recolonized by traditional plants, but 

 by some marsh fringe or upland plants, 

 including cedars, high tide bush, and 

 similar species. 



Thus, there are some rather subtle 

 affects of ditching that one may not 

 have considered. For example, ditching 

 effects the seasonal cycle of nutrients. 

 Pomeroy described the quick turnover of 

 nutrients, such as phosphorous, and 

 their importance in wetlands, but there 

 was a seasonal periodicity to it and 

 ditching greatly alters that. 



A case history of altering a water- 

 shed will give some further documenta- 

 tion of what I mean. Glacial Lake Hack- 

 ensack was formed long ago in New Jer- 

 sey, just west of Manhatten. After sea 

 level went down, the glacial lake became 

 a big white cedar swamp. The swamp was 

 approximately 11 to 16 km (7 to 10 mi) 

 wide in places and 32 km (20 mi) from 

 north to south. During the 18th and 

 19th centuries, American pioneers estab- 

 lished transportation corridors across 

 the swamp consisting of cedar trees that 

 they had cut and laid on their side 

 (called plank roads). Some of the cedar 

 swamp was a little bit lower, occasion- 

 ally inundated by the tides, and it sup- 

 ported vegetation (salt meadow hay Spar- 

 tina patens ). Nearby land owners became 

 concerned about where their property 

 line was in this cedar swamp. They 

 started making ditches to show where 

 their property lines were. 



With a change in economic consid- 

 eration, cedar became important for pen- 

 cils, poles, and other purposes. Soon 

 the residents started to cut the cedar 

 trees. Over the years they cut all of 

 them. They mainly cut in winter time 

 when the swamp would freeze over. They 

 put "meadow shoes," which were like snow 

 shoes, on the horses. In went the horse 

 and wagon and the poles were cut and 

 hauled out. The residents sold the cedar 

 poles and cut the salt meadow hay. Some 

 hay was sold for food for horses, but 

 most of it was used for insulation for 

 ice houses and for packing material. 

 Thus, the high marsh was continually 

 bisected by new ditches. Where other 

 plants, Typha for example, started to 

 grow, residents would take a scythe and 

 cut them so they would not keep en- 

 croaching on their land each year and 



would have a valuable salt hay meadow to 

 work. 



About that time, residents and gov- 

 ernment agencies started ditching for 

 mosquitoes. But they did not put the 

 dredged material out on the marsh sur- 

 face beside the ditch because it was 

 rich peat, and there was a lot of inter- 

 est in agriculture, hot houses, green- 

 houses, and truck farms. So they loaded 

 the peat on a barge and sold it to near- 

 by residents for their potting sheds. 



When people started populating the 

 area so heavily that they needed a 

 source of freshwater, they dammed up the 

 headwater of the Hackensack River estu- 

 ary and essentially cut the flow of 

 fresh water into the estuary; 100% of 

 the flow was diverted at least IOC days 

 out of the year. 



All these changes have occurred 

 within the last 200 yr in what was once 

 a meadow land-cedar swamp. Within the 

 last 40 to 45 yr Phraqmites communis has 

 invaded and covered most of the former 

 swamp. 



How does one make decisions about 

 an area like this? Does one make the 

 decision based on what plants are there 

 today? Does one add all that informa- 

 tion that I have discussed and integrate 

 that into his thinking? I believe we 

 also have to think about the future of 

 this area. If these events have taken 

 place in 50 yr or 200 yr, perhaps the 

 meadowlands are in some sort of ephem- 

 eral state that is slowly, maybe rather 

 quickly, transgressing to a low level of 

 upland. I do not know the absolute 

 future of the meadowlands, but I think 

 it is a good scenario to evaluate when- 

 ever one considers ditching or diking. 

 I believe that this case history may 

 serve to illustrate a very dynamic, 

 interactive process. 



LITERATURE CITED 



Bourn, W.S. and C. Cottam. 1950. Some 

 biological effects of ditching 

 tidewater marshes. U.S. Dept. In- 

 terior, Fish and Wildlife Service. 

 Res. Rep. 19. 30 pp. 



Odum, E.P. 1971. Fundamentals of eco- 

 logy. W.B. Saunders Co., Philadel- 

 phia. 574 pp. 



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