Florala Wetlands Park EarthCache
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Florala
Wetlands Park
During this cache you will learn several facts about this
wetlands park. We have come up to this place for several years to
picnic,swim, walk and to look for alligators. This is our 50th
Geocache and we wanted to make it special and since we like it up
here we want you to come see it. So come on in take a stroll and
earn a smiley.
The park is open sunrise to sunset
The type
of wetlands here is a swamp
The following is information on different types of wetlands
Marshes
---
Marshes are areas with shallow water that are mostly grasslands.
Marshes can be freshwater or saltwater and the amount of water in a
marsh can change with the seasons and in the case of salt water
marshes, can also change with the tide. Plants Freshwater marshes
have soft stemmed and herbaceous plants, like grasses, shrubs and
wildflowers. Plants found in saltwater marshes include reeds,
grasses and shrubs like rushes, sedges, and saltbush. Animals
Marshes are home to a variety of animals, including beavers,
alligators, newts, shrimp and turtles. Soil Marshes have soil with
low mineral content. Location Freshwater marshes often occur along
the edges of lakes and rivers. Saltwater marshes occur along
coastlines, inlets and estuaries where they are affected by tides,
and often have a source of fresh water from surrounding land,
rivers or ground water.
Swamp
---
Swamps are slow moving streams, rivers or isolated low areas with
more open and deeper water than marshes. Plants Swamps have trees
(for example, cypress tress in freshwater and mangrove trees in
salty water) and woody shrubs rather than grasses and herbs. In
African swamps, papyrus is the main plant. Location Swamps are
found in low-lying areas near rivers or coastal areas. Examples
include the Everglades in Florida. Soil Swamp soil is
poorly-drained and water logged. Animal Swamp wildlife includes
alligators, snakes, a variety of insects, bobcat, beaver, large
diversity of birds and river otter.
Bogs and
Ferns ---
A bog is a fresh water wetland, usually formed in an old glacial
lake with a spongy peat base. Most of the bog’s water comes
from rain. A fen is a fresh water peat wetland covered mostly by
grasses sedges, reeds, and wildflowers of high pH (alkaline) ground
water. Soil Bogs have soil that is low in nutrients. Plants
Evergreen trees and shrubs, and a floor covered by a thick carpet
of sphagnum moss. Some species of carnivorous plants are also found
in bogs. Animals There are only a few animals that are found in
bogs. These include, red deer, Dragonflies and birds such as grouse
and plover.
Did you
know? More than one-third of the federally listed species on
the Endangered Species Act rely directly, or indirectly, on
wetlands for their survival. .
Did you
know?Other names for wetlands include: muskeg, moor, fen,
carr, dambo, mangal, vlei, bayou, slough, pocosin, prairie pothole
and vernal pools. Each type of wetland has characteristics specific
to their part of the world.
During your visit read the signs and learn several facts including
due to low oxygen and a flooded environment that hydrophytic plants
are a good sign that you are in a wetland. There are over 5,000
plant species that are supported by a wetland. At these wetlands
you will be walking around on a boardwalk under some very tall
trees giving you plenty of shade-as you read in the information
above you already know that there are trees in a swamp but not in a
marsh. Here there are trees in abundance as in many swamps.
If you would like to see an example of a marsh wetland visit N 30°
59.336 W 086° 20.091, which is only 4,158 feet away of course that
is how the crow flies. This swamp is on the west side of beautiful
Lake Jackson and the marsh example is on the southwest side.
? Questions
?
1. What is one feature here that proves that this is a swamp?
2. During your visit there was a sign that told you what the
wetlands are also known as- What was it? And why do you think they
got that name?
Find and read the sign telling visitors about the two types of
trees that are prevalent along the waters edge.
3. Which tree is on your left and which tree is on your right at
the sign?
4. (Optional) Take a picture at N 30° 59.945 W 086° 19.745 that
includes the wetlands and the lake and your gps'r.and post it in
your online log
5. At the center of the wetlands there is a bigger pavilion. Is
there a side of the pavilion that the water is deeper? If so, which
side and how deep is the water?
Email the answers to the link in our profile
Additional Hints
(No hints available.)