Blog Post #4: Edmonds Marsh

This was my first time to Edmonds marsh and I enjoyed the time I spent their. From what I read one of this specific marsh's purposes is to be a stopping point for migrating birds. Although I did not see many birds at the marsh I was not aware the Seattle area is a bottle-neck for bird migration. Marshes are important because they provide a habitat for fresh and salt water organisms. The flooding allows marine life to come and go through different waterways. because of the constant flooding. They also act as a filter for much of the storm water runoff. Similar to the wetlands at Carkeek park, Edmonds marsh works as a home to Salmon while they adjust to sea/fresh water.

I observed an organism named Equisetum Temateia (Horsetail). Only poisonous in large doses, this organism will remove vitamin B from your system creating health problems. Horsetail is high source of minerals for other organisms, and reproduce using spores. Wetland restoration is important in Washington because we need as much filtration of storm water as we can.From my observations of Edmonds marsh, the restoration they appear to be using is the one more tolerant of invasive species, it would be too hard to return the marsh back to it's natural state since the original 40 acres has shrunk to 20. I was not aware of all the benefits wetlands have to all species. There seemed to be a lot of mud at the marsh, is this beneficial or not to the ecosystem?