A . Life at the 



Waterworks 



State Museum Opens Freshwater Wetlands Exhibit 



By Jeannie Faris 



A freshwater 

 wetland calls at- 

 tention to itself in 

 subtle ways. 



It might be 

 the low, bass 

 croak of a bullfrog 

 or the clacking 

 calls of a cricket 

 frog, a noise like 

 marbles striking together. 

 It might be the sight of the 

 endangered Venus' s-flytrap slowly 

 closing its needle-tipped leaves over an 

 insect, a thatch of cattails or a red- 

 spotted newt darting over soggy plants. 



These are some of the many natu- 

 ral signs that you're near one of North 

 Carolina's freshwater wetlands. Cer- 

 tain plant and animal species are actu- 

 ally better indicators of a wetland than 

 water, which isn't always a permanent 

 feature. Some wetlands are dry for part 

 of the year, making them trickier to 

 identify than others that are wet year- 

 round. Some have standing water, 

 while others have saturated, soggy soil. 



The differences among these habi- 

 tats can be sweeping. But the links 

 between freshwater wetlands and their 

 roles in flood prevention, biodiversity 

 and water quality are undeniable. 



The N.C. State Museum of Natural 

 Sciences has opened a new exhibit, 

 Freshwater Wetlands: Life at the Wa- 

 terworks, to reverse outdated images of 

 wetlands as wastelands and to educate 

 the public about their natural functions, 

 says Barbara Beaman, assistant direc- 

 tor of school programs at the museum 

 and wetlands project coordinator. 



Three years in the 

 making, the exhibit was a 

 response to public con- 

 fusion over federal ef- 

 forts to restrict the defi- 

 nition of wetlands — a 

 definition that involves 

 trade-offs between eco- 

 nomic and environmen- 

 tal concerns. The mu- 

 seum staff decided that 

 people needed a better under- 

 standing of what wetlands are and 

 how they function. 



"People were being faced with 

 articles in the papers, and they were 

 confused," Beaman says. "We thought 

 that this would be an opportunity to 

 provide information on why freshwater 

 wetlands are important biologically." 



From the 50 varieties of freshwa- 

 ter wetlands recognized in North 

 Carolina, the museum chose six 

 to showcase in the exhibit. 

 "We picked wetlands that 

 were significant in some 

 way ... that represented 

 the diversity of freshwater 

 habitats in our state," 

 Beaman says. 



Their diversity also 

 extends to the functions 

 that wetlands perform. Most 

 play a role in improving water 

 quality, cleansing the water that 

 runs over and through them. The im- 

 pact reaches miles downstream, inex- 

 tricably binding freshwater wetlands to 

 their briny counterparts along the 

 coast, where inland waters eventually 

 drain. Wetlands actually slow moving 

 water, trapping sediments, filtering out 



pollutants and then gradually releasing 

 it into a stream, river or estuary. As a 

 result, coastal waters are healthier 

 homes for fish and shellfish because 

 upstream pollutants have been re- 

 moved. 



The coastal shrimping industry 

 obviously benefits. So do the migra- 

 tory waterfowl that need a marshy 

 stopover. Each wetland type — from 

 the pocosin to the mountain bog — 

 contributes to the diversity and beauty 

 of nature. Taken as a whole, wetlands 

 are home to one in three of the nation's 

 endangered plants and animals. In 

 North Carolina, 70 percent of the 

 plants and animals listed as rare, 

 threatened or endangered species are 

 linked to wetlands habitat. 



Beyond these water quality and 

 habitat functions, many wetlands also 

 reduce flooding in rivers and 

 estuaries. During high 

 water, they act as 

 sponges, soaking 

 up and storing 

 the water in their 

 soils and then 

 releasing it 

 slowly. 

 These are 

 lessons that 

 Beaman wants 

 museum visitors to 

 take home with them, 

 whether they're from the east- 

 ern or western corner of the state. The 

 teaching tools include interactive dis- 

 plays, a dozen live exhibits, full-color 

 video of wetland plants and animals, 

 and recordings of their sounds. The 



Continued 



COASTWATCH 21 



