South Dakota Wetlands EarthCache EarthCache
South Dakota Wetlands EarthCache
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This EarthCache is located at the Outdoor Campus in Sertoma Park.
You must enter the main visitors center to answers some of the
questions.
Entry is free.
Hours of operation are:
Monday - Friday: 8am to 5pm
Saturday: 10am to 4pm
Sunday: 1pm to 4pm
Questions
To complete this EarthCache you must answer the questions
below and then by clicking on my profile name, messaging me the
answers. Any logs without messaging me ALL of the answers
will be deleted. Please do not post any answers in your log.
Stage 1:
Enter the Outdoor Campus visitors centre and find the South Dakota
outdoor exhibit(It's on the left as you walk in the front door).
You will need to locate the exhibit on Wetlands and answer the
following questions:
1) People used to think wetlands were ___(1a)__ swamps and ought to
be __(1b)__ and "__(1c)__".
2) Of the six animals listed that live in wetlands, name two of
them listed in the Wetlands exhibit?
3) What is one thing that Wetlands do to pollutants?
Stage 2:
Explore the Outdoor Campus (Sertoma Park) and locate an area that
contains a "Wetland". Do not get confused with an Oxbow. An Oxbow
is located South East of the visitors centers rear doors. Hint:
Wetlands are located further to the west..
4) Describe the Wetlands appearance?
5) Does the Wetland appear to be "acting like a sponge"?
6) What are the coordinates of this wetland?
7) Upload a photo of yourself or the wetland (Optional)
Stage 3
Information on this page:
8) How many temporary wetlands can be found Eastern South? (Found
under Natural Wetlands)
9) What is the least common type of wetland?
South Dakota Wetlands
Most of eastern South Dakota lies in the glaciated prairie pothole
region of North America, and the landscape is dotted by wetlands
sometimes numbering over 100 per square mile. An early settler
recalled that as late as 1903:
....low knolls are separated by saucer-like depressions, in which
impounded water often stands the year around....in the main
rainwater which falls upon the uplands has to escape by seepage or
evaporation. Little ponds and marshes are found in almost
innumerable places scattered all over the county.
Whether called ponds, marshes, potholes, sloughs, swamps, or low
spots, wetlands have been the subject of more legislative hearings,
letters to editors, community debates, and disagreements among
neighbours than any other feature of the landscape. Factual
information is needed before citizens can make informed decisions
about the role of wetlands in South Dakota in the next
century.
This report summarizes the abundance and characteristics of eastern
South Dakota wetlands -- the potholes, impoundments, natural lakes,
rivers, and other water bodies mapped by the National Wetlands
Inventory (NWI). Earlier wetland inventories often underestimated
wetland acreage because they focused on specific types of wetlands,
for example, only those valuable for duck production or only those
deep enough to hold water for a certain length of time.
The NWI mapped wetlands without regard to specific functions or
size. Therefore, this report is based on the most comprehensive
inventory of eastern South Dakota wetlands ever conducted.
When controversy erupts over wetlands, especially in agricultural
regions like eastern South Dakota, sides are usually drawn over
issues of property rights, economics, and wetland values. Some
people, farmers who have a direct economic stake in how wetlands on
their property are used, believe the most appropriate use is
drainage followed by crop production. Others rally to preserve
wetlands, but their arguments often are based on less quantifiable
values.
During the early settlement period, wetlands were generally
regarded as wastelands and impediments to agriculture and travel.
Yet even then, wetland benefits were recognized.
The site of the first settlement in Kingsbury County was chosen
because of nearby wetlands. A pioneer recalled that:
As we came from near New Ulm, Minn., and finding lots of sloughs
lying between Lake Badger and Lake Thistad, and [as] these sloughs
were covered with muskrat houses, [we] decided to locate here and
build these dugouts and spent the winter here trapping.
Agricultural drainage of eastern South Dakota's wetlands began in
the late 1800s. One of the first cooperative drainage ditches was
dug in 1886 by a group of Clay County farmers. A year later,
construction of a similar ditch was blocked in court by farmers who
objected to the ditch crossing their lands.
Drainage increased after WWII in conjunction with high crop prices
and more mechanized farming. For many years, the U.S. Department of
Agriculture (USDA) provided technical and financial assistance to
help farmers drain wetlands.
As concerns increased about the effects of wetland drainage on
wildlife, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) began paying
landowners to preserve wetlands. Easements are a one-time payment
to landowners who agree not to drain, burn, fill, or level their
wetlands. The USFWS also purchased wetlands outright. As of 1997,
revenue from federal duck stamp sales had purchased about 700
Waterfowl Production Areas (WPAs) and perpetual easements on about
25% of remaining eastern South Dakota wetlands, all from willing
sellers.
Confusion about the importance of wetlands is understandable. For
years, one department of the government paid for wetland drainage
while another paid to prevent it.
Today, we know much more about how wetlands help maintain a healthy
environment for humans and wildlife, and both agricultural and
non-agricultural interests are beginning to appreciate the role
wetlands play in the eastern South Dakota landscape.
That role often is divided into three critical segments:
(1) benefits to wildlife,
(2) benefits to humans, and
(3) contributions to the normal movements of water throughout the
landscape, known as hydrology.
Wetlands and Wildlife
When explorers and settlers first crossed the wet prairies of
eastern South Dakota they were greeted by clouds of waterfowl that
had depended on the region for breeding and migration for more than
10,000 years.
The most productive duck nesting grounds of all - an area that
often produced twenty or more broods to the square mile - were the
glaciated grasslands of the northern Great Plains, studded with
potholes, sloughs, and shallow marshes that made ideal habitat for
mallards, pintails, canvasbacks, and other ducks of more than a
dozen species....The spring and autumn migrations of the waterfowl
were awe-inspiring sites to the first explorers who saw them. From
the....prairie sloughs and potholes still unseen by white men,
swans, geese and ducks... streamed southward each fall to
concentrate by the millions on the bays, marshes, and rivers of the
South.
Despite extensive wetland drainage and loss of upland nesting
cover, the prairie pothole region of eastern South Dakota remains
one of the most productive waterfowl breeding areas of North
America. It is the combination of small and shallow wetlands with
larger and deeper wetlands that makes eastern South Dakota so
attractive to breeding ducks.
Temporary and seasonal wetlands, most less than half an acre in
size, thaw quickly in the spring. Pairs of dabbling ducks --
species such as mallards, pintails, and blue-winged teal -- will
seek seclusion from other members of their species when they are
preparing to nest. They find this privacy on small wetlands. These
small wetlands also provide a rich source of aquatic insects,
snails, and other invertebrates. Hens need this protein-and
calcium-rich food to produce eggs.
A series of wet years on the prairies, when small, shallow wetlands
hold water throughout the breeding season, can result in
continental duck population explosions.
Deeper wetlands, that thaw later and hold water throughout the
summer in most years, attract different ducks. These deeper
wetlands provide breeding habitat for diving ducks such as
canvasbacks and redheads.
Later in the season, many dabbling ducks will lead their broods to
these deeper wetlands. And in the fall, migrating ducks and geese
interrupt their southward journey to rest and feed on these
wetlands, making eastern South Dakota a waterfowl management area
of international importance and a paradise for waterfowl
hunters.
Besides ducks, over 100 fish, 80 bird, 25 mammal, 17 amphibian, and
10 reptile species depend on eastern South Dakota wetlands. Some
upland wildlife, such as ring-necked pheasants and white-tailed
deer, use wetlands during the winter to survive prolonged cold and
blizzards. Winter wind velocities in wetlands may be 95% less than
in nearby shelter-belts, making wetlands valuable winter cover for
many resident wildlife species.
Wetlands provide habitat for more than 200 species of wildlife that
live in or migrate through eastern South Dakota.
Wetlands and Water Movement
Wetlands play an important role in the natural movement of water
both above and below ground. When water from melting snow or rain
runs into a wetland, it is stored there until it evaporates or
soaks into the ground. Because wetlands release water slowly, one
of the best known hydrologic benefits of wetlands is flood
control.
Wetlands usually lie within deeper depressions that are only filled
during very wet years. If a wetland is drained, water from the
depression may have nowhere to collect and will spill into streams
and spread over low-lying properties.
About 16,500 wetlands out of 50,200 (33%) in the Vermillion River
watershed in southeastern South Dakota flow into artificial
drainage ditches. Restoring these drained wetlands could store an
amount of water roughly equal to half the annual flow on the
flood-prone Vermillion River in a wet year.
The water in wetlands that soaks into the soil recharges ground
water supplies, providing water for farm and home use. In fact, in
the clay-rich soil areas in eastern South Dakota, the only
significant source of ground water recharge may be wetlands. Ground
water also may move upward, maintaining soil moisture during dry
periods, thereby protecting crops, lawns, and other vegetation
during drought.
Wetlands have other hydrologic functions, such as stabilizing
stream flows and reducing pollutants entering rivers and lakes.
About 239 South Dakota cities and towns use created wetlands for
secondary or tertiary sewage treatment.
Overview of Wetland Resources
There are 947,652 wetlands -- potholes, dugouts, reservoirs, and
natural lakes -- in eastern South Dakota. These wetlands occupy a
total of 2,137,929 acres. Rivers and streams account for another
69,300 acres. These estimates represent the number and area of
wetlands under "typical" conditions.
Wetlands cover about 9.8% of the total landscape of eastern South
Dakota. Extremes are Lincoln County (4.6%) and Sanborn County
(15.6%).
Most eastern South Dakota wetlands are small; about 60% are less
than half an acre, and almost 75% are smaller than an acre.
About 83% of temporaries, 55% of seasonals, and 21% of
semipermanents are smaller than 1 acre. In fact, less than 5% of
all wetlands are larger than 5 acres.
Legislation and government programs that protect only wetlands
larger than 1 acre put most eastern South Dakota wetlands at risk
of being drained. About 465,500 wetlands -- about half of all
eastern South Dakota wetlands -- are jeopardized by proposals to
eliminate protection for frequently farmed wetlands and wetlands
smaller than 1 acre.
Wetland distribution in Eastern South Dakota
Eastern South Dakota wetlands were formed by retreating glaciers,
so wetlands tend to be most common in areas covered by the last
glaciers. The landscape of eastern South Dakota is geologically too
young for rivers and streams to be well developed. About 80% of the
landscape in many areas of eastern South Dakota drained into
wetlands before European settlement.
Watershed size and terrain, average annual precipitation and
evaporation, soil type, and ground water interactions all determine
a wetland's water permanence (water regime).
High-relief landscapes with deep depressions, sometimes called
knob-and-kettle terrain (as in parts of Marshall County), often
contain many semipermanent wetlands. Shallow temporary and seasonal
wetlands are usually most abundant in low-relief terrain like that
in Beadle, Spink, and Brown counties.
Natural wetlands
The 520,379 temporary wetlands in eastern South Dakota cover just
over 390,000 acres. They are the most common type of wetland in the
region, making up 55% of the total number of wetlands.
Temporaries are most common in Beadle, Brown, Spink, and Hand
counties where their combined number is over 146,000. Temporaries
are least common outside the area covered by the last glaciers,
such as in Buffalo and Union counties where they total only about
4,300. About 77%, or 399,000 temporary wetlands, are in cropland.
Location, coupled with ease of drainage, makes them vulnerable to
loss.
A total of 334,699 seasonal wetlands in eastern South Dakota cover
over 553,500 acres. They are abundant in scattered localities, but
are particularly common in an 80 mile-wide band that runs
diagonally from Eureka in McPherson County southeastward to Salem
in McCook County.
Edmunds County alone contains 22,225 seasonal wetlands. The fewest
seasonals -- only 998 -- are found in Union County.
Semipermanents, with their typical mix of cattails and open
water, are what first comes to mind when many people picture
"wetlands." Actually, semipermanents are uncommon -- they number
only 23,997 and occupy about 377,600 acres. All together, they make
up only about 2.5% of all wetlands in eastern South Dakota.
Semipermanents are most often found in a few areas of northeastern
South Dakota including the counties of Marshall, Day, Roberts,
Grant, and Deuel. The number of semipermanents in these counties
total 11,828 -- almost half the total number of all semipermanents
in eastern South Dakota. The smallest number of semipermanents, 22,
occurs in Hughes County.
Permanent wetlands are the least common type of natural
wetlands; there are only 603 east of the Missouri River. However,
these wetlands are large and cover over 194,000 acres.
The highest density of large permanent wetlands (lakes) occurs
along the west side of the Big Sioux River from Day County south to
Lake County. Lake Poinsett in Brookings and Hamlin counties, at
10,100 acres is the largest natural permanent wetland in South
Dakota.
Sometimes large semipermanent wetlands fill up and function as
lakes, but the water eventually recedes and they once again become
dominated by cattails or similar vegetation, something that rarely
happens to lakes. Lake Thompson in Kingsbury County is a good
example. It has repeatedly filled up and then dried up in the past.
In the mid-1980s and 1990s Lake Thompson swelled to nearly 20,000
acres, making it the largest natural "lake-like" body of water in
the state. Although the changes are usually not as dramatic, small
wetlands also are very dynamic.
Rivers cover about 69,300 acres of eastern South Dakota. The major
rivers in eastern South Dakota are the Big Sioux, Vermillion,
James, and Missouri. Creation of the Missouri River reservoirs
destroyed much of the riverine habitat in eastern South Dakota by
changing those river reaches to impoundments. Some free flowing
reaches still exist, bordering Charles Mix, Bon Homme, Yankton,
Clay, and Union counties, but even in these areas the natural
hydrology has been greatly altered because dams control the flow of
water.
Rivers in the glaciated prairie pothole region tend to be narrow
with weakly developed channels. Consequently they tend to be
flood-prone when snow melts quickly or after heavy rains.
The Big Sioux River was once nick-named the "Silvery Sioux." In
1838, Joseph Nicollet described the Big Sioux near Brookings as "a
stream of clear, swift-running water" flowing over a "pebbly
bottom." Only rivers that flow mainly through pastureland -- like
the Yellowbank River in Grant County -- still fit this
description.
Healthy riverine habitats often have high biodiversity. Although
flowing freshwater comprises only about 1/1 millionth of all the
water on earth, 50% of all animal species inhabit creeks, streams,
and rivers. In fact, one of the best ways to evaluate the health of
a river is to sample its invertebrates.
Created wetlands
Created wetlands are usually constructed in one of two ways: by
excavating a hole or channel or by blocking the natural flow of
water with a dam, thereby creating an impoundment.
The only types of excavated wetland discussed in this report are
dugouts -- rectangular holes dug to intercept surface runoff or to
expose the water table. Generally dugouts are constructed to
provide water for livestock. A total of 56,827 dugouts are
scattered across eastern South Dakota, of which 35,086 (62%) were
excavated in 22,530 natural wetlands. The remaining 21,741 dugouts
were constructed outside of natural wetlands or in stream
channels.
Although dugouts may occasionally enhance natural wetlands by
providing a deep-water refuge for duck broods or fish, their impact
may be negative when spoil from the excavation is piled in the
natural wetland.
Eastern South Dakota impoundments may be subdivided into two broad
groups; (1) small impoundments, often called stock dams, and (2)
large (more than 100 acres), permanent reservoirs. All impoundments
are constructed by creating a dam in a channel. Consequently, most
are found on or near the Missouri River, outside areas of recent
glaciation.
Although the technology of damming up a ravine or intermittent
stream to create a stock dam is superficially like that of creating
a large reservoir on a mainstem river or major tributary, the
results for landowners and wildlife are very different. Both types
of constructed wetlands can effectively impound runoff; however,
livestock and wildlife relate to the shoreline of an impoundment,
making little or no use of the center of these bodies of open
water. Stock dams typically have much greater shoreline length
relative to their size than do large reservoirs. Therefore, small
stock dams provide greater benefits to landowners and wildlife than
does a single large reservoir of the same total area.
Some stock dams provide added benefits of recreational fishing.
Stock dams also may enhance cattle performance by improving stock
distribution and range and pasture utilization. Several federal
agencies offer cost sharing and technical assistance for creating
these kinds of wetlands.
In eastern South Dakota, most stock dams are a few acres in size
and have a 200-600 acre watershed. Most contain between 12 and 20
acre-feet of water when full. A total of 11,836 stock dams have
been constructed in eastern South Dakota covering 106,740
acres.
Large reservoirs are permanent impoundments constructed for flood
control, hydroelectric power generation, domestic or agricultural
water supplies, or for recreation. The 75 reservoirs in the region
cover 256,826 acres, or about 12% of the total area of surface
water in eastern South Dakota. This total acreage includes the area
of Missouri River reservoirs within the counties on the east side
of the river.
Approximately 95% of the reservoir area in eastern South Dakota is
made up by lakes Lewis and Clark, Francis Case, Sharpe, and Oahe on
the Missouri River.
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