Imagine yourself walking through a swamp, say the Everglades of Florida, for example. The surface below you is all squishy from how moist the soil is, there are several puddles of nothing but water, there are bugs swarming around you, there are various plants growing, and perhaps you see a few reptiles, mammals, or birds. What you are walking through is called a wetland. Wetlands are generally defined by their unique geographical locations, as they normally are found in areas that are either flat or areas with surface depressions. One of the most unique traits of wetlands is that they are constantly changing, and can either be found in areas that are wet, dry, or both! Some other examples of wetlands are marshes, bogs, and estuaries. While wetlands may sound useless to some people, they are actually play a major role for our world. It is because of wetlands that the amount of pollution in our water sources is not so high, that floodwater does not completely overtake a flooding city, and that we are able to harvest rice, shellfish, and furry animals.
Unfortunately for the world, our precious wetlands are dwindling. In the United States, forty-eight of the fifty states have wetlands that are now destroyed, with only a couple of states in this condition having very little of their wetlands remaining. One cause for the reduction of wetlands is human activity, in which many people use the same land of the wetlands to build farms. Human activity has also contributed to the decline of wetlands through constructing roads, excess waste being poured into our water sources, and using various pesticides, all of which negatively impact the health of our wetland areas. Restoring wetlands is crucial for the future of our environment, as wetlands help to filter out the various pollutants that enter our water, provide a home for various species, hold back excess water so that the sea levels do not rise or cause floods, and even benefit the economy for many people!
While learning about invasive species, our class researched the different invasive species that are impacting the Bay Area Wetlands in particular. The invasive species that I researched was the red fox, which originated in Europe, and were introduced to Australia and America for farming and hunting (many people were interested in their fur). Unfortunately, the red fox population has since increased, becoming a serious threat to all birds that nest on the ground. As a result, the eggs of ducks and geese that live in the Bay Area wetlands are eaten, and has also resulted in a drastic decrease in the Aleutian Canada geese population. In addition, this will also cause the amounts of natural fertilizer to decrease since bird poop is a natural fertilizer. Alongside attacking the various bird populations, the red fox has also been successful in decreasing the population of salt marsh harvest mice.
In class, we watched a documentary about the conservation of the Bay Area wetlands called "Saving the Bay". From this documentary, the class learned about the history of the Bay Area that we know an love today, that the "Save the Bay" movement was started by three women, as well as how the salt industry, fishing industry, and banking industry increased (as well as decreased) over time. Attached in this post is a picture of the sketchnotes that I took while watching the documentary, so feel free to take a look! :)
Last week, both our class and the AP Biology class went on a field trip to the Baylands Nature Preserve in Palo Alto in order to record the amount of biodiversity, soil moisture, salinity, and pH levels of both the unrestored and restored areas of the wetlands. For our class, we all predicted that as we recorded data going from near the water to near the top of the hillside, all four categories would decrease (or stay the same for biodiversity). Our class covered the unrestored area of the wetland, and was split into three groups of five. Each group was assigned one area with five different flags to represent the exact area to collect data. In our groups, we recorded the biodiversity by counting the approximate amount of species in a contained area, and measured latitude, longitude, salinity, soil moisture, and pH by using various gadgets. In the end, our group hypotheses were nearly accurate, as the biodiversity decreased. The soil moisture for all three groups was constantly fluctuating, so it was a bit difficult to determine whether it really increased or decreased. The salinity levels were rather different, as one showed that salinity decreased, one was fluctuating, and the other increased. For pH, the first two groups' pH levels stayed the same, while the last group's pH level decreased.
Citizen science refers to the public gathering data that has to do with the world that surrounds us in order to assist scientists in gathering the data that is necessary for their projects. Save the Bay relies on the general public in gathering data, and always encourages people to come and volunteer in order to restore our beautiful wetlands.
One thing that went well during our field trip was the class was able to learn more about the Save the Bay Project. Before we split into groups to collect data, we learned that the crew collects data every week from both the restored and unrestored parts of the wetlands, and also work to plant various native seeds to further restore the wetlands. We also learned that several volunteers come every weekend in order to help their cause, which has truly helped with their progress in restoration.
One area of improvement that could potentially be seen is the preparation of the equipment used, such as ensuring that every gadget for the data collection is working properly. For my group, our first set of equipment appeared to be non-functional, and required us to borrow another group's equipment so we could collect our data. It would have also been helpful to have more than just two workers assisting us, as it would have sped up the process a bit more in terms of figuring out how exactly to do everything.
Unfortunately for the world, our precious wetlands are dwindling. In the United States, forty-eight of the fifty states have wetlands that are now destroyed, with only a couple of states in this condition having very little of their wetlands remaining. One cause for the reduction of wetlands is human activity, in which many people use the same land of the wetlands to build farms. Human activity has also contributed to the decline of wetlands through constructing roads, excess waste being poured into our water sources, and using various pesticides, all of which negatively impact the health of our wetland areas. Restoring wetlands is crucial for the future of our environment, as wetlands help to filter out the various pollutants that enter our water, provide a home for various species, hold back excess water so that the sea levels do not rise or cause floods, and even benefit the economy for many people!
While learning about invasive species, our class researched the different invasive species that are impacting the Bay Area Wetlands in particular. The invasive species that I researched was the red fox, which originated in Europe, and were introduced to Australia and America for farming and hunting (many people were interested in their fur). Unfortunately, the red fox population has since increased, becoming a serious threat to all birds that nest on the ground. As a result, the eggs of ducks and geese that live in the Bay Area wetlands are eaten, and has also resulted in a drastic decrease in the Aleutian Canada geese population. In addition, this will also cause the amounts of natural fertilizer to decrease since bird poop is a natural fertilizer. Alongside attacking the various bird populations, the red fox has also been successful in decreasing the population of salt marsh harvest mice.
In class, we watched a documentary about the conservation of the Bay Area wetlands called "Saving the Bay". From this documentary, the class learned about the history of the Bay Area that we know an love today, that the "Save the Bay" movement was started by three women, as well as how the salt industry, fishing industry, and banking industry increased (as well as decreased) over time. Attached in this post is a picture of the sketchnotes that I took while watching the documentary, so feel free to take a look! :)
Last week, both our class and the AP Biology class went on a field trip to the Baylands Nature Preserve in Palo Alto in order to record the amount of biodiversity, soil moisture, salinity, and pH levels of both the unrestored and restored areas of the wetlands. For our class, we all predicted that as we recorded data going from near the water to near the top of the hillside, all four categories would decrease (or stay the same for biodiversity). Our class covered the unrestored area of the wetland, and was split into three groups of five. Each group was assigned one area with five different flags to represent the exact area to collect data. In our groups, we recorded the biodiversity by counting the approximate amount of species in a contained area, and measured latitude, longitude, salinity, soil moisture, and pH by using various gadgets. In the end, our group hypotheses were nearly accurate, as the biodiversity decreased. The soil moisture for all three groups was constantly fluctuating, so it was a bit difficult to determine whether it really increased or decreased. The salinity levels were rather different, as one showed that salinity decreased, one was fluctuating, and the other increased. For pH, the first two groups' pH levels stayed the same, while the last group's pH level decreased.
Citizen science refers to the public gathering data that has to do with the world that surrounds us in order to assist scientists in gathering the data that is necessary for their projects. Save the Bay relies on the general public in gathering data, and always encourages people to come and volunteer in order to restore our beautiful wetlands.
One thing that went well during our field trip was the class was able to learn more about the Save the Bay Project. Before we split into groups to collect data, we learned that the crew collects data every week from both the restored and unrestored parts of the wetlands, and also work to plant various native seeds to further restore the wetlands. We also learned that several volunteers come every weekend in order to help their cause, which has truly helped with their progress in restoration.
One area of improvement that could potentially be seen is the preparation of the equipment used, such as ensuring that every gadget for the data collection is working properly. For my group, our first set of equipment appeared to be non-functional, and required us to borrow another group's equipment so we could collect our data. It would have also been helpful to have more than just two workers assisting us, as it would have sped up the process a bit more in terms of figuring out how exactly to do everything.
Click this link to learn more about the red fox species! https://drive.google.com/open?id=1vffzQdioR7wLCIvzaKQGF_Bx1R2YsAoRNQEDobQK2js