Wetlands of
Virginia
SOL 6.7 and 6.5
Wetlands – Basic
Information
 There are many types of wetlands, but they can
be divided into several basic groups.
Estuaries
Swamps
Marshes
Bogs
 Does Virginia have each of these types of
wetlands?
 What has been done to destroy them?
 What can be done to preserve them?
The World’s Wetlands
Importance of Wetlands
 Flood Protection
Water moves more slowly through
wetlands, and therefore keeps it out of the
major streams and rivers like a sponge.
 Water filtration/purification
Wetlands naturally filter out sediment, and
bacteria and plants naturally process a number
of pollutants.
 Habitats for a diversity of living creatures
More than one-third of the species listed
under the Endangered Species Act are
dependent on wetlands for some part of their
life.
Wetlands exceed all other land types in
wildlife productivity .
Types of Wetlands
 The four main types of wetlands are
Marshes
Bogs
Swamps
Estuaries
There are many combinations and other
ways to classify them, but we will stick to
these four basic types.
Marshes
 A freshwater marsh is an inland area
covered with 1–6 feet of water, containing
a variety of grasses, flowers, and bushes,
rather than trees, as in swamps.
Chickahominy River
Freshwater Marsh
Wouldn’t you like to fish
here?
Bogs
 A bog is a peat-accumulating wetland.
Some shrubs and evergreens grow in
bogs, as do mosses. Most water comes
from precipitation. There is usually no
direct inflow or outflow of water.
 These pictures are from the Cranberry
Glades in West Virginia.
Dolly Sods, West Virginia
More about bogs
 Water in bogs is low in
oxygen, very acidic and
often cold!
 Insect-eating plants like
pitcher plants and sundew
often are found in bogs.
 There aren't many fish in
bogs because of the low
levels of oxygen in the
water.
 And on a gruesome
note: Preserved bodies
are sometimes found in
bogs! Decomposition
happens so slowly,
anything that falls into a
bog, including animals and
people, can be preserved
for long periods of time!
Swamps
 Swamps are slow moving streams, rivers
or isolated depressions that host trees
and some shrubs.
 One of the most famous swamps is in
Virginia.
 The Great Dismal Swamp.
 Take a look!
This is the Great Dismal
Swamp of Virginia
 The Great Dismal
Swamp has been
drastically altered by
humans over the past
two centuries.
 Agricultural, commercial,
and residential
development destroyed
more than half of the
swamp.
What has happened to the
Great Dismal Swamp?
 In May 1763, George Washington made his first visit to
the Swamp and suggested draining it and digging a
north-south canal through it to connect the waters of
Chesapeake Bay in Virginia and Albemarle Sound in
North Carolina.
 He formed two businesses known as the Dismal
Swamp Land Company and the Adventurers for
Draining the Great Dismal Swamp.
 This group hoped to drain the Swamp, harvest the
trees, and use the land for farming.
 The company purchased 40,000 acres of Swamp land
for $20,000 in 1763.
 Washington directed the surveying and digging of the
5-mile long ditch from the western edge of the Swamp
to Lake Drummond, known today as Washington Ditch.
What next?
 Camp Mfg. Company, a predecessor of Union Camp,
acquired all the Dismal Swamp Land Company's
property in 1909.
 Lumbering continued in the Swamp and by the 1950's
the last 20,000 acres of virgin timber were removed.
 In 1973, Union Camp donated its Virginia swamp
holdings to the Nature Conservancy which, in turn,
deeded it to the Department of the Interior for creation
of the Great Dismal Swamp National Wildlife Refuge.
 The Refuge consists of 107,000 acres of forested
wetlands surrounding Lake Drummond, a 3,100 acre
natural lake located in the heart of the swamp.
 William Drummond, the first Governor of North
Carolina (1663-1667), discovered the oval lake which
still bears his name.
Estuaries
 An estuary is the wide
part of a river where it
nears the sea.
 Fresh and salt water
mix.
 A wide variety of
wetlands, fresh and
saltwater exist along
the edges of these
estuaries.
 The
Chesapeake
Bay is an
estuary.
 Fresh water
from the
rivers mixes
with the salt
water from
the Atlantic.
Estuaries (continued)
 Estuaries are special places where life thrives!
Chesapeake Bay is no exception! The Bay
watershed is home to more than 3,600 species
of plants and animals.
 The Bay watershed is also home to 15.1 million
people.
 Because salt water is heavier than fresh water,
estuaries like Chesapeake Bay contain two
layers: a saltier layer that lies on the bottom
and a freshwater layer above. Mixing occurs
where the two layers meet.

Chesapeake Bay Estuary
The waters of the Chesapeake
are saltiest near the mouth of the
Bay and gradually become
fresher northward.
 The force of the earth's rotation
makes salt water accumulate on
the Eastern Shore, so water
tends to be saltier on the eastern
side of the Bay at any latitude.
 Overall, however, the proportions
of fresh and salt water in the Bay
depend largely on the amount of
rainfall that flows out of the
Chesapeake's major rivers.
 During a wet year, the entire Bay
will be somewhat fresher than
normal, and conversely, a dry
year will result in higher-thanaverage salinities.
So now you know…
….what wetlands are and why they are
important.
 You can tell the difference between
marshes, swamps, bogs, and estuaries.
 How about a look at the problems we
have caused in these natural wonders,
and how we are trying to solve them.
Wetland Destruction
 Of the original 215 million acres of wetlands
existing 200 years ago in the continental
United States, less than 100 million acres
remain.
 Wetland losses from the 1950’s to the 1970’s
averaged about 458,000 acres per year.
Agricultural development was responsible for
about 87 percent of this loss.
 Of the 100 million acres of wetlands remaining
in the continental U.S., Florida has the most,
with 11 million acres. Next are Louisiana (8.8
million), Minnesota (8.7 million), and Texas (7.6
million).
Check out the Map
A Major Problem
 The remaining wetlands, in millions of acres, are:
 Coastal Wetlands - 5.1
Inland Marshes and Wet Meadows - 28.6
Inland Shrub Swamps - 10.4
Inland Forested Wetlands - 46.3
Other Inland Wetlands - 6.1
 A lot of wetland loss is attributable to agricultural
activities, such as draining, diking and plowing of
wetlands.
 Other human activities that lead to wetlands
destruction include:
Development projects, such as subdivisions, shopping
malls and
business parks
Dikes and levees along rivers to divert flood waters
Pollution
Logging
Mining
Road construction
Non-native invasive plants
Grazing
Fixing the Problem
 In the 1990’s wetland losses have decreased
to an average of about 117,000 acres per year,
due to
 Passage of the federal government Clean Water
Act
 State and local government wetland protections.
 The vigilance of community conservationists who
challenge the ongoing draining and filling of
wetlands.
 Virginia State Water Control Law which states that
when Virginia Water Protection permits are issued,
such “permits should contain requirements for
compensating impacts on wetlands”.
 The law further states that “…such compensation
requirements shall be sufficient to achieve no net
loss of existing wetlands acreage and functions…”
(§ 62.1-44.15:5D, Code of Virginia).
Think About It?
 Preventing wetlands loss is good for the
economy, because filling or draining wetlands
costs a lot of money in lost tourist dollars,
reduction of fisheries, repairing flood damage.
 It also costs a lot more to restore a wetland that
to just protect it in the first place.
 What can you do to help prevent the
destruction of wetlands in your area?
What Have You Learned?
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What are the four main types of wetlands?
marshes, bogs, swamps, estuaries
What are three reasons for why wetlands are valuable?
flood protection, water treatment, diverse life habitats
A wetland with 1–6 feet of water, containing a variety of grasses, flowers, and
bushes is called a __?__.
marsh
A forested wetland is called a __?__.
swamp
A __?__ is a peat-accumulating wetland.
bog
An __?__ is where freshwater and saltwater mix providing for many different types
of wetlands.
estuary
The __?__ consists of 107,000 acres of forested wetlands surrounding Lake
Drummond.
Great Dismal Swamp
What human activities have cut down the size of the Great Dismal Swamp?
Logging, building/development, tourism
What Have You Learned

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The __?__ is an estuary that is home to more than 3,600 species of plants and
animals.
Chesapeake Bay
Name three factors that affect the saltiness of the bay waters?
North to South distance to the mouth of the bay, east to west because of the
Earth;s rotation, amount of rainfall
Of the original 215 million acres of wetlands existing 200 years ago in the
continental United States, less than __?__ acres remain.
100 million
Name four human practices that destroy wetlands.
draining, diking and plowing of wetlands
real estate development
road construction
mining
Name three human policies that slow down the wetland destruction today?
The Clean Water Act
community conservationists who challenge the ongoing draining and filling of
wetlands.
Virginia State Water Control Law
Sources
 http://www.audubon.org/campaign/wetland/destroy.html
 http://www.bsu.edu/ourlandourlit/Environment/Issues/Wetland_des
truction.html
 http://www.chambers-associates.org/wetlands.html
 http://www.albemarle-nc.com/gates/greatdismal/
 http://www.deq.virginia.gov/wetlands/mitigate.html
 http://www.dcr.virginia.gov/dnh/EstuarineSys_photo.JPG
 http://www.stolaf.edu/other/naturalareas/media/wetlands(500pixels).jpg
 http://greatdismalswamp.fws.gov/pdf%20files/GSD%20general%2
0broch.pdf
 http://www.nhptv.org/natureworks/nwep7f.htm
 http://www.hpl.umces.edu/~lzhong/estuary_coastal/chesapeake.jp
g
 http://www.baylink.org/fieldtrips/primer.html
 http://www.eeb.cornell.edu/biogeo/nanc/usda/ChesWshedOutline.
gif