Wetlands, Marshes and Swamps

Scientists make measurements in Cuyahoga Valley's wetlands.

NPS / Ted Toth

Muddy marshes, woodland swamps, and temporary springtime pools are all important kinds of wetlands found in Cuyahoga Valley National Park. What is a wetland exactly? It’s any place where water soaks or covers the soil enough to support aquatic plants, or plants adapted to water-soaked soil. Regular flooding by the Cuyahoga River and its tributaries (as well as beavers) create tree-filled wooded swamp habitat. Marshes are wetlands filled with aquatic plants like cattails that grow up and out of the water. The wetland ecosystems of Cuyahoga Valley provide habitat for all kinds of aquatic creatures, from dragonflies to muskrats.

Wetlands provide numerous ecological services and are important sites of biodiversity, providing habitat for nearly half of all endangered species. As natural floodwater storage sites, wetlands store and assimilate nutrients and reduce stream erosion and stormwater-caused flooding. Unfortunately, over half of the wetlands in the United States have been destroyed over the past two centuries. Settlers drained and filled in the soggy lands to make farm fields, towns, and roads. Roughly 90% of wetlands in Ohio have been eliminated.

Human disturbances and invasive plants can alter natural wetland functions. Hydrological changes, such as increased stormwater from upstream development or dewatering by drainage ditches and tiles, affect wetland water quality and quantity and often increase pollutant levels. Wetland size, hydrology, and biological composition may change as a result. Disturbances near or within wetlands create susceptibility to the colonization of invasive plant species, which often dominate plant communities.

Wetland Monitoring

The National Park Service has documented over 1,500 wetlands at Cuyahoga Valley National Park. Non-native invasive plant species and pollution are major management issues for the park's wetlands.

Heartland Inventory & Monitoring scientists have developed a long term monitoring protocol to document the condition of a subset of wetlands within the park and to track changes in their quality over time. The protocol also includes a watershed-level analysis to evaluate how land use affects wetland condition in specific watersheds. The monitoring data are designed to support park wetland management decisions and restoration efforts.