Swamps
A swamp is a wetland featuring temporary or permanent inundation
of large areas of land by shallow bodies of water. A swamp
generally has a substantial number of hammocks, or dry-land
protrusions, covered by aquatic vegetation, or vegetation that
tolerates periodical inundation. [1] the two main types of swamp
are "true" or forest swamps and "transitional" or shrub swamps. The
water of a swamp may be either fresh water or salt water. A swamp
is also generally defined as having no substantial peat deposits,
[2] as opposed to a bog which accumulates peat.
In North America, swamps are usually regarded as including a
large amount of woody vegetation, but elsewhere this may not
necessarily apply, such as in African swamps dominated by papyrus.
By contrast, a marsh in North America is a wetland without woody
vegetation, or elsewhere, a wetland without woody vegetation which
is shallower and has less open water surface than a swamp. A mire
(or quagmire) is a low-lying wetland of deep, soft soil or mud that
sinks underfoot with large algae covering the water's surface.
They are warm, wet areas that are teeming with both animal and
plant life; the water-logged land in swamps is often heavily
forested, with trees like cypress and tupelo. Some animals live in
the low-oxygen water, some animals live above the water (like
birds, insects, frogs, etc.), and other animals live in the spongy
areas of land surrounding the swamp (like raccoons, deer,
earthworms, etc.). Common wild life, include but not limited to the
following creatures. Alligators, Black Bear, Bobcats, Beavers,
Egrets, Cougars, Bald Eagles, Copepods, Cranes, Crayfish , various
Flies & Dragonflies, Earthworms, Fish of all kinds depending on
the water type, Nutria Rats, Raccoons, Red Tail Hawks, Red Wolves,
Shrimp, Snails, Swamp Monsters, Pond Skaters, Snakes, Snapping
Turtles, Frogs, Spiders, Deer, Owls, Woodpeckers and various
Zooplankton.
Swamps are characterised by very slow-moving waters. They are
usually associated with adjacent rivers or lakes. In some cases,
rivers become swamps for a distance. Swamps are features of areas
with very high Topographic relief, although they may be covered by
acid. Swamps are characterised by rich biodiversity and specialized
organisms such as frogs. For instance, southeastern U.S. swamps,
such as those mentioned above, feature trees such as the Taxodium
distichum and Water Tupelo, which are adapted to growing in
standing water, and Animal such as the American Alligator. A common
Species name in biological Binomial nomenclature is the Latin
palustris, meaning "of the swamp". Examples of this are Quercus
palustris (Pin oak) and Thelypteris palustris (marsh Fern).
Swamps were historically often drained to provide additional
land for Agriculture, and to reduce the threat of diseases born by
swamp insects and similar animals. Swamps were generally seen as
useless and even dangerous. This practice of swamp draining is
nowadays seen as a destruction of a very valuable ecological
habitat type of which large tracts have already disappeared in many
countries.
The most famous swamps in the United States are the Everglades,
Okefenokee Swamp and the Great Dismal Swamp. The Okefenokee is
located in extreme southeastern Georgia and extends slightly into
northeastern Florida. The Great Dismal Swamp lies in extreme
southeastern Virginia and extreme northeastern North Carolina. Both
are National Wildlife Refuge. Another swamp area, Reelfoot Lake of
extreme western Tennessee and Kentucky, was created by the New
Madrid fault zone of 1812. Caddo Lake, the Great Dismal and
Reelfoot are swamps that are centered at large lakes. Swamps are
often called Bayou in the Southeastern United States, especially in
the Gulf of Mexico region.
Definitions…
Wetlands
A wetland is an area of land whose Soil is Aquifer with Moisture
either permanently or seasonally. Such areas may also be covered
partially or completely by shallow pools of water. Wetlands include
Swamp, Marsh, and Bog, among others. The water found in wetlands
can be Saltwater, Freshwater, or Brackish.
Wetlands are considered the most Biologically diverse of all
Ecosystems. Plant life found in wetlands includes Mangrove, Water
lilies, Cattails, Sedges, Tamarack, Black spruce, Cypress, Gum
tree, and many others. Animal life includes many different
Amphibians, Reptiles, Birds, and Furbearers.In many locations, such
as the United Kingdom, Iraq, South Africa and the United States,
wetlands are the subject of Conservation movement efforts and
Biodiversity Action Plan.
Hammocks
Hammocks are dense stands of Hardwood trees that grow on natural
rises of only a few inches higher than surrounding marshland that
is otherwise too wet to support them. Hammocks are distinctive in
that they are formed gradually over thousands of years rising in a
wet area through the deposits of their own Decompose Organic
material As a result they typically have a large and diverse
density of various forms of plant and animal life. They appear as
teardrop-shaped islands shaped by the flow of water in the middle
of the slough. Many tropical species such as Mahogany (Swietenia
mahogoni), Gumbo limbo (Bursera simaruba), and Cocoplum
(Chrysobalanus icaco) grow alongside the more familiar temperate
species of Live oak (Quercus virginiana), Red maple (Acer rubum),
and Hackberry (Celtis laevigata).
Because of their slight elevation, hammocks rarely flood. Acids
from decaying plants dissolve the limestone around each tree
island, creating a natural moat that protects the hammock plants
from fire. Shaded from the sun by the tall trees, Fern and Airplant
thrive in the moisture-laden air inside the hammock.
Hammocks are one of the habitats found in the Florida
Everglades.
Aquatic Plants
Aquatic plants — also called hydrophytic plants or
hydrophytes — are plants that have adapted to living in or on
aquatic environments. Because living on or under Water surface
requires numerous special adaptations, aquatic plants can only grow
in water or permanently saturated Soil. Aquatic Vascular plant can
be Fern or Angiosperms (from a variety of families, including among
the Monocot and Dicot). Seaweed not vascular plants but
multicellular Ocean Algae and therefore not typically included in
the Category:Aquatic plants As opposed to plants types such as
mesophytes and xerophytes, hydrophytes do not have a problem in
retaining water due to the abundance of water in its
environment.p>
This means the plant has less need to regulate Transpiration
(indeed, the regulation of transpiration would require more energy
than the possible benefits incurred).
Characteristics of hydrophytes:
1. A thin Plant cuticle. Cuticles primarily prevent water loss,
thus most hydrophytes have no need for cuticles.
2. Stomata that are open most of time because water is abundant
and therefore there is no need for it to be retained in the plant.
This means that guard cells on the stomata are generally
inactive.
3. An increased number of stomata, that can be on either side of
leaves.
4. A less rigid structure: water pressure supports them.
5. Flat Leaf on surface plants for floatation.
6. Air sacs for floatation.
7. Smaller Root: water can Diffusion directly into leaves.
8. Feathery roots: no need to support the plant.
9. Specialized roots able to take in oxygen.
For example, some species of Buttercup (genus Ranunculus float
slightly submerged in water; only the flowers extend above the
water. Their leaves and roots are long and thin and almost
hair-like; this helps spread the Mass of the plant over a wide
area, making it more Buoyancy Long roots and thin leaves also
provide a greater surface area for uptake of Mineral Soluble and
oxygen.
Wide flat leaves in water lilies (family Nymphaeaceae) help
distribute weight over a large area, thus helping them float near
surface.
Many Aquarists keep aquatic plants in their tanks to control
Phytoplankton and Moss by removing Metabolites.
Many species of aquatic plant are Invasive species in different
parts of the world. Aquatic plants make particularly good Weed
because they Vegetative reproduction from fragments.
Shurb Swamps
Shrub swamps, also called scrub swamps or buttonbush swamps, are
a type of Freshwater Wetland Ecosystem occurring in areas too wet
to become hardwood Swamp (“true” or forested swamps),
but too dry or too shallow to become Marsh. They are often
considered transitional mid-successional between Wet meadow or Fen
and conifer or hardwood swamps.
By some classifications, shrub swamps must have at least 50%
shrub cover and less than 20% tree cover. Other definitions specify
large shrubs with small trees less than 35 feet in height. Creation
of shrub swamps often follows a catastrophic event in a forested
swamp (flood, cutting, fire, or windstorm). Another route of
development is via drained meadows and fens which progress to shrub
swamps as a transitional state to forested swamps.
Last but not even the
least is our famous…
Honey Island Swamp
monster
The Honey Island Swamp monster is a Humanoid Cryptid reported
from Honey Island Swamp, Louisiana since 1963. The creature is
described as bipedal, seven feet (2.2 metres) tall, with gray hair
and yellow eyes. The creature is accompanied by a disgusting smell.
Footprints supposedly left by the creature have four toes.
The first claimed sighting was in 1963 by Harlan Ford, a retired
Air traffic controler who had taken up wildlife photography. After
his death in 1980, a reel of Super 8 mm film showing the creature
was allegedly found among his belongings.
In 1974 the monster gained national fame after Ford and his
friend Billy Mills claimed to have found unusual footprints in the
area, as well as the body of a Wild boar whose throat had been
gashed. Ford continued to hunt for the creature for the next six
years.
The idea of a large, ape-like creature in the area is not
without its critics, notably the local ecologist Paul Wagner, who
with his wife Sue run nature tours in the area. Neither they nor
their Cajun guide, Robbie Charbonnet, have seen any evidence for
it.
A local legend tells of a train crash in the area in the early
twentieth century. A travelling circus was on the train, and from
it a group of Chimpanzee escaped, and interbred with the local
Alligator population.
The Honey Island Swamp Monster was featured in The Secret
Saturdays episode "Ghost in the Machine" with it's vocal effects
done by Dee Bradley Baker. It also appeared in an episode of Lost
Tapes, a fictional show on animal planet.
For more information go to this link... The UCM
Museum
NOW TO COLLECT THAT
SMILEY...
The GZ on this cache is located inside
Fairview
Riverside State Park…
Fairview Riverside State Park is a 99 acre park
in South East Louisiana near the town of Madisonville. Eighty
percent of this park is a swamp. This swamp like most swamps is
home to all kinds of wild life and plant life. This swamp is unique
to the because of its accessibility. Like all swamps, different
times of the year you see different types of flora, each very
unique and beautiful. Fairview Riverside is only 5 foot above flood
stage at the highest point. This is a key factor in the constant
replenishing of the water pools, silt and other nutrients that
flooding brings to a swamp. The majority of the swamp is at or just
a few inches above the rivers high tide level. During flood stage
all but about five acres of the park are covered with the rivers
water. On the other hand there are a few days when the wind has
been from the north for a few days, and the tide reaches its lowest
point for the month. The River level drops from 5 to 7 feet and
leaves the park and swamp high and dry. During this time, if you
are fortunate to be there, another beautiful side of mother natures
swamp emerges from the river. The lucky few who get to see and
hopefully photograph this event can earn an extra smiley by posting
these special pictures for all to see. The cords take you to the
day use parking area...
It is my hope that over the next couple of years there will be
many pictures posted for all to see the beauty and awe of mother
natures majestic swamps.
Please Park in the Day Use Area while
searching for this cache!
Now to Earn your Smiley on this cache you must, take a walk thru
the Swamp on the board walk then do the following. and E-mail me
the answers to the question. Note the board walk is in the back of
the park in the campground area. Please dont feed or mess with the
campers they will bite when angry and may attack you. :)
1. Bring a stick, you will need it, one about 6 foot long should
do it. Of course you may get your arm wet. Near the center bench at
the far west side of the board walk you can have a seat. From this
vantage point look down into the water at this location and answer
these questions.
Question A. Before you begin your measurements answer this
question. What do you GUESS the depth of the swamp is in this
area?
Question B. First measurement, what is the depth of just the
water from the surface to the top of the debris bed?
Question C. Second measurement, what is the depth of this area
from water surface to the bottom of the debris bed?
Note: the water in this area is normally quite clear so these
measurements should be easy. You will feel the grounds firmness if
you probe gently thru the debris bed. Be sure and email me these
answers.
2. Take a pictrue of yourself / your group from somewhere along
the board walk and post it at the time of your log. You can take an
extra credit if you get a picture of the swamp monster too!
3. Take ONE extra pictures of the swamp flora posting it at the
time of your log. It is my hope that over the next couple of years
there will be many pictures posted for all to see the beauty and
awe of mother natures majestic swamps, over all its seasons
Attention Teachers: Free Admission for
Everyone When on an Official School Field
Trips!
REMEMBER, 3 questions answered and emailed to
me 2 pictures posted, Or you risk the find being deleted