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When Saltwater Intrusion Meets Freshwater Wetlands…

Written on: March 7th, 2018 in Wetland Assessments

By Erin Dorest, DNREC’s Wetland Monitoring and Assessment Program As you might imagine, sea level rise can increase water levels and cause more flooding. As that happens, salt water starts to move further inland. It may start to creep into freshwater areas through a process called saltwater intrusion. Higher waters can endanger coastal communities, while […]


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Well Monitoring: Can Riverine Wetlands Reduce Downstream Flooding?

Written on: March 7th, 2018 in Wetland Assessments

By Kenny Smith, DNREC, Wetland Monitoring and Assessment Program Wetlands provide many vital benefits to the State of Delaware, like habitat for all kinds of plants and animals, improved water quality, and erosion control. Another benefit that wetlands provide is flood control. Wetlands have the ability to collect and store storm waters and lessen flooding […]


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Delaware’s Crayfish

Written on: September 19th, 2017 in Wetland Animals

By Brittany Haywood, DNREC’s Wetland Monitoring and Assessment Program Did you know that Delaware has multiple species of crayfish? While crayfish may look like small lobsters, they are actually distant cousins. The most differentiating feature is that lobsters live in saltwater, and crayfish, crawfish, crawdads, or whatever you would like to call them, live in […]


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Blue Carbon: A Benefit to Protecting Tidal Wetlands

Written on: September 19th, 2017 in Wetland Assessments

By Kari St.Laurent, DNREC’s Delaware National Estuarine Research Reserve Wetlands are more than just a beautiful photo opportunity. If you are a reader of this blog, you are probably aware that tidal wetlands can protect shorelines from storm surge, reduce nutrients, and provide habitat for critters like shellfish, crabs, and fish. These benefits are collectively […]


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NVF Yorklyn Cleanup and Redevelopment: An Unprecedented Partnership

Written on: September 13th, 2017 in Wetland Restoration

By John G. Cargill, IV, DNREC Division of Watershed Stewardship/Division of Waste and Hazardous Substances The National Vulcanized Fiber (NVF) plant located in Yorklyn, Delaware has a rich history with humble beginnings in grist, snuff, lumber, and cotton. By the mid 1800s, production in the valley shifted to paper, and by the early 1900s shifted […]


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Beneficial Reuse of Dredge Material on a Tidal Marsh

Written on: May 24th, 2017 in Education and OutreachWetland Restoration

By Brittany Haywood, DNREC’s Wetland Monitoring and Assessment Program What is one way to give a marsh a lift with the challenge of rising seas? Spray the muddy material that has been dredged up from the bottom of a creek in a thin layer on top of the marsh. But how much mud is too […]


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Keeping an Eye on the Rising Tide: SSIM

Written on: May 24th, 2017 in Wetland Assessments

By Brittany Haywood, DNREC’s Wetland Monitoring and Assessment Program Coastal wetlands are a hallmark feature of the Delaware’s Bayshore, making up about 23% of all wetland types in the state. Because of the many beneficial services these wetlands provide, such as wave energy reduction, the survival of coastal wetlands is an important part of protecting […]


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Making the Great Cypress Swamp Great Again

Written on: March 16th, 2017 in Wetland Restoration

By Andrew Martin, Delaware Wild Lands field Ecologist The Great Cypress Swamp once covered nearly 60,000 acres. Although a long history of ditching and draining for agriculture and development has reduced its vast expanse, the Swamp remains Delmarva Peninsula’s largest contiguous forest and largest freshwater wetland. For the last 50 years, Delaware Wild Lands (DWL) […]


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The Bog Turtle: A Sun-Loving Harbinger of Spring

Written on: March 15th, 2017 in Wetland Animals

By Amy Nazdrowicz, Landmark Science & Engineering As residents of the Delmarva Peninsula, we are blessed with a high diversity of herpetofauna, (reptiles and amphibians), in part because of our landscape position which transitions between two physiographic regions: the coastal plain in its southern and central portions to the piedmont in the north. And no […]


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Fiddler Crabs: From Burrows to Zoea

Written on: December 9th, 2016 in Wetland Animals

By Kari St.Laurent, DNREC’s Delaware National Estuarine Research Reserve Fiddler crabs are one of the most iconic critters in the salt marsh. Male fiddler crabs have an unmistakable single large claw, paired with a tiny claw, which is used to court female fiddler crabs. But did you know that crabs start their life as microscopic […]


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