DE - Volunteers Needed to Help Report Sudden Wetland Dieback Locations
Delaware’s Sudden Wetland Dieback Task Group is seeking volunteers to report sudden wetland dieback (SWD), a condition affecting salt marsh vegetation within Delaware’s Inland Bays. SWD is the rapid death of at least the above-ground parts of salt marsh vegetation or the failure of plants to grow during single or multiple growing seasons.
Delaware residents can report the occurrence of SWD by completing the Delaware Volunteer Salt Marsh Monitoring Form. The form and additional information are available on DNREC’s web site, www.dnrec.delaware.gov A map of the reported and confirmed locations of SWD will be added as locations are determined.
Delaware's first instances of SWD were reported last summer along the shores of the Inland Bays. Led by scientists from DNREC’s wetland monitoring and assessment team, preliminary data on the condition of marshes with and without SWD were collected as part of a larger study to evaluate the health of the Inland Bays tidal wetlands. A SWD Task Group, led by DNREC and the Center for the Inland Bays, was formed to develop a strategy to monitor SWD and determine if restoration efforts will be required to prevent the loss of these marshes. In 2006, aerial surveys of approximately a quarter of the salt marshes within the Inland Bays found that 41% of marshes exhibited some vegetation dieback.
“Sudden wetland dieback is of great concern,” said Amy Jacobs, environmental scientist with DNREC’s Watershed Assessment Section.
“Delaware’s Inland Bays have already lost large areas of salt marsh as a result of human activities. Our salt marshes are high-value ecosystems that are vital to the health of the Inland Bays and our coastal heritage.
Dieback events need to be identified, monitored, and carefully managed to prevent rapid loss of these critical resources.”
Salt marshes protect coastal development and protection of lands from erosion and storm surges, provide critical habitat for wildlife, regulate bay and coastal ecology by filtering and storing nutrients and sediments, help regulate climate, and provide invaluable aesthetic appeal.
Sudden wetland dieback can result in the death of the vegetation in salt marshes. When SWD occurs, a marsh appears brown or dead, because little or no live green vegetation is present and the dead plants from the previous year remain, or the underlying surface is exposed. Sudden wetland dieback has occurred along the East coast from Louisiana to Maine during the past decade, however SWD was first identified in Delaware in June 2006.
DNREC is seeking short-term funding through the EPA and the Center for the Inland Bays to monitor SWD to determine the distribution and recovery of dieback areas. A combination of remote sensing tools, comprehensive aerial photography and onsite data collection will provide valuable information to help scientists determine if restoration activities for affected sites that don't recover on their own are required. The Task Group also recommended that more research is needed to understand the dominant stressors affecting tidal marshes that may lead to SWD.
The SWD Task Group includes scientists from DNREC, Center for the Inland Bays, the Maryland Department of Nature Resources, Maryland Coastal Bays program, Duffield Associates, DelDOT, University of Delaware, and Wetlands Research Services. For more information contact Amy Jacobs with DNREC’s Division of Water Resources, 302-739-9939 or Chris Bason with the Center for the Inland Bays 302-226-8105.
Delaware residents can report the occurrence of SWD by completing the Delaware Volunteer Salt Marsh Monitoring Form. The form and additional information are available on DNREC’s web site, www.dnrec.delaware.gov A map of the reported and confirmed locations of SWD will be added as locations are determined.
Delaware's first instances of SWD were reported last summer along the shores of the Inland Bays. Led by scientists from DNREC’s wetland monitoring and assessment team, preliminary data on the condition of marshes with and without SWD were collected as part of a larger study to evaluate the health of the Inland Bays tidal wetlands. A SWD Task Group, led by DNREC and the Center for the Inland Bays, was formed to develop a strategy to monitor SWD and determine if restoration efforts will be required to prevent the loss of these marshes. In 2006, aerial surveys of approximately a quarter of the salt marshes within the Inland Bays found that 41% of marshes exhibited some vegetation dieback.
“Sudden wetland dieback is of great concern,” said Amy Jacobs, environmental scientist with DNREC’s Watershed Assessment Section.
“Delaware’s Inland Bays have already lost large areas of salt marsh as a result of human activities. Our salt marshes are high-value ecosystems that are vital to the health of the Inland Bays and our coastal heritage.
Dieback events need to be identified, monitored, and carefully managed to prevent rapid loss of these critical resources.”
Salt marshes protect coastal development and protection of lands from erosion and storm surges, provide critical habitat for wildlife, regulate bay and coastal ecology by filtering and storing nutrients and sediments, help regulate climate, and provide invaluable aesthetic appeal.
Sudden wetland dieback can result in the death of the vegetation in salt marshes. When SWD occurs, a marsh appears brown or dead, because little or no live green vegetation is present and the dead plants from the previous year remain, or the underlying surface is exposed. Sudden wetland dieback has occurred along the East coast from Louisiana to Maine during the past decade, however SWD was first identified in Delaware in June 2006.
DNREC is seeking short-term funding through the EPA and the Center for the Inland Bays to monitor SWD to determine the distribution and recovery of dieback areas. A combination of remote sensing tools, comprehensive aerial photography and onsite data collection will provide valuable information to help scientists determine if restoration activities for affected sites that don't recover on their own are required. The Task Group also recommended that more research is needed to understand the dominant stressors affecting tidal marshes that may lead to SWD.
The SWD Task Group includes scientists from DNREC, Center for the Inland Bays, the Maryland Department of Nature Resources, Maryland Coastal Bays program, Duffield Associates, DelDOT, University of Delaware, and Wetlands Research Services. For more information contact Amy Jacobs with DNREC’s Division of Water Resources, 302-739-9939 or Chris Bason with the Center for the Inland Bays 302-226-8105.
posted by Cris Draper, the Trail Master at 5:00 PM
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