The Marsh Ecosystem at the Watershed Center

Spiders (order Araneae) are air-breathing arthropods that have eight legs and chelicerae with fangs that inject venom. They are the largest order of arachnids and rank seventh in total species diversity among all other groups of organisms. Spiders are found worldwide on every continent except for Antarctica, and have become established in nearly every habitat with the exception of air and sea colonization. As of 2008, at least 43,678 spider species, and 109 families have been... less ↑

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.

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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 ↑

Damselflies (suborder Zygoptera) are insects in the order Odonata. Damselflies are similar to dragonflies, but the adults can be distinguished by the fact that the wings of most damselflies are held along, and parallel to, the body when at rest. Furthermore, the hindwing of the damselfly is essentially similar to the forewing, while the hindwing of the dragonfly broadens near the base. Damselflies are also usually smaller than dragonflies and weaker fliers in comparison, and their... less ↑

Orthoptera is an order of insects with paurometabolous or incomplete metamorphosis, including the grasshoppers, crickets, cave crickets, Jerusalem crickets, katydids, weta, lubber, Acrida, and locusts. Many insects in this order produce sound (known as a "stridulation") by rubbing their wings against each other or their legs, the wings or legs containing rows of corrugated bumps. The tympanum or ear is located in the front tibia in crickets, mole crickets, and katydids, and on the first abdominal... 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..

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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.

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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 ↑

Identification
The great blue heron length is 46 feet and the wingspan is 72 feet. The weight of the blue heron is 5.3 lbs. and they nest in colonies in dead trees. The color of the blue heron is light blue and the beak is long.

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The great blue heron is a consumer and it eats fish, frogs, crayfish and large insects. The great blue heron is a carnivore. The animals who eat the great blue heron are coyotes, possum, raccoons, hawks, bobcats and the eagles.

Sources:
https://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20071101151734AAeoMDT
The Sibley Field Guide of Eastern Northern America. less ↑

Identification
The red eft is red with orange spots on the back. It lives in VT and New Hampshire. They will hibernate under small logs and stones. They lay eggs and they’re up to ½ inch long when hatched. They get darker as they grow.

Niche
The red eft is a consumer. It eats water fleas,crayfish, and winter fleas. It also eats small insects,springtails,snails,and other small arthropods. The red eft gets eaten by the bluegill, largemouth bass,and yellow perch.

Sources:
http://www.fcps.edu/islandcreekes/ecology/eastern_newt.htm 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
The leopard frog can be identified by its markings, colors, and size. The background color of the frog varies from a bright green to a dark greenish brown or even just brown. There are rows of circular brown or black spots bordered with white or yellow lines down upper and side surfaces of the head as well as the body and appendages. This is different from other frogs that live in this region: pickerel frog. The other frog species have rectangular spots and have red-orange coloring rather than the green-brown of the leopard frog.

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Energy Role
The leopard frog is a consumer because it eats other organisms to get its energy. The leopard frog eats almost anything that will fit into its mouth. Most commonly it will eat food such as, beetles, ants, flies, worms, smaller frogs (including its own species), and even birds and garter snakes. The leopard frog doesn’t just eat other animals, other animals eat leopard frogs. Animals such as, herons, raccoons, snakes, and owls. Leopard frogs are also brought to the kitchen. Some of us eat frog legs and they might just be a leopard frogs leg! Leopard frogs are important to us because we eat them to give us energy to get through the day.

Other Roles in the Ecosystem
In addition to being an important food source in their ecosystem, leopard frogs play some more important roles. For example, they keep insect populations in check.

Sources:
1.http://www.paherps.com/herps/frogs-toads/northern_leopard_frog/
2.http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/amphibians/northern-leopard-frog/
3.http://www.smm.org/warnernaturecenter/animals/leopardfrog less ↑

Identification
The mink can be identified by its size and tracks. A mink is the size of a small cat but slender and their skull is flat and pointed. Male minks are a bit larger than female minks. Minks are dark brown with white spots on their chins and chests. On each foot they have five webbed toes. In their tracks their heels do not show.

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Energy Role
Minks are consumers, because they eat other organisms to get their energy. A mink is a carnivore because it eats animals. The animals they like to eat are, muskrats, mice, rabbits, birds, and chipmunks. Minks are an important species in the ecosystem, they are prey for, wolves, coyote, bobcats, and even humans.

Other Roles in the Ecosystem
Mink are the main hunters of small animals all over their area. Humans are are a big predator to minks. Mink pelts have for awhile been chosen as one of the most deluxe furs on retail. Since the mid 1900s mink ranches were settled to help bring more steady pelt amount to the exchange.

Sources:

http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_are_the_natural_predators_of_the_Mink?#slide=2

http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/accounts/Neovison_vison/

Scat Tracks of the Northeast.

By: James C. P.H.D and Jim Bruchac

Wetland, Woodland, Wildland :A Guide to the Natural Communities of Vermont
By: Elizabeth H. Thompson less ↑

Identification
A muskrat looks similar to a large rat. It has 4 toes on its front feet and 5 on its back. Their rat-like tail often leaves a visible track. The walking stride of a muskrat is an average of 11 inches. Usually scat is found on the water's edge.

Niche
The muskrat is a consumer because it eats other living organisms to get its energy. Muskrats eat a large variety of plants and animals including; cattails, sedges, rushes, water lilies, pondweeds, wild rice, pickerel weed, clover, willow, acorns, sweet flag, switchgrass, mussels, crayfish, frogs, snails, and fish. As well as eating many different things, many things eat them. Some of these animals include; raccoon, red fox, owls, hawks, american bald eagles, common snapping turtles, bullfrogs, largemouth bass, cats, dogs, and even sometimes people.

Other roles in the ecosystem
As well as being an important part of the food chain muskrats serve other roles in the ecosystem. Muskrats influence the composition of local plant communities. This is important because it keeps one plant from overpopulating and lets new plants grow.

Sources~http://www.fcps.edu/islandcreekes/ecology/muskrat.htm, http://www.biokids.umich.edu/critters/Ondatra_zibethicus/ 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.

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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 ↑

Identification:
The beaver has a flat tail, is pretty large, and has webbed hind feet. You can tell if they are around by sign as well. For example, it drags its tail and covers the paw marks. Its scat’s large like a marshmallow and consists of woodchips. Scat is deposited in water.

Energy Role:
The beaver is a consumer. It eats trees. It prefers maple and cherry trees.

Sources: Track and Scats less ↑