Facebook Twitter Instagram Pinterest YouTube RSS Feed
Written on: February 21st, 2019 in Wetland Assessments
The Appoquinimink River watershed is highlighted in dark purple.
by Erin Dorset, DNREC Wetland Monitoring & Assessment Program
Back in 2016, you were introduced to Delaware’s Appoquinimink River watershed and the types of stressors that we were looking for in our wetland health assessments. At that point, we had recently wrapped up our field work in that watershed, but we hadn’t yet completed any data analysis. We promised to keep you updated within the next couple of years with the results of all that tough work….and here, we deliver!
The final count of wetland sites that we assessed turned out to be 30 estuarine wetlands (salt or brackish marshes), 31 flats, 36 riverine wetlands, and 27 depressions. With all four of those wetland types combined, the Appoquinimink River watershed’s wetlands were in fair condition—better than some watersheds, but worse than others.
Most of its wetlands were considered moderately stressed (49%), but quite a few were categorized as minimally stressed (34%), with the smallest proportion being severely stressed (17%). This meant that the wetlands in this watershed received a final overall letter grade of C+.
The Appoquinimink River watershed’s wetlands as they compare to the overall condition of 8 other previously assessed watersheds in Delaware. Each bar represents the percentage of minimally, moderately, and severely stressed wetlands in each Delaware watershed.
A dense stand of invasive common reed (Phragmites australis) in an estuarine wetland
Breaking it down by wetland type, estuarine wetlands received the lowest letter grade of C. Their hydrology was in excellent condition, meaning that the water moved the way it should over the land. They remarkably lacked ditches, which are common in Delaware’s salt and brackish marshes.
However, their buffers (the land area around the wetland) contained some disturbances, and often lacked continuous forests or natural areas. These buffer stressors could introduce polluted water runoff into wetlands or decrease the amount of important wildlife habitat available to migrating animals.
Habitat refers to the status and condition of the plant communities and any roads within the wetland, and in this watershed it was in very poor condition. This is largely because of invasive plants, low marsh stability, and low vegetation thickness, all of which could be signs of marsh decline.
Non-tidal freshwater wetlands (flat, riverine, depression) were a bit of a different story. They were in better overall condition than estuarine wetlands: Flats received a B-, riverine wetlands, a B, and depressions, a B.
Ditching through a flat wetland in the Appoquinimink watershed.
Habitat and hydrology were in great condition overall for these non-tidal wetlands! Unfortunately, invasive plants were still detected in some wetlands, and ditching was present in some flats and depressions. Invasive plants can rapidly spread and displace native species, while ditching often reduces the water levels in wetlands creating an area that is not survivable for many animals and plants.
However, the main issues for all three of these freshwater wetland types were buffer stressors (problems in the land area around the wetland), as all of these wetlands scored very poorly for their buffers. Common buffer stressors for these wetland types included development, roads, and agriculture in the landscapes. These problems could increase unintentional impacts to non-tidal wetlands, such as polluted water runoff or reduced nearby wildlife habitat.
We estimated that approximately 1,972 acres of wetlands have been lost in the Appoquinimink River watershed in the time period from the early 1700’s (human settlement of the area) to 2007. These wetlands were lost mostly because of human impacts such as residential and commercial development, roads, and agriculture. That’s a lot of wetlands!
The watershed has actually gained some wetlands in recent years too (290 acres from 1992 to 2007), but nearly all of the gained acreage is from the creation of ponds that are associated with development, roads, or golf courses. Such unnatural wetlands often lack plants and do not function as well as natural wetlands, so they by no means replace natural wetlands.
Additionally, some estuarine marshes along the coast of the Delaware Bay have become submerged and lost under water because of rising sea levels.
A beautiful water-filled depression wetland in the Appoquinimink River watershed.
Fortunately, now that we have assessed wetlands in the Appoquinimink River watershed, we know what the significant threats are. This allows us to come up with solutions, and we need your help to accomplish them! Here are some ways you can help:
To find out if you live in the Appoquinimink River watershed, visit Find Your Watershed Address. And, to see if you have wetlands on your property and more ways that you can help, visit the Freshwater Wetland Toolbox.
The full scientific report and the shorter, reader-friendly report card for the Appoquinimink River watershed are both in their final editing stages, and will soon be publicly available on the WMAP wetland health website! There, you can also view and download reports and report cards from all other watersheds that have been assessed and analyzed to date. Data for the tidal and non-tidal assessments can also be found on the Delaware Open Data Portal.
For questions about this report please contact Erin.Dorset@delaware.gov.
Written on: March 11th, 2019 in Outreach
by Brittany Haywood, DNREC Wetland Monitoring and Assessment Program One part of our job is going out into the public and explaining simply our research and the benefits of wetlands. We often use the saying, “wetlands are like sponges” to describe their ability to absorb water, but recently we’ve been asked exactly how that is […]
Written on: March 11th, 2019 in Wetland Restorations
Guest writer: Jules Bruck, University of Delaware Great things come naturally in Laurel, Delaware including the new green infrastructure treatments that are popping up along the Broad Creek – home to the future Laurel Ramble. This past summer the Sussex County Conservation District broke ground on a parcel of land in the center of the […]
Written on: February 27th, 2019 in Outreach
by Brittany Haywood, DNREC Wetland Monitoring & Assessment Program Wetlands are a part of our everyday lives. They are in the landscape silently helping to control flood waters, clean our drinking waters and protect us from damaging storms. Knowing what wetlands are, where they are, how they work, and what can and can’t be done […]
Written on: December 4th, 2018 in Outreach
by Brittany Haywood, Wetland Monitoring & Assessment Program Working in wetlands takes a certain breed of people, the kind that has to have a sense of humor. You have to deal with interesting smells, sticky conditions, and bugs that manage to find their way into unwanted places (such as your eye or nose). But if […]
Written on: December 3rd, 2018 in Wetland Assessments
Guest Writer: LeeAnn Haaf, Partnership for the Delaware Estuary Sea levels are rising in the Delaware Estuary– we’ve already observed its effects. Over the last couple decades, we have seen dramatic losses of tidal marsh acreage and documented the death of trees bordering those tidal marshes. We know that the last hope for a lot of […]
Written on: December 1st, 2018 in Wetland Animals
by Kenny Smith, Wetland Monitoring and Assessment Program Wetlands provide many services to us, like purifying our water, flood protection, and wildlife habitat. The animals that live in our wetlands can provide ample opportunities for outdoor activities like bird watching, fishing, and hunting. Delaware’s typical hunting and trapping seasons start in September and concludes at […]
Written on: December 1st, 2018 in Wetland Animals
by Erin Dorset, Wetland Monitoring & Assessment Program In the spring and summertime, Delaware’s wetlands are teeming with wildlife. Frogs and toads are heard in chorus, calling for mates; turtles are observed slowly walking through the woods or basking on logs and rocks in the water; snakes are seen slithering across mosses or trees. But […]
Written on: December 1st, 2018 in Wetland Animals
Guest Writer: William Koth, Delaware State Parks Bryozoans may be one of our most overlooked and underappreciated animals. Known as “Moss Animals,” bryozoans are small, simple animals rarely growing more than 1/25th of an inch in length. However, most bryozoans form colonies that can vary greatly in number, form, and size. Bryozoan biology Each individual […]
Written on: November 27th, 2018 in Wetland Restorations
By Michael Bott, DNREC Watershed Assessment and Management Section Have you ever wondered why there is so much submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV), also called seagrass, in the tidal waters of Virginia and Maryland but not in Delaware? This is a question many researchers and regulators in the state have been trying to solve and this year […]
Delaware's Governor
State Agencies
Elected Officials
General Assembly
Delaware Courts
State Employees
Cities & Towns
Delaware State Code
State Regulations
Business First Steps
Phone Directory
Locations Directory
Public Meetings
Voting & Elections
Transparency
Delaware Marketplace
Tax Center
Personal Income Tax
Privacy Policy
Weather & Travel
Contact Us
Corporations
Franchise Tax
Gross Receipts Tax
Withholding Tax
Delaware Topics
Help Center
Mobile Apps
E-mail / Text Alerts
Social Media
Built by the Government Information Center
©MMXVIII Delaware.gov
