Using a hiking stick to beat back brambles and branches, Kristie Gianopulos carved a path through the woods into an open area full of cattails, mud and chattering birds.
The site was just off the Oak Creek Greenway in Cary. While located by a busy road and an active construction site, a bald eagle soared overhead, a jack-in-the-pulpit sprouted from a log and a heron took flight.
This area is classified as a wetland, Gianopulos said, and specifically as a freshwater marsh. She should know, as she is a wetlands scientist with the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality's Division of Water Resources. Gianopulos pointed out the features that she, and other scientists, use to distinguish a wetland.
“We look for particular kinds of plants that can tolerate a lot of water, but we also look for certain features in soil, like whether it’s a grayer color or a very black depending how much organic decomposition has happened, and then we also look for evidence of water,” said Gianopulos.
To make the point, DWR wetland specialist Steve Anderson plunged a shovel into the ground, pulling it up to reveal water several inches down. They pointed to the gray color of the gooey soil left on the shovel – another sign of an area that routinely holds water.
“If there is water on the surface, it’s really wet,” Anderson said. “But sometimes you can’t tell, and you actually have to dig a hole and look at the soil.”
Where the wetlands are
North Carolina has wetlands across the state – along the coast, in the mountains and in the Piedmont. The state has at least 4.2 million acres of wetlands, which constitutes about 14% of the state's total land area.
DWR has launched an interactive map showcasing 240 different publicly accessible wetlands across the state, including the wetland located off the Oak Creek Greenway Trail in Cary. Along with the online map, DWR has launched a printable Wetlands Passport to help the public locate those wetlands and learn more about them.
“We have a wonderful variety of wetlands in North Carolina from the salt marshes on the coast to the Piedmont riverine floodplain wetlands to the bogs in the mountains,” Gianopulos said. “All of these have very special functions.”
For example, estuarine wetlands, or wetlands located in areas where saltwater and freshwater meet, help support commercially important species of fish and shellfish. Away from the salt, freshwater marshes are also home to frogs, toads and bugs, birds, beavers and otters. Wetlands also give a place for water to go during rain events, help slow down and filter water, and recharge aquifers.
“In general, what we see in freshwater wetlands – because the salt is not there (like you would see in a marsh with saltwater and freshwater) – is we see a huge variety of plant species,” she said. “If you can start to recognize the different kinds of plants, and count all the different ones, if you get a high number – 15, 20, 25 different kinds – chances are higher that you’re in a freshwater marsh.”
There is a diversity of wetlands even in the Triangle, Gianopulos said. At Hemlock Bluffs Nature Preserve in Cary, there are forested wetlands at the bottom of the bluffs, located along a creek.
“They provide a place for water to go… help to slow down the water, and settle out the sediment and purify the water,” she said. “This is very important flood protection type of wetland.”
She pointed to species of trees, like tulip poplars and red maples, and other shrubs like spicebush, that can tolerate water. In a patch of sunlight, patches of white lilies were blooming. The flowers, known as Atamasca lilies, are wetland plants. She also pointed out a wetland pool separate from the creek that she said can dry out in the summer as trees and other plants drink up lots of water as they leaf out.
“These areas are also really important for amphibian breeding because the fish tend to not be in the little pockets and pools,” she said. “The fish need permanent water, and a lot of times, these little depressions will dry out. The amphibians can come in to breed, and the tadpoles are not eaten by the fish. This is a great place to look for frogs in this type of wetland.”
Tracking wetland conditions
In addition to creating the interactive map for the public, DWR’s wetlands team has also created a wetlands plant guide to help the public learn about the plants that can be found in the state’s wetlands.
Since their job is also to track the condition of state’s wetlands, they also have published a map showcasing reports on the health of wetlands located around the state.
“One of our jobs is to assess the quality and function of our existing wetlands that we have left so we are trying to understand how well they’re doing or how poorly,” she said. “So we do need to get into the interior to see if the plants are doing well and if there is good water in the wetland.”
To learn more about the different types of wetlands found in North Carolina, go to ncwetlands.org.