Marshes

A marsh is an area of land that interacts with a water source in such a way that the land and water form a habitat. A saltwater marsh is a land area that abuts a saltwater body of water such as a bay. A saltwater marsh is also called a tidal marsh because the water and land have greater interaction when the tide rises or falls.

Marshes are rich in life and offer a great diversity of both plants and animals. Marshes play an important role in the ecology of local habitats as well an important biological role in sustaining quality of life within the surrounding area.

To begin, there are three types of plants: Those plants that are purely aquatic, plants that can be both aquatic and land based, and plants that are purely land based. A marsh may be contain all types of these plants but for the most part the generalized plants of a marsh are emergent. An Emergent plant may spend part of its day or week underwater and part emerged on dry land. This is the nature of a marsh. The water of a marsh rises with the tides and recedes when the tide waters drop. There is a palpable cycle and rhythm to a marsh. The organisms that live in the marsh follow that rhythm.

Pickleweed is a California native plant that grows on the edge of saltwater estuaries. It is a succulent that can tolerate the exaggerated ecology of a saltwater marsh. This is a beautiful plant that spends much of its time as a large floating colony stretching across the waterways of saltwater marshes.

Pickleweed is the primary habitat for the salt water harvest mouse which is endangered. The Savannah Sparrow which is also endangered and non-migratory utilizes pickleweed in its nest building. Several of the migratory birds such as ducks, eat pickleweed seeds. Pickleweed is also home to the saltwater dodder which is an amazing parasitical plant related to the morning glory. It can have a negative affect on pickleweed if it becomes to heavily infested that it obscures the sunlight. Pickleweed relies on photosynthesis as its source of food.

The marsh contains a great many plants. Some of them are familiar to us and others we probably never see. The Gum Plant (Grindelia Robusta) so named because it is covered in a tacky substance that is very gummy to the touch. The emerging buds seem to weep a thick milky gummy substance that attracts pollinators. The plant grows thoughout most of California and other species may be found in other states. This is an amazing plant as it is both beautiful and interesting. It considered an herb though I did not delve to far into that its medicinal purposes.

Thistle is also a populous inhabitant of the marsh. In fact, there were many different types of thistle growing throughout the marsh. Thistle are important because they provide a great deal of usable material for marsh wildlife. They provide seeds and down for nesting birds, nectar for insects and hummingbirds, and are

Huge volumes of text could be written on the ecology of the marsh. The saltwater marsh that is my favorite to visit is the Benicia State Recreation Area, located between the cities of Vallejo California and Benicia California. The marsh here is large and somewhat narrow as it is formed around the flow of water that drains from Lake Herman making its way to the Carquinez Strait, which is part of the San Francisco Bay. What is remarkable about this marsh is that is is both a saltwater marsh and to some degree a freshwater marsh. This means that the ecology here is even more diverse then a single marsh. This is also saying quite a lot because a marsh is perhaps one of the most diverse ecosystems found on the planet.

It may be best to think of the marsh in horizontal layers. The muddy silt and muck are as important as the plants and animal life that abound within a marsh. The mud which is home to many microscopic organisms and larger creatures such as insects, clams, muscles, worms, crustaceans and other invertebrates. The mud and muck is covered in plant life that plays several very important roles in marsh ecology. Plants keep the soil, mud, sand and other substrates in place. Their root system is diverse for both microbial inhabitants as well and home to larger organisms. The plants are not only food but they help to build the marsh as they die and decompose. Marsh plants, both live and dead, are a source of food for many inhabitants and at one time, even native cultures utilized the marsh plants as food. Plants within a marsh include grasses, trees, shrubs, flowering plants, herbs, and vines. Some plants are native and others are invasive but all have a role that they play.

Larger wildlife within the marsh includes deer, coyote, beaver, otters, several species of rabbit, mice, rats, voles/moles, shrew, squirrels, feral cats, many species of hawk including the kite, red shouldered, red tail and swainsons hawk, owls are also very populous. The marsh is also teaming with birds, shore birds, gulls, tern, loon, comorant, blackbirds, red winged blackbirds, seed gathers, jays, robin, and ducks. Bird and insects include permanent residents and migratory species. The insect population within a marsh is very diverse. Vistitors should expect to see dragonfly, damselfly and feel the midge. Lady bugs (lady beetles), boring beetles, butterflies, bees including bumblebee, yellow jacket, honey bee, thin waist wasp, carpenter bees, mimic flies, cuckoo wasp ( a favorite of mine) and many different species of spider, grasshoppers, ants (several species) etc. Amphibians and reptiles also abound in the marsh. Turtles, lizards, snakes, salamanders and frogs make up a great part of the marsh life as well.

The ecology of the marsh is vast and the food chain that exists here is long. The top predator of the Benicia State Recreation Area is the coyote. I have mixed feelings about the coyote as I do not feel they belong here. They seem to be here because they have no other place to go. They have been pushed out of their habitat by urban sprawl and the effects of diminished wildlife and prey. They survive within the marsh because they are the largest predator and nothing threatens them here except man. In a more natural setting, the coyote would be wary of bear, cougar (not the ones in spandex) wolf and maybe even eagles. In a sense, they have made the marsh somewhat unbalanced but even they play a role here. They have the benefit of keeping feral cat populations under control and feral cats have a negative impact as well.

The marsh is a usually a balanced ecosystem the is self sustaining. The best indication and measurement of the balance within the marsh is usually our nose. If the marsh stinks, it is out of balance. If you walk along and you do not notice the smell, then the marsh is in perfect balance.