Size and Functions of Wetlands in Okefenokee Swamp - Essay Example

Site Analysis of Okefenokee Swamp Site Analysis of Okefenokee Swamp The existence, size and functions of wetlands in Okefenokee Swamp are in continuous control by the hydraulic processes. Distributions in the wetland, vegetative composition and the type of soils primarily results from geology, climate, and topography. Differences are also because of movement of water within or through the wetland, quality of water and the extent of human or natural disturbance. As a result, the wetland vegetation and soils alter the velocities of water, chemistry, and the flow paths Cohen (1984). The hydrologic and the roles wetland engage in changing the quantity of water flowing through them are in relation to the wetland physical nature. Wetlands are distributed in the United States due to the differences in geology, water source, and climate. They consume a wider area as far as the coastal margins. In this article, I will consider the wetlands in West Virginia and the effects they have to the locals concerning the agricultural sector. West Virginia has a vast number of wetlands associated with streams. They occur in floodplains and are mainly associated with lakes or can occur as an isolated land feature. Wetlands results in large open water bodies and vegetation such as the Okefenokee Swamp. Hydrological process of wetland Hydrologic processes that occur in wetlands are the processes that exist in the healthy water body and are collectively referred as the hydrological cycle. The cycle consists of components such as the precipitation, groundwater flow, surface water flow, and evaporation Cohen (1984). Wetlands continually receive water and lose it through the exchange in the atmospheres, ground water, and streams. Both of the systems provide a conducive geological setting and appropriate and constant supply of water that are necessary for the existence of the wetlands. The wetland water sum is the sum of the inflows and outflows from the wetland. The total water amount for the wetland is represented in the equation below Components of wetland water budget. (SWI +P + SWI = SWO + ET + GWO + ÆS, Where P= precipitation, SWI = surface-water inflow, SWO =surface-water outflow, GWI = ground-water inflow, GWO = ground-water outflow, ET = evapotranspiration, ÆS = change in storage.) The importance of each component in maintaining the wetland is dynamic in terms of spatiality and time lasted, but all the components do interact to create for the existence of an individual wetland. The importance of every component in a wetland varies in the composition of the hydrological cycle from wetland to wetland. The Okefenokee in Georgia is a typical prairie pothole. As a result, it receives direct precipitation and a considerable amount of runoff from the surrounding uplands as well as ground water inflow. It loses water to evaporation, keeping to groundwater or overflow in conditions of excess precipitation and runoff. Wetlands are considered as a complex ecosystem in which underground water and surface water interact with each other, but since the underground water can’t be observed its function in the cycle of wetlands is difficult to comprehend compared to that of surface water. Wetlands do have the ability to filter nutrients and other constituents, and this has resulted in the construction of artificial wetlands in other parts of the US Wielder (1989). However, wetland effectiveness in improving the quality of water relies on the hydrologic cycle, type of vegetation and the constituent concern Zedler and others, (1985). Soil composition of a wetland The features of wetland soils are because of anaerobic soil bacteria, both the facultative and obligate bacteria do exist in saturated areas of this kind of grounds. By law, the land is wetland when the wetland features are present on or near the surface of the ground. When soils are saturated, and the air removed from soil pores, anaerobic bacteria become the dominant in the microbic community of the soil. These bacteria use the non-oxygen substances as their electron acceptors. When organisms respire, they transfer electrons linearly from one molecule to another. From every transfer of electron, energy is produced for the organism’s life processes. In wetlands, the organisms use a variety of substances as electron acceptors such as nitrate, manganese, sulfate and carbon dioxide. Al Fe Si L M1 M2 H L M1 M2 H L M1 M2 H L M1 M2H H Mean 18.8 19.7 14.4 12.6 18.8 19.6 14.9 9.1 26.4 19.4 12.2 8.3106.0 106.2 105.2 115.1 81.8 Standard deviation 8.2 7.5 4.2 2.6 10.7 8.8 5.3 1.9 18.5 13.0 6.6 4.0 30.7 26.5 16.6 11.6 Minimum 6.8 8.2 7.3 7.9 3.9 5.9 6.9 5.8 2.5 4.7 2.7 2.6 54.4 70.0 93.5 68.2 Maximum 32.6 40.1 22.6 16.7 36.0 42.1 23.6 11.9 62.8 51.2 25.0 16.1 150.4 167.8 152.6 102.1 n 18 18 18 11 14 18 17 11 14 18 17 11 13 17 17 11 Four flow situations stream chemistry. Where H is high flow, MI and M2 are medium flow and L is the low flow. Al is alluminium, Fe is iron and Si units are in moles per litre. Since ferric is quite common in most soils, anaerobic bacterium adds an electron to it resulting in ferrous iron. Soils containing ferrous oxide are white or gray in color while dryer ones are yellow or red. The presence of a gray soil near the surface of the soil is an indication of a wetland soil. Manganese, majorly black in color are also indicators of wetland Cohen (1984). Due to inefficiency of anaerobic bacteria in decomposition of matter, the wetland soils tend to be rich in organic matter than unsaturated soils, the horizon of the soils are entirely composed of organic matter. Importance of soils Wetlands in most cases are the habitat of several and economically plants and animals. The processes that occur in the wetlands are of great importance to the environment. Wetland soils filter contaminants in three different ways, and physical filtration does occur when the water with suspended sediment ends up in a wetland. Since the water is slowed, the sediment settles on the swamp bed. Secondly, biological filtration occurs when the anaerobic bacteria use nitrate molecule as electron acceptor, reducing it to nitrogen gas that is necessary to adjacent crop fields. And, chemical filtration due to excessive composition of the wetland with cation exchange capacity, the positively, charged ions are selectively removed from the water Cohen (1984). Topography of a wetland From the scientific field of view, topography influences wetlands and streams water chemistry. The effects of topography are of importance since it controls the subsurface water contact time Beven and Kirkby, 1979. From the begging of 1990 several ways of deriving attributes from elevation data have been put forth for applications in hydrology. The attributes are subdivided into two secondary and primary attributes. Topography has a greater impact on hydrology and it affects soil water content, residence time, flow paths (Nyberg, 1995), and as a result the chemical composition of surface water is affected Wolock et al., 1989. A secondary attribute is the wetness index of topography. (TWI), ln (a/tan _), where a is the upslope area per unit contour length and tan _ is the local slope Beven and Kirkby (1979) Quinn et al., 1995. The higher the index, the closer the ground water table to the surface. It follows that wetlands occur in areas with high wetness index values, and it is possible to predict the locations of these areas by calculating the topographic wetness indices in catchment areas. The likelihood of achieving this depends on the relation between the spatial resolution of the data used in the calculation of the index and the typical length scales of the topography in the catchment Rodhe and Seibert, (1999). The scale and terrain roughness of the analyzed Landscape of the elevation of data sets limits for a better result (Moore et al., 1993, Wolock et al., 1994; Zhang and Montgomery, 1994; Tarboton, 1997). The calculation of wetness indices is sensitive to Hydrol. topography Vegetation cover percentage Fen Bog Mixed Sum Mean 7.7 1.6 2.3 3.1 7.0 Standard deviation 7.5 1.5 1.9 2.4 6.2 Minimum 0.5 0 0 0.2 0.2 Maximum 20.3 5.1 10.9 8.6 21.1 N 18 18 18 18 18 Wetland statistics of Okefenokee Swamp in terms of vegetation cover. Climates of a wetland The Okefenokee is an area where water covers the land surface throughout the year. The climatic conditions in the swamp are warm and occasionally humid tropical are experienced. The lagoons or shallow marshes characterize the swamp, and the water is completely salty. Since the swamp is an inland wetland, it is covered with forests. In conclusion, the Okefenokee Swamp is important for flood control and eliminates the threat of the flooding to the locals. The swamp is also rich in organic matter; this enables the swamp to host a variety of organism’s supports a variety of animal life hence serves as a diverse ecosystem within the surrounding. Reference Cohen, A. D. (1984). The Okefenokee Swamp: Its natural history, geology, and geochemistry. Los Alamos, NM: Wetlands Surveys. Read More