1. Utah’s Wetlands
Lanette E. Jensen 2004

2. What are wetlands?
Have you ever heard of a swamp, marsh, bog, fen, slough, pothole, wet meadow, or bottom lands? All these are names for wetlands.

3. A wetland is… To be a wetland, the land must be:
soaked with water part of the time during the year
water-loving plants must grow in the area

4. Where are Utah’s Wetlands?
Utah has many small wetland areas (ponds, marshes, riverbanks, etc...).
The biggest wetland area is around the Great Salt Lake.
The Nature Conservancy

5. The Great Salt Lake Did you know? The Great Salt Lake has no outlets.
The Great Salt Lake is bigger than the state of Rhode Island.
It produces about 3/4 to 9/10 of the world’s total harvest of brine shrimp eggs.
It is what’s left of ancient Lake Bonneville.
On line Utah . com

6. Brine Shrimp
Shrimp Photos courtesy of U.S. Geological Survey
Nine to twenty-seven million pounds of brine shrimp is harvested from the Great Salt Lake each year.
34 brine shrimp eggs can fit on the period at the end of a sentence.
Brine shrimp eggs can dry out and stay dry for decades and still hatch into live brine shrimp.
Brine shrimp eat algae in the Great Salt Lake and birds feed on brine shrimp.

7. Are wetlands in danger?
Wetlands were once viewed as “wastelands”. People were encouraged to fill these water-logged lands. Buildings, homes, parking lots, and garbage dumps were built over wetlands. This has caused about a 51% loss of our wetlands in Utah.

8. How Do Wetlands Help Humans?

9. Wetlands act like giant sponges…
During times of high water, wetlands absorb water. When water is scarce, they slowly release it to surrounding areas. This helps prevent flooding.

10. Wetlands improve the water quality…
Plants found in wetlands help to clean the sediment and impurities from the water. The walls of plant stems act as filters to clean the water.

11. Wetlands provide fun and recreation!
Since wetlands provide habitats for wildlife, wetlands make ideal spots for bird watching, fishing, and hunting!

12. What lives in a wetland habitat?
Let’s take a closer look at the wetland habitat…

13. Small things that help in big ways…
Dragonflies patrol wetlands in search of smaller insects like flies, mosquitoes, and phantom midges.

14. A Phantom Midge
A phantom midge larvae looks like a mosquito. This midge gets its name because it is almost transparent, or clear as a larvae.
How does being almost transparent help the phantom midge to survive?

15. A Boatman
The water boatman was named for its two very long legs, which are used as paddles. These long legs help the water boatman swim very fast. This insect will attach itself to plants at the bottom of a pond and breathe from a bubble of air stored around its body.
What adaptation helps the boatman to survive?

16. How do insects help a wetland habitat?
Even though insects may be small, they play an important role in the wetland habitat. Insect larvae provide important food for young birds. These insects are also a very important source of nutrients for migrating water birds.

17. Insects are the favorite meal for…
Fish
Amphibians
Other insects
Birds
Reptiles

18. Bird Wildlife in Wetlands

19. What special “tools” help birds to survive in the wetlands?
Great blue heron
The pelican has a large, fleshy bill which takes in both water and fish. The water is drained out before swallowing the fish.
Pelican
You won’t want to miss one of the largest birds found in the marsh! The great blue heron has a wing span of six feet! Look at the beak of the heron. This bird used its sharp bill to spear fish, frogs, and snakes.

20. More Tools…
Look at the legs of the American avocet. How might they help the bird to survive in a wetland?
Duck
Look at the feet of this bird. How might they help the bird to survive?
Avocet

21. What adaptations help wetland animals to survive?
Beavers are another wetland inhabitant. They need a quiet pond to live in, so they make their own! They build a dam across a stream. Slowly, the area fills up like a bathtub. It turns into a pond for beavers and other animals.
beaver

22. Making it Work!
The muskrat is another common resident of the wetland that builds a lodge.
muskrat
Canadian Goose
The smart Canadian goose will build her nest on the top of this muskrat lodge. The height makes a good lookout for predators!

23. Let’s check…
What special tools have helped birds and animals to survive in the wetlands?
How has adaptation helped animals survive in a wetland?

24. Plants in the Wetland Habitat

25. Plants help wetland inhabitants…
How do plants help wetland inhabitants? Plants are food for wetland animals.
Bulrushes are plants that grow in the water. Their seeds are food for ducks and other marsh birds.

26. It’s Lunch Time! Duckweed is a tiny floating plant eaten by ducks.
pondweed
The pondweed is found in the wetlands. Water birds feed on the tender shoots and root systems. Many insects hide in the pondweed, which are in turn more food for the wetland animals.
Duckweed

27. More Plants Cont…
Pickleweed grows by the Great Salt Lake. It gets more salty as the growing season progresses.
Algae is considered a type of “plant”. There are 50 different types of algae in the Great Salt Lake. It is dinner for brine shrimp. Yum!
photo by Greg Hofmann
Photo by Algae Gallery

28. How are plants different in the wetlands that in other biomes?
Plants in the wetlands have adapted to growing in water. Plants in the wetlands are of two different types:
Submergent
Emergent

29. Submergent and Emergent Plants
Submergent plants are plants that grow completely under the water.
Emergent plants are plants whose roots are under water, but their stems, leaves, and flowers are above the water.

30. Classifying Wetland Animals

31. Herbivores…
Some animals in a wetland habitat are herbivores. This means that they eat only plants. An insect that eats only plants would be the larvae of a phantom midge.

32. Carnivores…
Animals that eat other animals are classified as carnivores, or meat eaters. Water snakes can move easily on land or water. This makes tadpoles, frogs, and small fish a target for the water snake’s lunch.

33. Omnivores
Animals that eat both plants and animals are called omnivores. A raccoon may try his hand at catching a fish or he may settle for juicy berries.

34. Warm-blooded Animals in a Wetland Habitat

35. Mammals in the Wetlands…
Mammals are warm-blooded animals that give birth to live young.
We find many mammals in a wetland habitat. The beaver, mink, muskrat, raccoon, coyote, red fox, and skunk are a few of the mammals that you might find in a Utah wetland.
Make sure that you don’t run into this guy while you are visiting a wetland habitat!

36. Birds in the Wetlands…
California gull
Birds are at home in the wetlands! Common birds that you may see when you visit the wetlands are: the American avocet, American white pelican, California gull, Canadian goose, great blue heron, killdeer, sandpiper, mallard, marsh wren, peregrine falcon, sandhill crane, red-winged blackbird and many, many more!
Wild Things Photography
sandhill crane
grebe
Wild Things Photography
Bald Eagle

37. Birds in the Wetlands… Other birds that live in Utah’s wetlands are:
Northern Harrier
Wilson’s Phalarope
Half of the entire world’s population is at the Great Salt Lake
Snowy Plover
10,000 birds nest near the Great Salt Lake
PRBO Conservation Science
Photo Courtesy of L. F. Kepple

38. Cold-blooded Animals in a Wetland Habitat

39. Reptiles in the Wetlands
Reptiles that you might find in a Utah wetland are the ring-neck snake, the garter snake, and the smooth green snake. You may not have to look far to find them!

40. Amphibians…
Amphibians like the canyon tree frog, the northern leopard frog, the tiger salamander, the boreal chorus frog and Woodhouse’s toad all find homes in wetland habitats.

41. Fish in the Wetlands…
Fishermen might find carp, humpback chub, killifish, bass, trout, or a speckled dace.
Common Carp

42. A Look at the Wetlands
From the phantom midge to the great blue heron, wetlands are homes to all kinds of wild animals. If you visit a wetland habitat and look closely, you’ll discover some fascinating creatures!

43. Let’s Check… What is a wetland?
What special “tools” help birds to survive in the wetlands?
How are plants in a wetland habitat different than those in other areas?
What two types of plants will you find in a wetland habitat?
What are some adaptations that wetland animals have made?