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Wetlands in Northern Lake Champlain


Photo of Pelots Bay, Gracie Grimes

Since moving from Alabama to Vermont, I have found many things that expose my gap in knowledge of the area. In a way, I believe that this desire for knowledge is a good opportunity to connect with the community as we learn about our environment together.


The Lake Champlain basin consists of a wide variety of species and ecosystems. One of our many tasks here at Friends of Northern Lake Champlain is to ensure water quality on residential land by offering site visits that assess the environmental state of your property, streams, and lakes. During my first site visit a few weeks ago, the client that we were working with had unknowingly purchased property adjacent to a wetland. This sparked a line of questions that we aim to tackle: Does our community know what a wetland is and how to identify one? What is the importance of maintaining our wetlands?


Types of Wetlands in Vermont


Forested Swamps
Forested Swampland, North Hero Island, Vermont, Gracie Grimes

  • Wetlands dominated by woody vegetation

  • Tolerate wet conditions, but are less tolerable of prolonged or frequent flooding

  • Seen in settings where ground is saturated during flooding season, but growing season allows enough dryness for the woody roots to germinate, grow, and reproduce

  • Hardwood swamps are more common in warmer, lower-elevation parts of the state while softwoods are more prevalent in the Green Mountains or Northeast Kingdom

  • During growing season, there is a layer of ferns, mosses, and sedges are present on the forest floor


Shrub Swamps
  • Dominated by woody vegetation <20ft tall

  • More tolerant of flooding than most trees and can grow and reproduce more quickly

  • Shrub swamps dominated by species like sweet gale or buttonbush are extremely tolerant of wet conditions and may never become forested

  • Known to persist for centuries, if well preserved


Floodplain Forests
  • Unique, seasonally flooded communities that occur along larger rivers and lakes

  • Wide and fairly level terrain provides temporary storage for floodwaters, allowing the water to dissipate energy as it spreads across the floodplain, preventing damage downstream

  • Roots of large, flood resistant trees reduce erosion along the bank

  • Most of Vermont's floodplain forests have been converted for agricultural use


Marshes
  • Standing water and emerging vegetation such as cattails, bulrushes, sedges, and wild rice

  • Seen along lake and pond margins and in beaver meadows, floodplain backwaters, and isolated basins

  • Often interspersed with other wetland types such as shrub swamps

  • Gateway between upland areas and open water


Bogs
  • Spongy ground surface, dwarfed trees, and carnivorous plants

  • Form in depressions of low drainage where precipitation is the only source of water and nutrients

  • In Vermont, bogs are often dominated by sphagnum moss

  • Cool environment, scarce minerals, and high acidity slow the rate of plant decomposition, allowing dead plant matter to accumulate and form a material called "peat"

  • Most times, there is a central area of open water with floating peat mats, topped with low growing, herbaceous vegetation


Seeps
  • Seen in areas where bedrock impedes the flow of groundwater, causing it to escape through the surface

  • Small wetlands surrounded by upland habitats along the base of slopes and terraces

  • Often serve as the headwaters of rivers and streams because of their constant supply of ground water

  • Water temperatures stay above freezing year-round, allowing the emergence of new plants and food sources for animals during typically dormant periods


Vernal Pools
  • Small topographic depressions with poor drainage where runoff from melting snow and rain collects in the spring

  • Flooded temporarily, dry up completely by mid-summer, then fill again in the fall

  • Typically isolated areas within upland forests

  • Sparse plant growth

  • Critical breeding habitat for many amphibians


Wet Meadows
Gracie's dog (Winnie) in a Wet Meadow in North Hero, Vermont, Gracie Grimes

  • Typically abandoned agricultural fields and formerly flooded beaver ponds, wet portions of hayfields, and other seasonally flooded or saturated areas where non-woody plants are dominant

  • Often associated with larger wetland complexed that may include shrub swamps, forested swamps, and marshes

  • If left undisturbed, may succeed to shrub or forested wetlands over a period of decades (like the one above)


Functions of Wetlands


Water storage
Pond in Strafford, VT, Gracie Grimes

  • Particularly seen in floodplain wetlands

  • Capacity to store flood waters in runoff events

  • Function like "natural tubs" that temporarily hold excess water and slowly release it as water levels recede

  • Can reduce severity downstream erosion and flooding

  • It is believed that the otter creek swamp complex saved the town of Middlebury from flooding during Tropical Storm Irene


Water Quality Protection
Manmade beaver dam to preserve wetlands, Gracie Grimes

  • Wetlands can remove pollutants from surface waters via sediment trapping, nutrient removal, and chemical detoxification

  • It is suggested that up to 90% of sediment present in runoff or streamflow may be removed if water passes through wetlands, as pollutants that are attached to soil particles are then trapped to improve water quality down stream

  • Nitrogen and phosphorus that is discharged from lawn fertilizers, agriculture, pet waste, sewer and septic systems, and other sources can be picked up by the roots of wetland plants and accumulate in less harmful chemical forms, preventing the stimulation of excessive plant, algae, and cyanobacteria growth


Fish Habitat
  • Some fish, such as northern pike, black bullhead, yellow perch, pumpkin seed, and bluegills use wetlands as spawning grounds and nursery areas


Wildlife Habitat
  • Wetlands exhibit very high rates of plant productivity, which offers a varied and complex food web within and beyond the wetland

  • Dense vegetation provides habitat and materials to build habitats for nesting and protection from predators

  • Primary habitat creatures (only place they can live): Canada goose, wood duck, great blue heron, muskrat, beaver, snapping turtle, and bullfrog


Sensitive Species
  • About 43% of the nations endangered species rely on wetlands for survival

  • If there are found to be endangered species on a wetland, Vermont Wetland Rules classifies the area as significant


Exemplary Communities
  • Over 40 wetland natural community types identified in Vermont, including some rare types such as cattail marsh, northern white cedar swamp, and alpine peatland


Education and Outreach
  • Discrete ecosystems with easily defined boundaries

  • High diversity of habitat and species

  • Unique life forms that are not found in adjacent uplands


Recreation
  • Vermont wetlands provide an abundance of natural products in wetlands like: timber, fish, shellfish, blueberries, cranberries, and wild rice

  • Birdwatching in wetlands alone makes $10 billion nationally/year


Open Space
Floodplain near streams in Sheldon, VT, Gracie Grimes

  • Provide natural greenbelts and corridors for wildlife

  • Can be easily observed by the public


What can you do to preserve your wetlands?

  • Volunteer with local agencies and organizations that are contributing in wetland restoration projects.

  • Consider the infrastructure on your property. Look at the possibility of installing natural solutions to erosion issues like living shorelines and the planting of native, non-invasive species.

  • Reduce physical and chemical pollution by picking up litter, recycling when possible, limiting the use of pesticides and herbicides on your property, and using more natural chemicals in your daily cleaning.


It is so important to know about the land you live on and love. Together, we can help keep our wetlands safe and clean for us and our animal friends!

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