The Marsh Ecosystem at the Watershed Center

The Virginia strawberry, wild strawberry, or common strawberry (Fragaria virginiana) is one of two species of strawberry that were hybridized to create the modern domesticated garden strawberry. Its natural range is confined to North America, in the United States (including Alaska) and Canada, although a popular variety called "Little Scarlet" is grown only in Great Britain, having been imported from the United States in the early 1900s. less ↑

Onoclea sensibilis, the sensitive fern, also known as the bead fern, is a coarse-textured, medium to large-sized deciduous perennial fern. The name comes from the observation by early American settlers that it was very sensitive to frost, the fronds dying quickly when first touched by it. It is sometimes treated as the only species in Onoclea, but some authors do not consider the genus monotypic. less ↑

Identification
Common cattails have thick leaves that are 1 inch thick and are bluish or gray-green. You can easily recognize a cattail by its brown, cigar-like head. The cigar-shaped head, called a candlewick, has thousands of tiny seeds. The candlewick is at the very top of the cattail stem. They can be often found in open damp areas, also known as a marshes.

Niche

Energy Role
Cattails are producers. They are eaten by geese and muskrats, and cattail moth caterpillars eat the seeds. They can also provide food for humans. The outer part of a young cattail can be peeled and the heart can be eaten raw or boiled.

Other Roles in the Ecosystem
Cattails produce pollen which spreads the seeds to different places. They are the first to colonize areas of commonly exposed mud. Cattails are good for starting a fire. Their stems can be used to make paper. Blackbirds sit on the cattail heads. Blackbirds also nest on the heads of the cattails. Muskrats use cattails to have their nests in. White-tailed deer, raccoons, and turkeys use them to hide.

Sources:

http://www.ediblewildfood.com/cattail.aspx

http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/minnaqua/speciesprofile_cattail/index.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cattails

http://www.fcps.edu/islandcreekes/ecology/common_cattail.htm less ↑

Identification
The Tussock Sedge grows in the moist forest and marshes. They are usually in clumps right at the water level or just above the water level. If you look at the stems are different from the grass stems because they have edges and do not have joints..

Niche
The Tussock Sedge is a producer. The Tussock Sedge roots get eaten by moles, and the white-tailed deer eat the leaves. The Tussock sedge seeds get eaten by mallard ducks, wood ducks and wild turkeys.

Sources:
http://homeguides.sfgate.com/difference-between-rushes-sedges-grasses-74262.html less ↑

Identification
The red maple tree is commonly known for the red color of the leaves in the fall. When it's not foliage season you can identify them by the shape of the leaves. The leaves have more triangular lobes and smaller teeth than other maples. The bark of a red maple is a light brown. Also in the spring red buds open to reddish orange flowers and the leaf veins stay red all summer.

Niche
Energy role

The red maple is a producer because it gets its energy from the sun, carbon dioxide, and water. They are important to the food chain because they provide food for animals like small insects, white-tailed deer, squirrels, birds, and a few other animals.

Other Roles in the Ecosystem
In addition to being a producer the red maple is often used for its lumber which humans use to make furniture, butcher blocks, pallets, and many other things. The red maple is also used for shade and shelter for many birds, insects, and other animals.

Sources~ “Trees” a Golden Guide from St. Martins Press, http://www.kentuckyawake.org/Red_Maple less ↑

The parsnip (Pastinaca sativa) is a root vegetable closely related to the carrot. It is a biennial plant usually grown as an annual. Its long tuberous root has cream-colored skin and flesh and can be left in the ground when mature as it becomes sweeter in flavor after winter frosts. In its first growing season, the plant has a rosette of pinnate, mid-green leaves. If unharvested, it produces its flowering stem, topped by an umbel of... less ↑

Pinus strobus, commonly known as the eastern white pine, white pine, northern white pine, Weymouth pine, and soft pine is a large pine native to eastern North America. It occurs from Newfoundland west through the Great Lakes region to southeastern Manitoba and Minnesota, and south along the Mississippi Basin and Appalachian Mountains to northernmost Georgia and Mississippi. less ↑

The Christmas fern lives in woody areas. They divide their roots into several different parts in the spring. The Christmas fern stays green all winter long. They prefer side banks and ravines to live. They will live direct as long as the soil is moist.

Niche
They are eaten by small animals like fox,deer, and other animals. The Christmas fern is a producer. It is fern that lives around here in the area, so start looking.

Sources:
http://www.naturehills.com/about-garden-plants/Christmas-fern less ↑

Identification
Purple loosestrife is taller than its look-alikes. Purple loosestrife can grow up to 9 feet tall whereas its look-alikes stay much shorter. Purple loosestrife flowers are a purple-pink color, where it’s name comes from of course. The purple loosestrife also has sort of square stems which tell it apart from the look-alikes, fireweed and spirea.

Niche
Energy Role
Purple loosestrife is a producer because it makes it’s own food using sunlight, carbon dioxide, and water. Because it is an invasive species, there are no native organisms that eat it.

Other Roles in the Ecosystem
Purple loosestrife may be a pretty flower, but it is a huge environmental issue. It is an invasive species and will take over fields and wetlands. It takes away homes for some animals, it reduces water flow, it will also take away hunting opportunities. Although purple loosestrife is a dangerous species, it sure is a beautiful flower. Unfortunately there is nothing good about the species besides it’s beauty.

Sources:
1.http://www.kingcounty.gov/environment/animalsAndPlants/noxious-weeds/weed-identification/purple-loosestrife.aspx
2.http://dnr.state.il.us/stewardship/cd/biocontrol/11purpleloosestrife.html less ↑