1.  Pocono WetlandExample:TannersvilleCranberryBog

2.  Where is the TCB?

3.  Review: Regulatory definition of a wetland (Tiner, 1999)

A.Area that is inundated or saturated by surface water or groundwater
B. At a frequency and duration sufficient to support, and than under normal circumstances does support,
C. A prevalence of vegetation typically adapted for life in saturated soil conditions, commonly known as hydrophytic vegetation

A.  Bogs act as natural sponges:
good flood control during high water
B.  Act as a slow release during droughts
C.  The flora is unique: TCB more typical of Boreal bogs in Canada or higher altitude Adirondacks
D.  Source of peat for gardening, but peat extraction ìkillsî the bog.
E.  Pollen deposits can be studied for paleobotany:  low O2 keeps pollen grains from decomposition

5.  Bogs:  a special type of wetland

A.  An area of blocked drainage
B.  vegetation mat that grows over the waterís surface
C.  Mat made mostly from sphagnum moss
D.  Later other acid tolerant herbs and shrubs invade the edges of the mat
E.  Water beneath is brown (from tannins) and acidic (from organic acids)

A.  Glacier retreats (13,000 + years ago), leaving large ice blocks
B.  Ice melts, then kettle-hole lake forms
C.  If lake isolated, and water not buffered by lime rock
D.  and Sphagnum moss invades
E.  then the mat can develop leading to a quaking bog
F.  Sphagnum and associated heath shrubs ìinvadeî open water

Heaths = highbush blueberry, leatherleaf, cranberry, sheep laurel, bog laurel, swamp azalea

Line drawing of a Sphagnum plant:  Sphagnum acts like a calcium pump, increasing the pH of the surrounding water.  The clear areas with holes are dead cells that absorb large amounts of water.  Figure 5.21 from Oplinger & Halma, 1988

G.  As the mat develops, circulation is restricted, low O2 conditions develop in the lake
H.  Decomposition of dead sphagnum & other plants on the bottom incomplete
I.  Peat builds up, releases humic acids and water becomes brown and acidic.
J.  As sphagnum & shrubs grow other plants invade:  Black spruce, American larch, Poison sumac (along the edges)
 

8.  Bog specialists:  insect eating plants

A.  The acid environment of the bog means that nutrients are low, especially N & P.
B.  Some plants catch insects and dissolve or let them decay to provide the nutrients.

1.  Pitcher plant:  traps and drowns insects in the ìpitcherî
2.  Sundews:  sticky secretions on leaf hairs trap small insects.

A.  Aquatics:  Remember, the conditions are harsh in the aquatic realm:  low O2, low pH

1.  Limited plankton, copepods, rotifers
2.  Fish:  yellow perch, mud minnows
3.  Few amphibians and reptiles:  endangered Muhlenbergís turtle (bog turtle), 4-toed salamander

B.  Terrestrial Animals

1.  Muskrats: open waterways
2.  Mink: preys on muskrats
3.  Small mammals:

star-nosed moles
water shrews
short-tailed shrews
Bog lemmings