Plants and Wildlife
Plants and Wildlife
- Details
- Written by charlie
- Category: Wetland Plants
Beyond its impressive size, Giant Hogweed is notorious for its sap effects on skin - worse and longer lasting than than poison ivy. The sap sensitizes skin to the suns UV rays within 15 minutes, causing blisters to form within 24-72 hours, which can leave scars behind lasting months to years. The affected areas often remain sensitive to UV light, potentially leading to a recurrence of blisters years later. Even worse, if the sap if gotten in the eye, it can cause blindness.
The N.Y. Department of Health recommends that if the sap contacts skin, it be washed off with cold water immediately and either apply sunscreen or cover up the affected areas since this can prevent further reactions. The toxic reaction can begin as soon as 15 minutes after contact. If Hogweed sap gets into the eye, rinse with cold water immediately and put on sunglasses.
Giant Hogweed also is considered invasive, and quickly crowds out native species in areas it colonizes. In a dominant stand, up to 80% of incoming light is absorbed by its large leaves and flowers, shading out any species which fall under its canopy.
According to the NY DEC, the plant grows in New York, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Ohio, Maryland, Oregon, Washington, Michigan, Virginia, Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine.
Hogweed control is difficult; it produces a prodigal amount of seeds, between 20,000 to 100,000 per year, which can remain viable for upto 7 years in the soil. Additionally, its large root can survive multiple cuttings. Control using multiple applications of herbicide over a few growing seasons is most successful. Additional info here:
Giant Hogweed in CT
Giant Hogweed Control
Hogweed Control
The Giant Hogweed Best Practice Manual, (available in multiple languages):
- Details
- Written by charlie
- Category: Wetland Wildlife
The Alaskan Wood frog take a different approach to cold weather. Rather than avoiding freezing, it is embraced, but managed in such a way that tissue and organ damage is nonexistent. The frogs increase the level of glucose in their tissue in the late fall, forcing water to remain inside the cells, inhibiting ice crystal formation.
When the temperature falls below freezing, up to 60% of the frogs body is frozen solid and its respiration and heart cease for the duration. In Alaska, the frogs are frozen for most of the winter, approximately 7 months. In more temperate areas, the frog goes through the freeze and thaw cycle multiple times throughout the winter, depending on the weather. Upon the arrival of warmer weather and longer days of early spring, the frog thaws out, and starts singing!
Further Reading:
In Alaska, wood frogs freeze for seven months, thaw and hop away
Amazing Alaskan Wood Frog Freezes Solid in Winter and Comes Alive in Spring
- Details
- Written by charlie
- Category: Wetland Plants
Multiflora rose, despite its wonderful scent, is an invasive species, found in both wetlands and uplands, excludes native plants from growing by crowding them out of their natural habitat. The thickets these roses bushes create can become so large and dense they have been planted roadside as a natural crash barrier.
Its cousin, the swamp rose (Rosa palustris) is found in moist soils, but can also thrive in drier soils, is also very fragrant, found with larger, pink flowers. It is an anolomy among roses, which almost as a rule, do not tolerate "wet feet".
Moving further down the trail, I was not able to find any blue flag, (Iris Versicolor), the defacto natural wetland iris found in the Northeast, but I did discover a stand of yellow iris' (Iris pseudacorus) on the north eastern shore of the lake. The yellow iris is the only yellow iris in the US and will grow in upto 1 foot of water. It is also considered invasive for the same reasons as the multiflora rose, it excludes all other plants from the area by growing large stands of plants.
Further Reading:
Invasive Yellow Iris
Swamp Rose
Subcategories
Wetland Plants
A section about Wetland plants and their unique features.
Wetland Wildlife
A section about Wildlife found in wetlands.
Wetlands in the News
28 April 2024
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One goal of the $500K wetlands project is to curb the flooding of the Killbuck Creek
Benefits of H2Ohio project include harnessing the power of the regular flooding of the Killbuck Creek into feeding the wetlands.
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Louisiana federal refuges, state wildlife areas get $3.9 million to restore wetlands, forests
Nature-based improvements to forests and wetlands in seven national wildlife refuge complexes and five state wildlife management areas in Louisiana will be funded with more than $3.9 million of federa...
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Streams that supply drinking water in danger following 2023 Supreme Court decision that stripped wetlands protections: Report
A Supreme Court decision that stripped protections from America's wetlands will have reverberating impacts on rivers that supply drinking water all over the U.S.
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Volunteers needed for Great Gwinnett Wetlands event
Gwinnett Clean & Beautiful and Gwinnett County Department of Water Resources are requesting volunteers for the 10th Annual Great Gwinnett Wetlands event on May 4.
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How restoration of wetlands, streams can improve water quality, biodiversity in Nigeria —US-based scientist
In this interview with IFEDAYO OGUNYEMI, Samuel Babatunde, an environmental scientist and researcher at the Western Illinois University, United States of America, speaks on challenges facing...