A nice walk or bike ride along the Ashuwillticook Rail Trail.
The coords will take you to a couple of plaques that you will use to answer some questions about wetlands. One of the principle roles of the wetlands is that they help purify the water, but they also provide habitat for animals and a variety of vegetation. Do you smell anything? You might detect an odor from the marsh. The soil contains many nutrients that include carbon, sulfur, phosphorus, and nitrogen that can often give off odors.
The name Ashuwillticook comes from a Native American word meaning “the pleasant river between the hills” referring to Mount Greylock (the Taconic Range) and the Hoosic Mountains. The Hoosic River, which feeds into this low-lying area, helps to form the wetlands that you see around you. The ground beneath the wetlands is made up of metamorphic and sedimentary rocks. The sedimentary rocks in this location are composed of limestone type carbonate minerals. Also present is hydric soil, a type of soil that easily holds water, and is formed when it is saturated with standing water. This causes low oxygen levels, or anaerobic conditions, that also create special opportunities for different types of plants to grow which helps to produce organic carbon.
Some wetlands are not “wet” all year and can be made up of fresh or salt water, depending on their location. And as you have read on the plaque, watersheds are formed when water collects to a common location near the bottom of a hill. So, what is the difference between a wetland and a watershed? The plaque has the answer for you!
GLOSARY
metamorphic: rocks that have been changed through heat and pressure
sedimentary: rocks formed from smaller rocks, sand, and clay through pressure
organic carbon: formed from decayed plants and animals
hydric soil: soil that is flooded or saturated for long periods of time causing it to hold little or no oxygen
anaerobic: without oxygen
There are many things we can do to help protect these fragile areas. You’ve read about different ways we can be “stewards”.
Answer the following questions and email them to me to get credit for this cache. You may also include a picture, but please do not include the plaques.
1. Name one action mentioned under farm stewardship that can prevent erosion near a wetland.
2. What can roadway and maintenance crews construct to help remove sediments, like salt, before they can enter wetlands?
3. Name one reason we need to get involved in protecting these wetlands.
For more information about wetlands go to: Wetlands Definitions