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It’s Horseshoe Crab Counting Season

Written on: May 30th, 2016 in Wetland Animals

By Maggie Pletta, DNREC’s Delaware National Estuarine Research Reserve The Delaware Bay is home to the largest population of horseshoe crabs in the world, which is just one of the many reasons the Delaware Bay is so special. The horseshoe crab has been around since before the dinosaurs and is an important animal to the […]


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Peepers, Marbles, and Tigers, Oh My!

Written on: March 14th, 2016 in Wetland Animals

BY Brittany Haywood, DNREC’s Wetland Monitoring and Assessment Program Thanks to all that extra water lying around, all sorts of amphibians start to come alive this time of year in Delaware. Frogs and salamanders use these seasonal pools of water, or wetlands, to breed and can only do so because predatory fish cannot survive the […]


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Mispillion Watershed Health

Written on: March 14th, 2016 in Wetland Assessments

By Brittany Haywood, DNREC’s Wetland Monitoring and Assessment Program In the summer of 2012, DNREC’s Wetland Monitoring & Assessment Program rated the health of wetlands in the Mispillion and Cedar Creek River Watershed’s tidal and non-tidal flat and riverine wetlands. The goal of this project was to summarize recent gains and losses in wetland acreage, […]


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Coastal Storms, Wetlands and You

Written on: March 14th, 2016 in Education and Outreach

By Brittany Haywood, DNREC’s Wetland Monitoring and Assessment Program Winter storms and nor-easters brought excess rainfall, rough seas, and unseasonably high tides to Delaware this winter, highlighting the value of nature’s first line of defense against coastal storms; wetlands. Up and down Delaware’s coast, roadways were made impassable due to rising seas, buildings were battered by […]


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Getting to Know Delaware’s Non-Tidal Wetlands: Appoquinimink Watershed

Written on: March 8th, 2016 in Wetland Assessments

By Brittany Haywood, DNREC’s Wetland Monitoring and Assessment Program Every summer since 1999 our Program has gone out into the wilderness to assess non-tidal wetland health in Delaware’s different watersheds. Why you ask? Well, we want to see how healthy Delaware’s wetlands are and if they are able to perform the natural tasks that make […]


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One of Delaware’s Unique Wetland Communities

Written on: December 19th, 2015 in Education and Outreach

By Brittany Haywood, DNREC’s Wetland Monitoring and Assessment Program Coastal Plain Seasonal Ponds, also called Delmarva Bays, are small, shallow, seasonally-wet areas. They are fed by groundwater, rain or snow and usually fill up in winter and spring and dry out in summer and fall. Often surrounded by woodlands, the inner (wetter) zones feature a […]


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How Much Groundwater Do Delaware’s Wetlands Hold?

Written on: November 25th, 2015 in Wetland Research

By Brittany Haywood, DNREC’s Wetland Monitoring and Assessment Program Groundwater and Delaware’s Wetlands Approximately 71 percent of the Earth’s surface is covered in water, and it makes an incredible journey around the globe. Water can travel up into the atmosphere and back down into the land; moving from plants, to clouds, to soils, and can […]


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Installing a Living Shoreline in Lewes, Delaware

Written on: October 23rd, 2015 in Living Shorelines

A “Living Shoreline” is a method of bank stabilization that reinforces the shoreline to protect coastal properties from erosion, while also restoring and enhancing fish, wildlife water quality and wetland habitat. Unlike bulkheads and stone riprap, living shorelines use natural materials to maintain existing connections between the shoreline and aquatic areas. A number of living shoreline materials and […]


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Installing Two Living Shorelines at the Indian River Marina

Written on: October 23rd, 2015 in Living Shorelines

A “Living Shoreline” is a method of bank stabilization that reinforces the shoreline to protect coastal properties from erosion, while also restoring and enhancing fish and wildlife habitat. Unlike bulkheads and revetments, living shorelines use natural materials to maintain existing connections between the shoreline and aquatic areas. A number of living shoreline materials and tactics […]


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The Creation of the Blackbird Creek Reserve Living Shoreline

Written on: October 23rd, 2015 in Living Shorelines

A “living shoreline” is a technique used to either protect or restore a shoreline, and is built using natural materials and native plants to mimic native coastal habitats. Natural materials used in living shorelines include: sand, coconut-fiber logs coir logs and mats, oyster shell bags, live mussels and plants. Living shorelines protect the shoreline from […]


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