Decomposers & Water Resources Pollution

1. Decomposers & Water Resources Pollution

2. WETLANDS • Lands that are wet, either inundated or saturated for varying periods during the growing season • identified by specific plants (hydrophytes) and characteristic hydric soils • critical habitat type • historically underappreciated resource • we’ve lost more than 50% nationally • valued now more than ever for: • wildlife and plant habitats • flood control • ground and surface water purification • sediment control • aesthetics Wayne College

3. Wetland • Poorly Drained Soils – After precipitation, find standing water. • Contains Hydrophytes- water loving plants • Can live in low oxygen when submerged in water. • Hydrology- Standing water • Massachusetts wetlands include: • swamps, bogs, marshes, salt marshes, • kettle holes, lakes, ponds, rivers, streams, and vernal pools

4. RiverMoving Water

5. RIVERINE HABITATS • includes streams, rivers, and streamside wetlands • includes habitat along rivers and streams known as riparian zones Oklahoma University Bruce Molnia – Terra photographics Chris Keane – American Geological Institute

6. LAKES AND PONDS Lake Monomonac – MA COLAP VT Dept. of Environmental Conservation Lacustrine Wetlands – permanently flooded

7. Ponda body of water smaller than a lake.

8. SWAMPS, BOGS, & MARSHES • Palustrine wetlands which are some of the more common wetlands of Massachusetts. Swamps are dominated by woody plants, Bogs are peatlands lacking an overlying layer of soil, and Marshes are flooded year round and have visible emergents (vegetation that grows its stem above and below the water level. VT Dept. of Environmental Conservation

9. SwampStanding water most of the yearDominated by by shrubs and woody plants

10. Bogsa wetland type that accumulates acidic peat, a deposit of dead plant material.

11. VERNAL POOLS • shallow depressions in the landscape without a permanent outlet capable of holding water for several months while supporting certain amphibians, and invertabrates • typically filled in the spring (latin = vernal) from snow melt and spring rains • some pools fill in the fall with rising ground water tables • some fill from both sources • drying of pool is a critical feature of these habitats as it prevents the pool from supporting breeding populations of fish Vernal Pool Association – Leo P. Kenney

12. Vernal Pool

14. RESERVOIRS • Also known as lacustrine wetland • man made Waterbodies • provide drinking water to communities across the Commonwealth • provide recreational opportunities such as fishing, hiking, and nature watching • provide buffer from development • largest reservoirs in MA are Quabbin and Wachusett

15. Wetland concerns • Most wetlands are linked intricately with our groundwater and surface water supplies. • Most wetlands have been lost to draining, development, and agriculture. • Over 85 percent of the inland surface water was controlled artificially and more than half the nation's fish populations were suffering from the effects of water pollution and high temperatures

16. Natural Services Provided by Wetlands • Wetlands continue to provide crucial ecological services, including • filtering and conserving water, • flood control, • shelter and food for fish and wildlife. • help maintain cycles essential for life on earth, such as the carbon, methane, nitrogen, and sulfur cycles. • preservation and restoration of wetlands and natural waterways may be a more cost effective means of maintaining drinking water quality than expensive water treatment technologies

17. GROUND WATER USGS

18. Ground Water Terms • Water Table • Aquifer • Infiltration • Recharge • Discharge • Porosity • Permeability • Ground water Movement USGS

19. Water Resource Concers

20. PCB’s Acid Rain Dams Raw Sewage

21. GROUND WATER USE All USGS

22. GROUND WATERUSE TRENDS USGS

23. EUTROPHICATION The natural aging process of a lake or pond • OLIGOTROPHIC • lakes and ponds just after the glaciers retreated • very clear • nutrient poor • low productivity • similar to our modern reservoirs • MESOTROPHIC • a middle aged lake or pond • like many Massachusetts waterbodies • moderate clarity, nutrient levels, and productivity • EUTROPHIC • high algae levels • high plant levels • nutrient rich • very productive • mature waterbody

24. CULTURAL EUTROPHICATION University of Manitoba Experimental lake 227 in 1975 showing marker floats used for intensively studying this small, experimentally fertilized lake

25. University of Manitoba Experimental Lake 227 in 1994 after the addition of phosphorous for the 26th consecutive year

26. CULTURAL EUTROPHICATION

27. ALTERATIONS TO WETLANDS Martin Miller – University of Oregon channeled river

28. Martin Miller – University of Oregon golf course in a desert environment

29. Filling wetlands for housing development in the Florida everglades

30. Tom Sims – University of Delaware runoff from agricultural croplands

31. Creation of the Quabbin Reservoir before 1927 1939 during after 1989 Les Campbell

32. Hoover Dam DAMS Lynn Betts - NRCS Resulting Lake (Lake Meade) Complete Change in habitat from riverine to lacustrine Bruce Molnia – Terra Photographics

33. WATER POLLUTION Point Source Non – Point Source EPA USGS

34. WATER QUALITY USGS

35. DETERMINING WATER QUALITY USGS Ron Nichols - NRCS USGS

36. Dissolved Oxygen Biochemical Oxygen Demand Temperature pH Nitrates WQI Coliform Bacteria Turbidity Phosphorous Total Solids

37. What does this index tell us? • Water Quality Index Ranges • 90 – 100 = excellent • 70 – 90 = good • 50 – 70 = medium • 25 – 50 = bad • 0 – 25 = very bad • drinking • Swimming • boating • fishing • irrigation Uses

39. Drilling holes with sufficient distance enables the organim the advantage over other local fungi There is always a struggle; Competition between organisms Those with the advantage survive and pass on their traits to their offspring.

40. Innoculating hardwood with mycellium

44. Hot Wax seals the mycellium, sterilizes the outer edge, seals in moisture, keeps out competitors

46. Essential to document, label trials,

47. Puffballs