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Giant Hogweed
- 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):
Historic USGS Maps
- Details
- Written by charlie
- Category: Low Cost Mapping
Maps many decades outdated are often still relevant, serving as a historical record and source document for tracking changing geographical data. With the emphasis on climate change and sea level rise, old maps are especially good at showing the shifting borders of wetlands, coastal areas, and changes in land use over time.
Most often the largest hurdle in making a historical map useful to a larger population is the scanning and warping, or georectification process. Scanning, while time consuming and requires great care, is but just the first step for accurately comparing old and new maps. A scanned map can be used for visual comparison, but georectification, the process of warping and digitally assigning coordinates to a scanned map, becomes important if a historical map is needed for any GIS analysis or use along side a Googlemap to accurately compare former and current conditions.
Check out the USGS Topoview Mapping Tool here and use them for your own projects!
Frozen Frogs
- 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
Wetlands in the News
29 March 2024
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How Much Can Wetlands Fight Climate Change? A New Carbon Atlas Has The Answers.
The Coastal Carbon Atlas and Library map how wetlands store carbon around the world—and put open data to work for the environment.
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Wetlands are disappearing quickly across the United States
A new report released by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service reveals wetlands — 95% of which are freshwater — covered less than 6% of the lower 48 states as of 2019. That is half the area they covered...
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As feds stand down, states choose between wetlands protections or rollbacks
For 200 miles, the Wabash River forms the border between Illinois and Indiana as it meanders south to the Ohio River. On the Illinois side, lawmakers are scrambling to pass a bill that would protect...
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Beaver Creek homeowners mount challenge to developer seeking to build homes on a parcel long thought to be undevelopable wetlands
A long-forgotten parcel at Beaver Creek is being eyed by a developer who seeks to build on land that nearby homeowners have previously understood to be undevelopable wetlands. The 13.8-acre parcel,...
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Residents Raise Concerns For Castle Hill Cluster-Home Project During Inland Wetlands Meeting
Residents went before the Inland Wetlands Commission on March 13 to express concerns with water runoff from a proposed 117 single-family home development at 20-60 Castle Hill Road.