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Wetlands
Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge
What is a Wetland?
Earth Stewards Partners
Biodiversity in the Wetlands
Biodiversity in the Wetlands
| | Each year, the students visit the Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge. Following are facts written by students on their experience.
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| | Ms. Denise Dachner and Marilyn Gammett from the US Fish and Wildlife Service, who are part of the staff of the Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge, spoke to the students about the creation of the Refuge Complex. The objectives are about how the National Wildlife Refuge lands are managed, the value and types of wetlands and why and how the Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge is managed.
Here are some interesting facts we learned.
1. 200 years ago, California had more than 5 million acres of wetlands. Now we have less than 300,000 acres left.
2. The salmon running in the rivers used to be so numerous that the rivers could be crossed by walking on the backs of fish, and the skies were darkened by the flights of migrating birds. Of course the grizzly bears and mule elk which were previously plentiful are no longer found in the Central Valleys.
3. The first loss of the wetlands occurred by creating agricultural lands. A big impact was the building of the Central Valley Water Project, including all the dams which diverted water and prevented the annual floods.
4. The six refuges of the Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge Complex were- created to compensate for the loss of natural wetlands. The headquarters, Sacramento NWR, features 5 specific habitats: Seasonal Marsh, Watergrass, Permanent Ponds, Uplands, and Riparian areas.
5. There are many divisions within the National Wildlife Service - refuges are only one of them.
6. Sacramento National Wildlife Complex provides food, water and shelter for 44% of the Pacific Flyway waterfowl migration and for 300 species of wildlife.
7. Wetlands are diverse and meet specific wildlife and human needs.
8. The Sacramento Nation Wildlife Refuge Complex is composed of the: Sacramento, Delevan, Colusa, Sutter, Butte Sink, and Sacramento River Refuges.
Reasons for establishment of the Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge:
- Endangered species habitat protection
- Wintering waterfowl habitat management
- Education and recreation
- Management orientated research
- Crop depravation preventions, keeping the birds out of the farmers fields
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| | 1. We learned that 3 factors determine whether an area can be classified a wetland: soil, plants, and water. Our U.S. Fish and Wildlife speaker (Marilyn Gemette) demonstrated how fast water seeps through different soil mixtures. The mixture that was mostly clay didn't let the water through at all--that's the kind of soil we have here in the Sacramento Valley area. Some of the facts about wetlands soils are:
- Wetlands soils are poorly drained
- Wetlands soils are made up mostly of tighly packed clay particles.
- Wetlands soils are not well suited to development
- Saturated wetland soils are anaerobic
- Wetlands soils have high concentration of iron
- Wetlands soil often produce "marsh gas"
2. The second topic was primarily about the wetland plants and their adaptations to life in water and in heavy, clay soils that do not allow oxygen down to the roots. Some of the general concept learned about wetland plants are:
- Wetlands plants live in or near water
- All living things (cells) need oxygen to survive
- Wetlands soils have little or no oxygen
- Wetlands plants have special adaptations to take oxygen to their roots
- Wetland plants have special cell structures for strength and nutrient passage and floating
- Wetland plants provide food, shelter, cover or nesting through their structures
These are the plants we focused on arranged by habitat area:
- Seasonal Marsh: Smartweed provides food for ducks. Tuberous bulrush provide seed for ducks and stem bases for geese.
- Watergrass habitat: Watergrass (also called millet) provides a rich food source in August before the surrounding rice fields are harvested. One acre of this crop yields 2000 lbs of seeds.
- Permanent Pond: The very tall--up to14 feet--roundstem bulrush, also called tules, provide some food but mostly a dense shelter and nesting area.
- Uplands/grasslands: Saltgrass is found here and in vernal pools. It is able to excrete the salt often found in the clay soils. Native Americans and early settlers would sprinkle the salt crytals dusting the ends of these leaves on their food to season or preserve it.
- Riparian habitat: Willow and cottonwood trees both have little holes along the bark and at the base of each leaf to allow the transmission of oxygen. The cattails are pierced throughout their stems and leaves with similar holes. Although the cattails scatter a fluffy seed, they propagate primarily via rhizomes which are a favorite food for muskrats who use the stems and leaves for shelter.
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| | The Earth Stewards project at Chico Junior High School would not be possible without some wonderful and involved partners. The project is supported by the Sacarmento National Wildlife Refuge staff and the United States Fish and Wildlife Service. Other partners include California Ducks Unlimited, Valley CARE (Conserving Agriculture Resources & Enviroment) program, Sacramento River Restoration Consortium and other agencies.
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| | From our partners we learned all about Straw Rolling, which is a way to get rid of the rice stubble without burning, and about "wildlife friendly farming."
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| | The presentation here focused on the needs of freshwater wetland wildlife and the importance of wildlife diversity for a healthy ecosystem and the identification of common wetland wildlife species. Some of the general concepts are:
- Diversity is influenced by habitat
- Interaction of plants and animal life within an ecosystem influences the abundance of diversity
- The variety and abundance comprise biodiversity
- Stability of an ecosystem depends on biological diversity
An adaptation is anything special about a plant or animal that helps it survive in an area, the following is a list of the adaptation of some of the bird families at the refuge:
- Waterfowl - Flat bill, long neck, webbed feet
- Raptors - Binocular vision, tearing beak, grasping talons
- Wading Birds - Long sharp bill, long body, long legs
- Shorebirds - Smaller than wading birds, long legs and bills
- Perching - Three toes forward, one backward
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