Wetland's Discovery Part 2: The Earthcache EarthCache
Hidden : 4/15/2009
Difficulty:
2.5 out of 5
Terrain:
3 out of 5

Size: Size: other (other)

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Geocache Description:

**THIS IS TENORPLAYER'S 7TH CACHE**

WHAT IS A WETLAND?



   Swamps (Wet year-round), marshes (occasionally dry), bogs, fens, sloughs, and bottomlands - we have many names for wetlands, but what makes a wetland a wetland? A single, comprehensive, universally accepted definition does not exist which concisely and accurately defines all wetlands. Because wetlands have diverse mixes of vegetation, from tidal marshes on the Atlantic and Pacific Coasts to bottomland hardwood forests along the Patoka River, varying degrees of water, from cypress swamps in Posey County to wet prairie in Lake County, and exist in many parts of the landscape, such as isolated pothole wetlands in Steuben County to backwater wetlands along the Wabash River, one definition could not possibly fit all wetlands.

Regardless, all wetlands do have some common traits, which help answer the question - what is a wetland. In general, wetlands are areas where water covers the soil, or is present either at or near the surface of the soil for part or all of the year, including the growing season for plants. Wetlands are in-between places, which lie between deep water in lakes and streams and dry land. Wetlands support an array of plants and animals which have adapted to life in saturated or flooded conditions. Wetlands have soils which differ from soils in dry areas, exhibiting characteristics that show the soil developed in saturated conditions. Wetlands can be identified by these basic indicators: vegetation, hydrology and soils. All three characteristics must be present during some portion of the growing season for an area to be a jurisdictional wetland.

WHY THEY ARE IMPORTANT?



When you think of wetlands, what do you think of? Do you see mud and bugs? Ducks and cattails? Lily pads and frogs? Do you think of areas with limitless potential, or areas that should be converted into "useful ground"? We all think of different things when we think about wetlands and our ideas about wetlands may be based on some very out-dated ideas.

Nationally, since the late 1600s we have lost roughly 50% of the wetlands in the lower 48 states. Indiana has lost a large number of its wetlands. In the 1800s and 1900s we converted millions of acres of wetlands into farms, cities, and roads, and we converted wetlands to protect our health. Before we began converting wetlands, there were over 5.6 million acres of wetlands in the state, wetlands such as bogs, fens, wet praires, dune and swales, cypress swamps, marshes, and swamps. In the early 1700s, wetlands covered 25% of the total area of Indiana. That number has been greatly reduced. By the late 1980s over 4.7 million acres of wetlands had been lost - wetlands now cover less than 4% of Indiana.

GARRETT'S GEOLOGICAL HISTORY



   Before modern times, when some forest and land were torn down for homes, Garrett was just one big swamp. Hundreds of acres of land and forest were torn down, that, now, you can’t even tell that there was once a great big swamp. The only evidence of swamp there is in the morning, there is, often, clouds of fog all over town. Jordan’s Wetlands is a Wetlands park preserved by the Garrett Parks Department for visitors to observe. This wetlands park is very different from a regular swamp. This wetlands park can be very dry during the summer, that some people don't classify it as a wetlands, but when it rains, it will flood within seconds due to the amount of moisture built under the ground. When it rains all the water built uner the ground rises up, causing the park to flood. That makes this wetlands park very different from others.


PLANTS OF THE WETLANDS


   There are a variety of plants around Wetlands. Plant life found in wetlands includes mangrove, water lilies, cattails, sedges, tamarack, black spruce, cypress, gum, and many others. These are found all around wetlands in a lot of different places near there.

HOW TO LOG IT

To log this Earthcache, you must submit a picture of you at the "Jordan's Wetlands" sign with your GPSr ( hands shots are ok if I can see your face, GPSr, and the sign in the picture) and post it in your log. You also need to send the owner the answers to the following questions:

   a.)Walk into the wetlands and find two different plants. Describe the plant, and tell me how it feels (You don't need to give me the name of the plant.)(In the winter, or cold times, there might not be any plants, if so, just e-mail me that)

   b.)If you see any animals, e-mail me what animal you saw.

   c.)How wide the the bridge to the wetlands?

   d.)Is this wetland more of a swamp, or more of a marsh?

Additional Hints (No hints available.)



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