Fresh Water Marshes
ecology project By: Isabel & Michael
Have You Heard Of The Everglades?
Have you ever heard of the everglades, if you have then you know of the freshwater marshes. How you might ask? Well, that's because the Everglades is a freshwater marsh.
The physical features of this biome are low, flat, and poorly drained. It is an aquatic ecosystem. It is home to silt, sand, and clay.
Abiotic Factors
Abiotic factors are the non living things in an ecosystem. some abiotic factors are shallow water, Fire, soil and a lot more
Fire
fire that is happening in a freshwater marsh. fire is a crucial importance to make sure the woody vegetation doesn't get out of hand; in deep-water marshes fire periods are every 3-5 years; shallow marshes tend to burn on a 1-3 year cycle.
water
shallow water in the freshwater marsh. Water is also a crucial importance because it is a habitat for some of the animals that live in freshwater marshes like the american alligator!
soil
the type of soil found in a freshwater marsh. the soil is where plants are planted. These soils are highly productive and have high microbial activity, which contributes to rapid decomposition, rapid recycling and rapid nitrogen fixation. Coarser soils like sand are found in marshes near waves or flowing water, but in more protected areas clays with decomposed organic material are more common.
Biotic Factors
Biotic factors are living things and some biotic factors in a freshwater marsh are American Alligator, Florida Panther, White-Tailed Deer and a lot more!
american alligator
These alligators are only found in America, and are found usually in wetlands or in Freshwater Marshes. This animal is a reptile that usually lives up to 30 or 50 years. They can be up to 500 lbs (These measurements are from an adult male) and they are up to 11-15 ft. Thier diet includes fish, snails, birds, and other mammal that comes to the edge of the water
florida panther
The Florida Panther is a species that is endangered and lives in the everglades, which the only Freshwater marsh in reach. Their diet is practically everything in the Freshwater Marsh, including American Alligators and the White-Tailed Deer. Males usually weigh up to 160 pounds and females are at most 100. They are at most, 7.2 feet and their shoulder height is 24-28 inches.
White-Tailed Deer
The White-Tailed Deer is a species that live in the United States, Canada, Mexico, and South America. These deers are herbivores so they feast on shrubs, leaves, twigs, and the bark of trees. They have an excellent sense of hearing and sight, as well as a keen sense of smell. They are prey to the Florida Panther and the huge American Alligator. They can run up to 48 Kilometers per hour and they can grow up to 7.2 Feet, 3.9 feet at shoulder height, and can be 150 pounds.
Eastern mud turtle
These turtles are located in wetlands and Freshwater Marshes. They are commonly 3-4 inches and has 11 plates, instead of 12. Females usually lay 2-6 eggs per breeding, which occurs every june. They eat small fish, leafy vegetables, and insects. This means that they are omnivores, which is where you eat both plants and meat.
raccoon
A raccoon is a species of animal that is located in many places, including the freshwater marshes. It is a scavenger so it eats dead animals or plants, so it's a omnivore. It lives up to 1.8-3.1 years in the wild and weighs at least 7.7 to 20 lbs at most. Its height usually measures up to 9.1 to 12 inches (at shoulder), and standing up they measure to 23.75 and at max 37.5 inches.
mushrooms
Mushrooms are the fruiting body of a fungus. Of course, they live in freshwater marshes, but they grow in a lot of places. They are decomposers, and if you don't know, decomposers are organisms that get their food by breaking down dead or decaying organisms.
Hypericum cumulicola
The Hypericum cumulicola, is a rare species of flowering plants. It is endangered because of habitat loss and degradation. It reaches about 60 centimeters in length, but It does have leaves with very tiny blades that are only a few millimeters long. This plant depends on fire, since it resprouts after fire.
Floating Bladderwort
The Floating Bladderwort is a carnivorous plant. It is not very hard and it doesn't need much light. It grows relatively fast and it is a very small plant.
Butterfly Orchid
This plant, the Butterfly Orchid, has a slender stem and has grass like leaves that can be 6 to 12 inches long. The roots are very thin and turn white when dry. Their roots can also run several feet! The Butterfly Orchid's flowering season is from May all the way to August.
Human Impacts
Human impacts affect many ecosystems, whether good or bad. Fortunately for now, I will be naming the good impacts, though they aren't many. One is that we can clean it up if it gets unhealthily dirty, and we can help repopulate animals. Now, we sadly have to cover the bad things that we do in an ecosystem. One, is that we block migration paths for the fishes. Another thing that we do is introducing more animals or plants. This harms the ecosystem because the native animals have to compete for their normal foods, so this increases the chance of animals becoming endangered/extinct.
Websites I used
Human Impacts- https://www.daf.qld.gov.au/fisheries/habitats/freshwater-wetlands/human-impacts-on-wetlands
Biotic factors- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_alligator
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Florida_panther
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mushroom
http://www.dec.ny.gov/animals/7152.html
http://www.flnativeorchids.com/natives_gallery/encyclia_tampensis.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Utricularia_gibba
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypericum_cumulicola
Abiotic Factors- https://soils.ifas.ufl.edu/wetlandextension/types/marsh.htm