - a peat-accumulating wetland with greater influence by the adjacent mineral soil from drainage or seepage. Typically less acidic pH, with greater nutrient availability than bogs, and often dominated by sedges.
Wet Meadow - grassland with often waterlogged soils but without standing water.
Vernal Pools - form in topographic depressions found in forested swamps. These areas provide extremely important breeding habitat for amphibians such as mole salamanders and the wood frog.
Palustrine Forested Wetlands - commonly called wooded swamps, usually dominated by species such as red maple, white cedar, hemlock, spruce or fir.
Palustrine Scrub-Shrub Wetlands - in the Northeast are dominated by woody species in the sapling and shrub stages.
Palustrine Emergent Wetlands - marshes and wet meadows are the most prevalent palustrine emergent wetlands in New England. These are wetlands dominated by herbaceous or non-woody vegetation, and usually have either surface water or saturated soils present year round.
Lacustrine - inland systems that include permanently flooded lakes and reservoirs, or tidal lakes with low salinity. Vegetation, when present, is usually nonpersistent emergent plants, or submersed or floating plants.
Riverine - systems consist of streams and rivers. Riverine habitat refers to wetlands and deepwater areas with flowing water within a channel. Vegetation, when present, is same as in the Lacustrine system.
Estuarine - tidal wetlands in low-wave-energy environments where the salinity of the water is greater than 0.5 part per thousand and is variable due to evaporation and mixing of seawater and fresh water.

Functions of inland wetlands
Provide hydrological stability
Help regulate water levels in watersheds (flooding)
Reduce damage from floods and storms
Provide erosion control
Improve the quality of ground water; act as a filter for nitrogen, phosphorus, and many pollutants
Produce nutrients to support the food chain, often biodiverse
Support unusually high plant productivity
Provide vital habitats for fish, amphibians, birds, plants and wildlife
Serve as outdoor classrooms; educational areas for natural and scientific study and research
Economic benefits such as tourism, recreation, agriculture, and protection from floodplains
Provide recreational areas for fishing and boating
Offer beautiful scenery and observation of wildlife

Identification
Some wetlands are obvious, such as swamps. Others are less obvious, such as areas that appear wet only during certain times of the year. Wetlands are identified through an examination and observation of the hydrology, soil type, and vegetation of the land. Gaging stations or groundwater wells may collect data, and field indicators are observed. The type of soil and plants present help in the identification and establishing of boundaries.

Soils and Plants of Wetlands
The soils of wetlands are known as hydric soils. Hydric soils lack free oxygen in their upper part due to be being saturated long enough during the growing season. The chemical and physical reactions of wetland soils are different from upland soils due to the soil saturation and reducing conditions. Plants in wetlands have adapted to survive in these anaerobic conditions, and are known as hydrophytes. The Wetland Indicator Status categorizes vegetation and helps to identify wetlands:
Obligate - Found in wetlands 99% of the time
Facultative Wet - Found in wetlands 67 - 99% of the time
Facultative - Found in wetlands 34 - 66% of the time
Facultative Upland - Found in wetlands 1 - 33% of the time
Upland - Found in wetlands less than 1% of the time

Wildlife
Wetlands are often teeming with wildlife, providing nesting, breeding, migratory and wintering habitats. The animals and plants of wetlands are highly adapted to their environment. Any change in the environment can cause a significant change in the biodiversity and productivity of the wetland.

To log this cache, you must visit the site, and answer the questions:

As you walk around the boardwalk you will come across signs/plaques, they will give you the answers to the following:

• Why was this wetland made? ( in your own words )
• What does it say that some often overlooked, yet very important functions of wetlands are?
• Is the soil being moist good or bad? and why?
• What will this wet meadow transition into and how?
• Which Geologic feature do you walk by that lies within the Wasatch Fault Zone and roughly parallels it?
• (optional) Post a photo of yourself with your GPS at the site.