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Build Your Own Wetland!

The horrific 2005 hurricane season has made wetlands a front page story in the media. The tremendous losses caused by those storms put a hard focus on how important and valuable wetlands are to us, but also reminded us how much we have ignored their inherent value for protecting habitat and humans alike.

Many of the stories that have been told often convey alarm over how wetlands are being lost at an alarming rate, in spite of laws intended to protect and replenish them. Fortunately, this fresh concern over the loss of wetlands is inspiring individuals across the nation to jump in with both feet and become personally involved in their restoration, one backyard at a time.

Every year, we lose more than 100,000 acres of wetland habitat. Yet government agencies, conservation groups, businesses, schools and private landowners across the nation are helping to offset this loss by constructing wetlands on their properties that look and function like a natural ecosystem. Collectively, these man-made wetlands can be very important to the improving the health of local wetland plants and animals.

These small backyard wetlands are a valuable to community conservation efforts because they provide a series of “stepping stones” between larger wetlands and other wildlife habitat. This way, plants and animals that depend on wetlands can thrive, even in suburban and urban settings.

Ephemeral (temporary) wetlands play a particularly important role in providing critical habitat for many vulnerable amphibian and invertebrate species. Like the name implies, ephemeral wetlands do not appear “wet” all the time. Also called ephemeral ponds, seasonal ponds, temporary ponds or vernal pools, these small depressions temporarily hold water in the spring and early summer, or after heavy rains. The warm, shallow waters of ephemeral wetlands support large populations of insects and other invertebrates, which serves as an abundant food source for many wildlife species. And because these wetlands periodically dry up, fish cannot survive in ephemeral ponds. This allows even small wetlands to produce hundreds of frogs, toads and salamanders.

Although their homes may be small, these wetland critters are beginning to find some friends in some pretty high places. With funding from East Kentucky Power Cooperative, Inc. and the American Electric Power Company, Tom Biebighauser, a wildlife biologist with the U.S. Forest Service (USFS), has built more than 70 ephemeral wetlands in power line right-of-ways that cross public land. Wetlands built by the USFS in Kentucky and Ohio are providing breeding habitat for wood frogs, spotted salamanders, wood ducks, and feeding areas for bald eagles and osprey. And the Forest Service isn’t the only agency getting involved in wetland construction. Last year, Terry Esker, a restoration ecologist with the Illinois Department of Natural Resources, created more than 80 ephemeral wetlands along the edges of farm fields to return habitat for amphibians and reptiles. Another cooperative project with the USFS and the Indiana Department of Natural Resources involves the construction of small wetlands on abandoned roads to help reduce erosion and block illegal vehicle traffic on the Hoosier National Forest. This joint venture is popular with deer and turkey hunters, among others.

People are finding innovative places to build wetlands. For example, small wetlands are being established in timber harvest areas in New York, thanks to the hard work of members of the nonprofit Upper Susquehanna Coalition. The branches, logs, and root masses being placed in these ephemeral wetlands helps them look natural while increasing habitat for salamanders, perching birds, and sunning turtles. Ephemeral wetlands are also being built in “borrow pits” (previously mined areas), and are being used by many threatened amphibian species, including leopard frogs, for breeding. In Cincinnati, Ohio, wetlands built in abandoned mines of Hamilton County Park District are being used for interpretive walks, and the neighborhood children enjoy exploring these small habitats on their own.

Teachers are also building wetlands at schools, introducing students to an exciting, hands-on approach to science, literature, art, history, and math. Rather than organizing a field trip to a state park or wildlife area, teachers are learning how they can create wetland habitat in unused corners of the school grounds. In just nine years, the nonprofit organization Eastern Kentucky PRIDE has financed the construction of more than 30 wetlands at schools in rural, suburban and urban communities throughout the 38 counties that they serve (www.kypride.org). Word of their successful program has spread and educators elsewhere in the state are finding ways to finance wetland projects at their schools as well.

And of course there are the thousands of private landowners who have made a commitment to conservation by constructing small wetlands on their farms, in fields and in their backyards. Their independent actions show a remarkable commitment to bringing back these vital habitats to benefit the entire community.

Many people mistakenly believe that it is impossible to restore a wetland, or that the process is so complicated they shouldn’t even try. Though no man-made habitat is ever a perfect replacement for a natural one, techniques now available allow them to mimic many of the functions of natural wetlands. With these methods, you can create wetlands that encourage the growth of native plants, support breeding populations of salamanders, attract migrating waterfowl, provide environmental education opportunities, reduce flooding, and even increase property values. This could be the right time for you to roll up your sleeves and help create more wetlands in your community!

So how can you get started on your own backyard or schoolyard wetland habitat? Tom Biebighauser from the U.S. Forest Service recommends the following steps:

• Find a somewhat level area that is about 60-feet in diameter.
• Test the soils to see if there is enough clay to be shaped and packed to hold water. Place a walnut sized chunk of soil in your hand, add water, and then mix to see if a two-inch long ribbon can be made when squeezing the soil between thumb and forefinger. An aquatic-safe liner must be used if soils are too sandy or rocky to form a ribbon.


• Check for buried utilities and apply for required permits in advance of construction.
• Hire a contractor who has a dozer to shape a naturally appearing, shallow depression for the wetland. Make sure to remove the topsoil for construction, and save it to spread over the completed project. It is also possible to build smaller wetlands with shovels. However, hand-digging may result in inadequate soil compaction, so consider using a liner if you decide to build your wetland by hand.


• Control erosion by seeding exposed soils with winter wheat and mulching with a layer of straw.
• Plant or seed native vegetation to increase diversity, enhance beauty, and to reduce possible colonization by non-native invasive plants.
• Place logs and branches in and around the wetland for salamanders and birds.

For further details, you can download practical information on how to construct an ephemeral wetland from the publication A Guide to Creating Vernal Ponds, which you can access for free here: www.fs.fed.us/r8/boone/documents/resources/vernal.pdf.
Or here: herpcenter.ipfw.edu/outreach/VernalPonds/VernalPondGuide.pdf

Creature Feature:
Mom, there’s a tiger in the backyard!

The last thing its prey might see is a flash of stripes and a gaping maw full of razor sharp teeth. But despite its ferocious name, this “tiger” would only be a threat to an earthworm! Growing up to 12 inches in length, the tiger salamander is the largest land-dwelling salamander in the world. It is also one of the most widespread salamander species in North America, with a home range that extends nearly from coast to coast, and from Central Alberta to just south of the U.S.-Mexico border. This wide distribution, as well as their highly variable coloration, has led scientists to split the species up into 6 separate sub-species – the Eastern, Arizona, Barred, Blotched, Grey and Sonoran Tiger Salamanders.

These little tigers lurk in underground burrows for most of their lives, munching on earthworms and occasionally even baby mice, waiting for the spring thaw or heavy rains to fill up their favorite breeding ponds. Tiger salamanders depend on ephemeral wetlands for reproduction. Like all amphibians, tiger salamanders spend their juvenile stage as aquatic larvae that swim like fish and breathe with gills. The warm, shallow waters of ephemeral ponds provide an abundant food source for the young salamanders, allowing them to mature quickly. Though they are fierce predators to small insects and other pondlife, the larvae are virtually defenseless and extremely vulnerable to predation. But since ephemeral ponds cannot support populations of fish, they provide a safe nursery for the little salamanders. As the larvae develop into adults, they gradually grow arms, legs and eventually lungs, which allows them to leave the water and live on land.

So as you are wandering around the neighborhood this spring, pay close attention to what kinds of critters are living in your local wetlands…you might just come face to face with a tiger!

VOLUME TWO
Issue No. 2