Delaware Wetlands logo
WMAP Blog


Facebook  Twitter  Instagram  YouTube


Wetlands are Magicians of Water Quality Improvement

Written on: May 15th, 2019 in Education and Outreach

By Alison Rogerson, DNREC’s Wetland Monitoring and Assessment Program In our Wetland Monitoring and Assessment Program we speak so often about the ecosystem services that wetlands provide or the beneficial functions wetlands perform daily.  We rattle them off in varying order “provide vital habitat for plants and wildlife, improve water quality, protect our coasts, act […]


Read More

Delaware’s Freshwater Mussels

Written on: May 14th, 2019 in Wetland Animals

By Clare Sevcik, DNREC’s Nonpoint Source Program There are so many charismatic animals that make Delaware waterways their home. Most people living in Delaware can easily recognize a few of the most popular species: bald eagles, osprey, blue crabs, horseshoe crabs, beavers, river otters, and many more. But there are many more animals living below […]


Read More

Wetland Monitoring and Assessment Program: Celebrating 20 years

Written on: May 14th, 2019 in Wetland Assessments

By Alison Rogerson, DNREC’s Wetland Monitoring and Assessment Program Our Roots In 1998 the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control’s (DNREC) Environmental Scientist, Amy Jacobs (now with The Nature Conservancy), took part in a grant project held by the Delaware chapter of The Nature Conservancy and the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center. This project […]


Read More

Birding in Delaware’s Wetlands

Written on: May 8th, 2019 in Wetland Animals

By Erin Dorset, DNREC’s Wetland Monitoring and Assessment Program Birding is always exciting in Delaware. While some bird species are year-round residents, many others are migrants traveling along the Atlantic Flyway. This keeps things interesting, as it allows birders to see a very wide variety of species throughout the year. A lot of these awesome […]


Read More

Great Things Come Naturally in Laurel, Delaware: Wetlands and Bioswales

Written on: March 11th, 2019 in Wetland Restoration

By 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 Ramble […]


Read More

Realtors and Wetlands: What You Need to Know to Help Clients Purchase and Build Wisely

Written on: February 27th, 2019 in Education and Outreach

By Brittany Haywood, DNREC’s Wetland Monitoring and 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 […]


Read More

Seeing the Marsh through the Forest

Written on: December 3rd, 2018 in Wetland Assessments

By 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 […]


Read More

Hunting Your Way Through Wetlands

Written on: December 1st, 2018 in Wetland Animals

By Kenny Smith, DNREC’s 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 […]


Read More

Delaware’s Most Famous Freshwater Bryozoan

Written on: December 1st, 2018 in Wetland Animals

By William Koth, DNREC’s 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 […]


Read More

SAV, What Is It And Why Should I Care?

Written on: November 27th, 2018 in Wetland Restoration

By Michael Bott, DNREC’s 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 […]


Read More
+