Blog Post #4

Wetlands and estuaries act as a temporary holding ground for water as it goes through the watershed. The wet soil with even standing water provide habitat for many organisms, many of which are only found there. Due to the slow movement of the water and the density of plants in the muddy soil wetlands and estuaries are able to serve their primary function of filtering and cleaning the water that goes through them. Not all wetlands and estuaries are the same though; for instance Edmonds Marsh has significantly more water than Carkeek Park did. Where Edmonds was a very large open area full of standing water Carkeek Park was more muddy everywhere with creeks running through it. Additionally due to the size and wetness of Edmonds Marsh all the trees were on the edges unlike Carkeek that had constant canopy cover. The deciduous trees present in both locations tended to be the same though Edmonds had very little conifer trees and had much more grasses and cattails.

Wetland restoration is extremely important to combat the destruction of other wetland areas, naturally reduce the runoff pollution from urban areas, and provide habitat for critical keystone species like salmon. It seems that the Edmonds Marsh is attempting to return the marsh back to its natural condition due to how well it is doing and how relatively few invasive species there are. In areas like that where there is not an active attempt to keep out invasive species they tend to be overrun with European Blackberries.

While I was at the park I saw a variety of plants, one animal species, and several insects that were too small to really see.

• I identified some wild rosebushes just off the path that I have identified as Rosa nutkana. Nearly all wild roses look the same but I believe it is the Rosa nutkana due to the location and their fondness of wetlands. Their buds can serve as a food source to insects, herbivores, and other smaller animals in addition to making a really tart jam. The wild rose however does have pretty significant prickles to protect itself from larger herbivores.
• Cattails, or Typha latifolia, could be seen throughout the marsh as they were the only plant growing in the regions with standing water. Near the solid land there were a number of what was left of their flowers with some of the "cotton" still on them. The cattail is an extremely dominate plant in wetlands and serves as a source of food and shelter material for many animals.
• The Great Blue Herons were in the middle of the marsh. They primarily eat small fish but will eat nearly anything and has little to no predators due to its size and flight making it an apex predator.

I wonder if the proximity to the doggy daycare and the train affects the smaller prey animals in the park? I know a year ago the fence to the daycare was see through and that combined with the noises may cause the prey animals to always be on edge.

Wild Rosebush - Rosa nutkana

Cattails - Typha latifolia

Very bad photo of Great Blue Herons