New York Swamps Do you like turtles? What if there were none? Turtles live in swamps. They also eat plants, but there is a type of plant that invades other plants space,AND THE GOOD PLANTS ARE GOING AWAY! The plant is called the “Purple Loosestrife”, and it is invading where other plants have to grow.We need you to help us pull out the purple loosestrife.

Swamps, bogs, and marshes What is the important job of swamps and wetlands? Swamps and other wetlands absorb and hold rain water, snow melt, and lots of water at once to help prevent floods. Also, they absorb and collect water and move it to wells, and back to groundwater. What is the difference between swamps, bogs, and marshes? Swamps are wetlands with trees. Marshes are wetlands with plants in or above the water, like cattails. Bogs are wetlands that are more acid than neutral or alkaline. There are many plants that are only found in bogs, like pitcher plants and sphagnum moss.

Invasive Plants and Animals An invasive species is a species that blocks out other species. They can either be plants or animals. They are from a different place. Purple loosetrife came from Great Britain, Southern and Central Europe, Central Russia, Japan, Manchuria, China, SouthEast Asia and Northern India. It crowds out the local plants that the local animals need for food and shelter. This is an invasive plant species. The carp fish can be a bully because they were born in Asia, not New York. There are no animals trying to hurt them (predators) because they are in Asia and the carp is here.

Native Animals Bald Eagles are an important piece in the food chain in the swamps. They are predators. If there were no bald eagles in the swamp it would be CHAOS because it would mess up the food chain. They were disappearing because there were pesticides that were thinning the eagle eggs. PEOPLE MADE A DIFFERENCE AND STOPPED THOSE PESTICIDES! Now... people are reintroducing bald eagles! They’re also reintroducing peregrine falcons. Purple loosetrife and carp can crowd out the animals eagles eat, and the plants those animals eat. Without those animals, eagles won’t live.

Plan of Action We talked to Mr.Beck, published author, about the purple loosestrife. Purple loosestrife is a common plant, but it doesn't belong in our area.Our school participates in community service projects, and we asked for the older students to help us pull out the purple loosestrife at a local swamp this spring. Then the native plants and animals would have room to live and grow.

Observations and Reflections: We decided to include individual reflections as our observation. Well when I first think of swamps I think of snakes and crocodiles. But now I have a different perspective. I now know that there are SO many different types of swamps! Student C

Observations and Reflections I have learned a lot in this project, and swamps are something that some people don’t really think about it as much as we have.I don’t really think about what problems are in the swamps, and what animals are in there, and so on, but I think I am sort of connected to swamps and marshes now and I’m excited to share it! - Student B I feel different because the animals are so cute and the swamps are cool and I think of the animal and swamps all the time and now I want to work there. -Student A

Conclusion/Solution Swamps are important because animals live in them and they give flood water a place to go.Invasive plants and animals harm swamps, and local plants and animals.We hope the purple loosestrife doesn't grow back.If it doesn’t, this would let the good plants and animals grow.

Conclusion/Solution People should be more careful about whether the plants they plant are local. If they aren’t they can really hurt the local ecosystems. People should also not introduce animals into an ecosystem if they aren’t local, because they can crowd out or bully our local animals.

References/Citations The Nature Conservancy: http://www.nature.org/ Thousand Acre Swamp: http://www.nature.org/ourinitiatives/regions/northamerica/unitedstates/newyork/placesweprotect/centralwesternnewyork/wherewework/central-thousand-acre-swamp.xml Montezuma Wildlife Refuge: http://www.fws.gov/refuge/Montezuma/ Bald Eagles: http://www.fws.gov/refuge/montezuma/wildlife_and_habitat/baldeagle.html Carp: http://www.fws.gov/refuge/montezuma/wildlife_and_habitat/carp.html National Wildlife Refuge (purple loosetrife): http://refugeassociation.org/advocacy/refuge-issues/invasive-species/purple-loosestrife/ Our local expert, who we interviewed: Mr. Bob Beck, author of “The Journey at Malloryville Bog”: http://www.bobbeckauthor.com/