Edmonds Marsh

Wetlands and estuaries serve an important role in our ecosystem. At their base, they are a unique environment where a mass of biodiversity can survive and thrive. The wetlands are a natural filter in the earth that helps to remove materials from water before it reaches the ocean. Because these systems are made up of a mixture of fresh water and salt water they support a plethora of species year round. Because of this, they are a great resting/feeding spot for migrating birds.

The Edmonds Marsh is similar but different to Carkeek Park. At their core, they both have a mix of salt water and fresh water and are massive hosts to life. The biggest difference that I noticed is the types of flora in the area. Carkeek had the plant life that one would usually associate with forest/woods. By contrast, the Edmonds Marsh didn't have an abundance of trees. This could be related to the logging that took place there in the past, but I don't know for sure. I also noticed an abundance of cattail in the Marsh, where I don't recall seeing any at Carkeek.

The only animals that I saw while on my trip were the great blue herons. Because of weather conditions the rest of the animals in the area were hiding, though that didn't stop me from imagining garter snakes all around me. Blue Herons are one of two apex predators in the area, the other being the Red-Tail Hawk. Neither of these two species preys on the other (so far as I know), but they do pray on virtually everything else in the marsh.

The plant life that I found all serve largely the same purpose as each other, to provide food and/or shelter to the animals in the area while filtering and surviving off of the water coming in from the ocean and streams. I was able to identify the cattails in the water the salmonberry bushes, but I couldn't identify the majority of species. I took photographs at the site to later do research.

Wetland restoration in the PNW is very important for a host of reasons. At its core, wetlands filter contaminants out of the water supply. In our region, this is especially important for the survival of salmon, a keystone species. So far as I could tell, the efforts at the Edmonds Marsh seem to be most focused on restoring the marsh to its original state and keeping invasive/non-native species out of the marsh. I could be wrong, however, since my knowledge of non-native plant species is lackluster at best. I think that this is the best option because it is near impossible to predict what can/will happen if you allow non-native invasive species to come into an ecosystem.

As silly as it sounds, what I most took away from this trip was my discovery that we have cattail in Washington. I had always pictured it in Louisiana style swamps. I knew that estuaries are an important place for migrating bird species, but despite living here my entire life I never knew that we had a marsh in Edmonds.

My question about behavioral biology from this trip is wondering how the animal species managed to survive during the hundred years or so that the marsh was being tampered with by humans. The marsh almost halved in size, so I am wondering how much this effected bird species populations, and how their migratory habits had to adapt to the change.