1 00:00:05,519 --> 00:00:08,479 Speaker 1: Hi, everybody. Chuck back again with another edition, I believe 2 00:00:08,560 --> 00:00:11,840 Speaker 1: number eight in our Thanks spring the playlist, and today 3 00:00:12,200 --> 00:00:15,040 Speaker 1: you're going to be learning all about wetlands because the 4 00:00:15,120 --> 00:00:19,800 Speaker 1: name of the episode is wetlands exclamation point, Wetlands exclamation point, 5 00:00:20,079 --> 00:00:22,000 Speaker 1: wetlands exclamation point. 6 00:00:22,520 --> 00:00:25,079 Speaker 2: Can you tell we love wetlands? I think you will too. 7 00:00:31,080 --> 00:00:34,200 Speaker 3: Welcome to Stuff you should Know a production of Iheartradios 8 00:00:34,240 --> 00:00:35,160 Speaker 3: How Stuff Works. 9 00:00:41,000 --> 00:00:44,760 Speaker 2: Hey, and welcome to the podcast. I'm Josh, and there's 10 00:00:44,920 --> 00:00:47,600 Speaker 2: Charles and Jerry's over there, and this is stuff you 11 00:00:47,640 --> 00:00:50,559 Speaker 2: should know, the Dripping Wet. 12 00:00:50,320 --> 00:00:54,200 Speaker 1: Edition in These wet Lands. 13 00:00:56,680 --> 00:00:59,000 Speaker 2: What I knew that you would not get? That? Is 14 00:00:59,040 --> 00:01:00,720 Speaker 2: that a secret reference? 15 00:01:00,960 --> 00:01:03,200 Speaker 1: Oh gosh, why do you have to say Segar when 16 00:01:03,240 --> 00:01:04,480 Speaker 1: you always mean Springsteen? 17 00:01:05,360 --> 00:01:10,680 Speaker 2: Was that Springsteen? Yeah? It's bad lands, Okay, baby, These 18 00:01:10,680 --> 00:01:12,040 Speaker 2: wetlands are born to run. 19 00:01:12,680 --> 00:01:14,280 Speaker 1: Sure, run water. 20 00:01:14,720 --> 00:01:18,800 Speaker 2: I don't. I don't like myself anymore. Run water. That 21 00:01:18,880 --> 00:01:22,759 Speaker 2: was a great save, Chuck. Thanks, So we're talking wetlands. 22 00:01:22,800 --> 00:01:25,639 Speaker 2: I have to say we have to give a shout 23 00:01:25,680 --> 00:01:29,920 Speaker 2: out to Tom Peterman, the foul mouthed wetland biologist who 24 00:01:30,040 --> 00:01:32,280 Speaker 2: keeps asking us to do this episode. Oh is that 25 00:01:32,319 --> 00:01:34,640 Speaker 2: where this came from mm hmm. It was a Tom 26 00:01:34,680 --> 00:01:37,880 Speaker 2: Peterman suggestion, although I had already wanted to do it anyway. 27 00:01:38,040 --> 00:01:40,760 Speaker 1: So yeah, I mean, we love our sciences, man. This 28 00:01:40,800 --> 00:01:43,720 Speaker 1: one was I was just smiling from ear to ear 29 00:01:44,160 --> 00:01:44,880 Speaker 1: researching this. 30 00:01:45,440 --> 00:01:50,760 Speaker 2: Can you imagine watching a blacksmith forge something in a wetland, 31 00:01:51,120 --> 00:01:52,360 Speaker 2: in a flooded woodland? 32 00:01:52,880 --> 00:01:56,600 Speaker 1: No, I just that's nirvana right there, It really is. 33 00:01:58,040 --> 00:02:01,840 Speaker 2: So we're talking wetlands everybody. And Dave Ruz helped us 34 00:02:01,840 --> 00:02:04,680 Speaker 2: put this one together. A good one. And Dave likes 35 00:02:04,720 --> 00:02:06,600 Speaker 2: to pop in jokes every once in a while. And 36 00:02:06,680 --> 00:02:11,079 Speaker 2: he said does He said, what makes a wetland wet water? 37 00:02:11,919 --> 00:02:15,720 Speaker 2: And then he says, in all seriousness, that's basically that 38 00:02:15,800 --> 00:02:20,280 Speaker 2: the water has to be largely present at least some 39 00:02:20,320 --> 00:02:23,079 Speaker 2: parts of the year in the soil, in such amounts 40 00:02:23,160 --> 00:02:25,679 Speaker 2: that you would call something wetland. I mean, think of 41 00:02:25,720 --> 00:02:29,560 Speaker 2: the name wet land. It's about as earthy a term 42 00:02:29,600 --> 00:02:31,280 Speaker 2: as science gets. 43 00:02:31,480 --> 00:02:34,800 Speaker 1: Yeah, And he frontloaded this with a few stats and 44 00:02:34,840 --> 00:02:36,280 Speaker 1: I won't go through all of them, but I'll go 45 00:02:36,320 --> 00:02:40,480 Speaker 1: through a few that kind of are instructive as to 46 00:02:40,520 --> 00:02:45,440 Speaker 1: why I love wetland so much. Here's one, although wetlands 47 00:02:45,480 --> 00:02:47,480 Speaker 1: make up only five percent of the land surface in 48 00:02:47,480 --> 00:02:50,520 Speaker 1: the United States, they are home to thirty one percent 49 00:02:50,840 --> 00:02:54,959 Speaker 1: of our plant species. Yeah, not bad. One third of 50 00:02:54,960 --> 00:02:59,400 Speaker 1: America's threatened or endangered species species live only in wetlands. 51 00:02:59,760 --> 00:03:02,440 Speaker 2: I would propose that that's slightly misleading. I think they're 52 00:03:02,520 --> 00:03:06,239 Speaker 2: endangered because they live in wetlands, and wetlands are endangered, 53 00:03:06,240 --> 00:03:10,119 Speaker 2: as we'll see. Hmm, think about it, Chuck. 54 00:03:10,120 --> 00:03:13,360 Speaker 1: I don't know. I took it more as like they're. 55 00:03:13,160 --> 00:03:15,440 Speaker 2: All hiding out in the wetlands because it's a terrible 56 00:03:15,440 --> 00:03:16,240 Speaker 2: place to hide out. 57 00:03:16,440 --> 00:03:18,800 Speaker 1: No, it's not bad because it's got thirty one percent 58 00:03:18,800 --> 00:03:20,600 Speaker 1: of the plant species. I mean, it's a pretty rich, 59 00:03:21,240 --> 00:03:25,480 Speaker 1: biodiverse area to live in if you're an endangered species. 60 00:03:25,240 --> 00:03:30,959 Speaker 2: For sure. All right, Tomato, Well, we'll have to hear 61 00:03:31,040 --> 00:03:34,880 Speaker 2: from Thomas Peterman, the Foulmouth Wildlife for Wetland biologists, who 62 00:03:34,880 --> 00:03:35,640 Speaker 2: can let us know. 63 00:03:35,680 --> 00:03:39,160 Speaker 1: What does he say, like, do f and wetlands already? Yes, 64 00:03:39,520 --> 00:03:42,240 Speaker 1: that kind of thing. Yeah, I like this guy. 65 00:03:42,640 --> 00:03:44,120 Speaker 2: I think that's an exact quote. 66 00:03:44,720 --> 00:03:45,839 Speaker 1: Yeah, he's my kind of dude. 67 00:03:47,520 --> 00:03:49,920 Speaker 2: So another stat that I thought was pretty interesting that 68 00:03:50,000 --> 00:03:53,480 Speaker 2: we'll just kind of needs to form the basis or 69 00:03:53,480 --> 00:03:56,840 Speaker 2: the undercurrent of this whole episode is that, so we 70 00:03:56,920 --> 00:03:59,080 Speaker 2: keep talking about the US. There's wetlands found all over 71 00:03:59,120 --> 00:04:02,080 Speaker 2: the world of different types and varieties and different climates 72 00:04:02,080 --> 00:04:06,360 Speaker 2: and different different continents, every continent except Antarctica. But in 73 00:04:06,440 --> 00:04:09,400 Speaker 2: the United States in particular, we have a long history 74 00:04:09,440 --> 00:04:13,800 Speaker 2: of filling in and draining wetlands for other purposes. Yeah, 75 00:04:13,880 --> 00:04:18,159 Speaker 2: so much so that let's see, I believe I don't 76 00:04:18,200 --> 00:04:20,880 Speaker 2: know how much we've lost, but in the sixteen hundreds, 77 00:04:20,880 --> 00:04:23,799 Speaker 2: the Lower forty eight States were covered with two hundred 78 00:04:23,839 --> 00:04:27,160 Speaker 2: and twenty million acres of wetlands, which is eleven percent 79 00:04:27,200 --> 00:04:29,919 Speaker 2: of the total surface area of the Lower forty eight States. 80 00:04:30,440 --> 00:04:33,000 Speaker 2: And I think starting in the fifties we were doing 81 00:04:33,040 --> 00:04:35,719 Speaker 2: away with wetlands at a rate of about sixty thousand 82 00:04:35,760 --> 00:04:37,080 Speaker 2: of those acres per year. 83 00:04:37,760 --> 00:04:40,240 Speaker 1: Yeah, and it's gotten better since then. But yeah, in 84 00:04:40,279 --> 00:04:42,839 Speaker 1: the boy up until the Clean Water Act, it was 85 00:04:42,920 --> 00:04:45,800 Speaker 1: just like, hey, you know, it looked great. There a 86 00:04:46,920 --> 00:04:50,279 Speaker 1: resort right with like three golf courses and a bunch 87 00:04:50,360 --> 00:04:51,040 Speaker 1: of tennis. 88 00:04:51,360 --> 00:04:54,320 Speaker 2: That's been such a driving force, Like it's it's like 89 00:04:54,400 --> 00:04:57,200 Speaker 2: looking at land or ecosystems of being like are humans 90 00:04:57,240 --> 00:04:59,719 Speaker 2: making money off of it. No, well, then drain it 91 00:04:59,720 --> 00:05:02,400 Speaker 2: and re purpose it. Set it on fire and repurpose it. 92 00:05:02,520 --> 00:05:04,960 Speaker 2: Stop it from burning, and repurpose it. Like, if we 93 00:05:05,000 --> 00:05:07,799 Speaker 2: can't make money off of it, it can't possibly be useful. 94 00:05:07,839 --> 00:05:11,360 Speaker 2: And luckily, since the environmental movement really started in the seventies, 95 00:05:11,400 --> 00:05:14,920 Speaker 2: we've realized that that's not necessarily true. That even if 96 00:05:14,960 --> 00:05:17,920 Speaker 2: you are just a heartless dummy, there's still a lot 97 00:05:18,000 --> 00:05:21,960 Speaker 2: of benefits that humanity's given from things like wetlands that 98 00:05:22,040 --> 00:05:25,600 Speaker 2: seem problematic or non productive. You know. 99 00:05:25,880 --> 00:05:29,160 Speaker 1: Yeah, that was one of Dangerfield's big lines in Caddyshack, 100 00:05:29,320 --> 00:05:34,800 Speaker 1: as al Cervik was a golf courses and cemeteries the 101 00:05:34,880 --> 00:05:36,919 Speaker 1: two biggest waste of prime real estate. 102 00:05:38,279 --> 00:05:39,119 Speaker 2: That's a good one. 103 00:05:39,320 --> 00:05:41,440 Speaker 1: So let's talk about wetlands. You said that they are 104 00:05:41,560 --> 00:05:44,560 Speaker 1: only some of them are only wet for short periods, 105 00:05:44,560 --> 00:05:46,520 Speaker 1: sometimes when they're snow, melt or just rain. 106 00:05:47,080 --> 00:05:49,960 Speaker 2: Yeah, those are called ephemeral wetlands, which is a cool term. 107 00:05:50,040 --> 00:05:52,440 Speaker 1: That's a great term. Some are wet all the time, 108 00:05:53,080 --> 00:05:56,320 Speaker 1: and the key parts of being a wetland or the 109 00:05:56,400 --> 00:06:01,560 Speaker 1: key characteristic is that it's either permanently or periodically flooded 110 00:06:01,680 --> 00:06:06,880 Speaker 1: or wet and that the soil is got it's called 111 00:06:06,960 --> 00:06:10,520 Speaker 1: hydric soil and is dominated by anaerobic processes, meaning it 112 00:06:10,600 --> 00:06:13,520 Speaker 1: loves water and the plants there love water. 113 00:06:13,960 --> 00:06:16,560 Speaker 2: Which is weird because you used another word that shouldn't 114 00:06:16,560 --> 00:06:19,440 Speaker 2: really jibe with plants, and that's called anaerobic, which means 115 00:06:19,720 --> 00:06:23,760 Speaker 2: there's very little to no oxygen present. And we'll explain 116 00:06:23,800 --> 00:06:26,280 Speaker 2: why later. But the fact that there are plants means 117 00:06:26,279 --> 00:06:28,919 Speaker 2: that those plants have adapted to the wetlands, yes, and 118 00:06:28,920 --> 00:06:30,440 Speaker 2: it makes anaerobic. 119 00:06:29,960 --> 00:06:33,520 Speaker 1: Condition hydrophytic, and we'll talk about those plants later. It's 120 00:06:33,560 --> 00:06:36,560 Speaker 1: another thing I love about wetlands. It's just that it 121 00:06:36,640 --> 00:06:40,680 Speaker 1: really underscores the remarkable evolution that something will go through 122 00:06:40,680 --> 00:06:41,200 Speaker 1: to survive. 123 00:06:41,760 --> 00:06:46,320 Speaker 2: Very cool, very very awesome. Yeap. So there's also so 124 00:06:46,640 --> 00:06:50,920 Speaker 2: you hit upon something like they're not necessarily wet year round, 125 00:06:51,560 --> 00:06:54,080 Speaker 2: right right. So there's a whole bunch of different types 126 00:06:54,240 --> 00:06:59,520 Speaker 2: of wetlands or wetland environments that fill those that check 127 00:06:59,560 --> 00:07:03,200 Speaker 2: those by. One of the ones that most people think 128 00:07:03,200 --> 00:07:06,080 Speaker 2: of when they think of wetlands or coastal wetlands, like 129 00:07:06,279 --> 00:07:10,240 Speaker 2: marshes and a marsh is basically like this area between 130 00:07:10,760 --> 00:07:13,880 Speaker 2: inland and the ocean. It's like a transition zone, a 131 00:07:13,880 --> 00:07:17,320 Speaker 2: buffer zone. And because it's because of its proximity to 132 00:07:17,320 --> 00:07:21,400 Speaker 2: the ocean, it's usually salty or at least brackish, which 133 00:07:21,440 --> 00:07:25,040 Speaker 2: is a mixture of salt water and freshwater. And the 134 00:07:25,240 --> 00:07:27,320 Speaker 2: one of the ones that really come to mind if 135 00:07:27,320 --> 00:07:30,760 Speaker 2: you're thinking coastal wetlands, you're thinking marshlands, and you're thinking 136 00:07:30,840 --> 00:07:34,240 Speaker 2: title Marshlands, probably especially if you're a Pat Conroy fan. 137 00:07:37,080 --> 00:07:40,800 Speaker 1: What was the name of her character that he repeats 138 00:07:41,000 --> 00:07:42,560 Speaker 1: over and over in a whisper. 139 00:07:42,920 --> 00:07:47,360 Speaker 2: I think I remember, Chuck. It was Bobby Jim, Bobby Jim. 140 00:07:48,080 --> 00:07:50,760 Speaker 1: This is one of those scream at the at the 141 00:07:50,800 --> 00:07:51,880 Speaker 1: pod player moments. 142 00:07:52,200 --> 00:07:55,080 Speaker 2: Was it in? Was it in the Prince of Tides? Yeah? 143 00:07:55,280 --> 00:07:55,880 Speaker 1: Lowenstein? 144 00:07:56,080 --> 00:07:59,280 Speaker 2: Was that it lost? You're sure it wasn't Bobby Jim. 145 00:07:59,400 --> 00:08:01,840 Speaker 2: I think it was low Was it his oh his 146 00:08:01,960 --> 00:08:05,920 Speaker 2: shrinks his shrink girlfriend's name, yeah, Babs, Okay, yeah, I 147 00:08:05,960 --> 00:08:07,600 Speaker 2: don't remember. He goes Lowenstein. 148 00:08:08,280 --> 00:08:11,520 Speaker 1: All right, So anyway, tidle Marshes, Yes, Prince of Tides. 149 00:08:12,120 --> 00:08:15,240 Speaker 1: They obviously you're it's because they're tidal. They're going to 150 00:08:15,320 --> 00:08:17,280 Speaker 1: come in and out with the high and low tide. 151 00:08:18,000 --> 00:08:21,040 Speaker 1: And like you said, they are generally salt water, and 152 00:08:21,200 --> 00:08:24,080 Speaker 1: the salt marshes are very nutrient rich, and they do 153 00:08:24,160 --> 00:08:27,520 Speaker 1: have a lot of diversity, but obviously only the kind 154 00:08:27,560 --> 00:08:30,120 Speaker 1: of things that can tolerate the salt as far as 155 00:08:30,360 --> 00:08:31,680 Speaker 1: plants and animals. 156 00:08:31,280 --> 00:08:34,360 Speaker 2: Go, which is a pretty short list really, because salt 157 00:08:34,480 --> 00:08:39,280 Speaker 2: is not conducive to life. Instead, there are some plants 158 00:08:39,280 --> 00:08:42,320 Speaker 2: that have figured out how to deal with salt, but 159 00:08:42,559 --> 00:08:44,600 Speaker 2: most of the time when you're looking at salt marshes, 160 00:08:44,640 --> 00:08:48,040 Speaker 2: you're looking the plant life is basically grass as of 161 00:08:48,080 --> 00:08:53,959 Speaker 2: some sort. Right, there's also freshwater title marshes, which they 162 00:08:54,240 --> 00:08:59,000 Speaker 2: are either connected to the salt water marsh, but they're 163 00:08:59,120 --> 00:09:01,600 Speaker 2: far enough inland that the salt water doesn't make its 164 00:09:01,600 --> 00:09:04,480 Speaker 2: way in there, so it's a freshwater marsh, but it 165 00:09:04,559 --> 00:09:07,640 Speaker 2: still is affected by the tides. And then I had 166 00:09:07,800 --> 00:09:11,320 Speaker 2: no idea about this, and I used to vacation on 167 00:09:11,400 --> 00:09:14,000 Speaker 2: Lake Erie. But apparently the Great Lakes are so big 168 00:09:14,240 --> 00:09:16,280 Speaker 2: that they have tides themselves. 169 00:09:16,320 --> 00:09:16,920 Speaker 1: You didn't know that. 170 00:09:17,360 --> 00:09:18,520 Speaker 2: I had no idea. 171 00:09:18,800 --> 00:09:20,520 Speaker 1: I even knew that, And I'm a dumb dumb when 172 00:09:20,559 --> 00:09:21,720 Speaker 1: it comes to the Great Lakes. 173 00:09:22,000 --> 00:09:24,760 Speaker 2: Well, Chuck, I think you got me beat. Big time. 174 00:09:25,000 --> 00:09:27,200 Speaker 2: Well in this case, because I could know a million 175 00:09:27,240 --> 00:09:29,120 Speaker 2: other things about the Great Lakes, and if you knew 176 00:09:29,120 --> 00:09:30,880 Speaker 2: that one thing and I didn't, you have me beat. 177 00:09:31,400 --> 00:09:34,240 Speaker 1: Yeah, I knew that, And so that means that they 178 00:09:34,240 --> 00:09:37,920 Speaker 1: do have those tidal marshes. The Florida Everglades are another 179 00:09:37,920 --> 00:09:41,920 Speaker 1: good example. And boy, Florida just there's a lot of 180 00:09:41,960 --> 00:09:43,920 Speaker 1: different types of wetlands in Florida. 181 00:09:44,000 --> 00:09:46,000 Speaker 2: Well, there's a lot of coastline. 182 00:09:45,480 --> 00:09:49,640 Speaker 1: Yeah, a lot of coastline and a lot of interior wetness. 183 00:09:50,440 --> 00:09:52,760 Speaker 2: Yeah. We have a lot of wetlands around our place 184 00:09:52,760 --> 00:09:56,000 Speaker 2: in Florida, for sure. And there's mangroves and all sorts 185 00:09:56,000 --> 00:09:57,160 Speaker 2: of stuff that we'll talk about. 186 00:09:57,520 --> 00:09:59,480 Speaker 1: Well, we're at mangroves. I love those things. 187 00:10:00,240 --> 00:10:03,719 Speaker 2: So mangroves, you don't think they at least deserve a 188 00:10:03,880 --> 00:10:06,920 Speaker 2: short stuff because they're one of the most amazing plants 189 00:10:06,960 --> 00:10:10,240 Speaker 2: of all time. But there they are. They're a type 190 00:10:10,240 --> 00:10:15,240 Speaker 2: of coastal coastal wetland themselves, a mangrove forest where if 191 00:10:15,240 --> 00:10:18,040 Speaker 2: you've never seen a mangro forest, they're these kind of 192 00:10:18,880 --> 00:10:23,080 Speaker 2: they have a growth habit for their the shrubbery on 193 00:10:23,160 --> 00:10:26,480 Speaker 2: top of like the hair that umpa lupa has in 194 00:10:26,520 --> 00:10:30,559 Speaker 2: the original, the original Willy Wonka, the good one, and 195 00:10:30,920 --> 00:10:37,480 Speaker 2: the trunks split out into these cool like long roots 196 00:10:37,480 --> 00:10:40,440 Speaker 2: and legs that stick up out of the water, and 197 00:10:40,520 --> 00:10:43,840 Speaker 2: they form this huge tangle, this riot of like shrub 198 00:10:43,960 --> 00:10:47,840 Speaker 2: woody shrub, and they do all sorts of amazing things 199 00:10:47,880 --> 00:10:51,199 Speaker 2: to help the aquatic life and us humans as well 200 00:10:51,280 --> 00:10:53,400 Speaker 2: up on land just by being present. 201 00:10:53,760 --> 00:10:56,640 Speaker 1: Yeah, they're really cool looking. And this is another good one, 202 00:10:56,679 --> 00:10:59,160 Speaker 1: sort of like the Origami that if you're able and 203 00:10:59,200 --> 00:11:01,439 Speaker 1: you're sitting still, to look up a lot of these 204 00:11:01,480 --> 00:11:04,920 Speaker 1: things as you go, because these mangrove for us, it 205 00:11:05,080 --> 00:11:08,720 Speaker 1: looks like it looks like a shrub. That's like I 206 00:11:08,760 --> 00:11:10,600 Speaker 1: really want to be a shrub, but I don't want 207 00:11:10,600 --> 00:11:13,680 Speaker 1: to get wet, so I'm just gonna dip my legs 208 00:11:13,720 --> 00:11:14,319 Speaker 1: in a little bit. 209 00:11:14,760 --> 00:11:15,920 Speaker 2: Yeah, that's really great. 210 00:11:16,040 --> 00:11:20,400 Speaker 1: It's just very cool looking. And again just the adaptability 211 00:11:20,440 --> 00:11:22,720 Speaker 1: that these mangroves really want to live where they live, 212 00:11:22,880 --> 00:11:25,560 Speaker 1: even though it's not very suited for them, and they've 213 00:11:25,600 --> 00:11:26,560 Speaker 1: become suited for it. 214 00:11:27,600 --> 00:11:31,720 Speaker 2: Right, if you've been sleeping on mangroves, Welcome to reality. 215 00:11:32,840 --> 00:11:34,440 Speaker 1: Well that's a T shirt if I ever heard one. 216 00:11:34,640 --> 00:11:36,679 Speaker 2: Yeah, that's all. I could use a little work. But 217 00:11:36,720 --> 00:11:38,560 Speaker 2: there's the beginnings of one in there. 218 00:11:39,080 --> 00:11:42,160 Speaker 1: You also got your inland wetlands. These are not coastal 219 00:11:42,600 --> 00:11:46,200 Speaker 1: in this case. We're talking about swamps and marshes and 220 00:11:46,360 --> 00:11:52,360 Speaker 1: bogs and fens, f e en and marshes. A lot 221 00:11:52,360 --> 00:11:56,479 Speaker 1: of these you'll find near rivers, near streams, lowland depressions, 222 00:11:56,600 --> 00:11:59,920 Speaker 1: and they might periodically fill up depending on rain, what's 223 00:12:00,080 --> 00:12:03,040 Speaker 1: going on, or different types of flooding that might happen, 224 00:12:03,440 --> 00:12:04,960 Speaker 1: and they can be a few inches deep, they can 225 00:12:05,000 --> 00:12:05,960 Speaker 1: be several feet deep. 226 00:12:06,440 --> 00:12:12,640 Speaker 2: Yeah. Most of the non tidal inland marshes are ephemeral wetlands. Yeah, 227 00:12:12,800 --> 00:12:15,720 Speaker 2: so they're dry a lot of the year. They might 228 00:12:15,800 --> 00:12:18,760 Speaker 2: fill up seasonally, they might fill up with the rains. 229 00:12:18,800 --> 00:12:21,439 Speaker 2: They might fill up with the nearby river flooding. It's 230 00:12:21,480 --> 00:12:24,840 Speaker 2: like my backyard and they oh, really is that right? 231 00:12:25,040 --> 00:12:27,520 Speaker 1: Yeah, it doesn't drain. Well, I've got a drainage problem. 232 00:12:27,840 --> 00:12:31,839 Speaker 2: Okay, to you, it's a problem to nature. It's wonderful 233 00:12:32,240 --> 00:12:35,360 Speaker 2: because we'd like things that drain really quickly and dry 234 00:12:35,400 --> 00:12:37,120 Speaker 2: and then we can walk on them and the grass 235 00:12:37,200 --> 00:12:40,280 Speaker 2: is fine. But there's a lot of benefits to things 236 00:12:40,280 --> 00:12:44,280 Speaker 2: that take their time. Like there's something called a vernal pool, 237 00:12:45,080 --> 00:12:49,080 Speaker 2: which is a kind of non tidal marsh, an ephemeral wetland, 238 00:12:49,240 --> 00:12:52,239 Speaker 2: and it's basically just like say a stretch of woods 239 00:12:51,880 --> 00:12:54,320 Speaker 2: that's a little bit depressed there, so that when it 240 00:12:54,440 --> 00:12:57,319 Speaker 2: rains or river floods, it fills with water. And because 241 00:12:57,360 --> 00:13:00,720 Speaker 2: the underlying bedrock or clay is not very poorous, it 242 00:13:00,760 --> 00:13:02,920 Speaker 2: takes a while for that water to go through. But 243 00:13:03,520 --> 00:13:06,400 Speaker 2: that water is also not going further downstream, so it 244 00:13:06,440 --> 00:13:08,720 Speaker 2: prevents flooding from being as bad as it could because 245 00:13:08,760 --> 00:13:11,280 Speaker 2: a lot of the water collects and stays there, and 246 00:13:11,360 --> 00:13:15,480 Speaker 2: it also slowly recharges the ground water. And because it 247 00:13:15,559 --> 00:13:19,240 Speaker 2: does get dry, it can't sustain fish, which makes it 248 00:13:19,280 --> 00:13:23,000 Speaker 2: a really great nursery for things like newts and salamanders 249 00:13:23,000 --> 00:13:27,520 Speaker 2: and frogs, things that fish eat their eggs, but since 250 00:13:27,559 --> 00:13:29,480 Speaker 2: there's no fish, this is like a really great place 251 00:13:29,480 --> 00:13:33,400 Speaker 2: for them to get a good foothole and a brand 252 00:13:33,440 --> 00:13:34,319 Speaker 2: new life. 253 00:13:35,200 --> 00:13:39,160 Speaker 1: You've also got your prairie potholes. This is when you 254 00:13:39,160 --> 00:13:41,440 Speaker 1: should definitely look up. These are usually in the upper 255 00:13:41,440 --> 00:13:45,560 Speaker 1: Midwest of the United States, the Dakota's, Minnesota, maybe Wisconsin, 256 00:13:46,280 --> 00:13:49,280 Speaker 1: and these are where glaciers ancient glaciers left these big 257 00:13:49,679 --> 00:13:53,880 Speaker 1: depressions in the landscape and they fill up sometimes during rain, 258 00:13:54,040 --> 00:13:58,160 Speaker 1: during the spring, during snow melt. And they're not small 259 00:13:58,240 --> 00:13:59,959 Speaker 1: like I heard our prairie pothole and I got to 260 00:14:00,040 --> 00:14:02,760 Speaker 1: vision in my head. But if you look it up online, 261 00:14:02,760 --> 00:14:05,920 Speaker 1: they're beautiful and just they're very large though, and they're 262 00:14:06,000 --> 00:14:09,880 Speaker 1: kind of interconnected, just these big round holes scattered through 263 00:14:09,920 --> 00:14:12,079 Speaker 1: like a big open area full of water. And these 264 00:14:12,080 --> 00:14:16,680 Speaker 1: are great for migrating birds because that could be a 265 00:14:16,720 --> 00:14:20,240 Speaker 1: stopover that they might not have had had those potholes 266 00:14:20,280 --> 00:14:20,840 Speaker 1: not been there. 267 00:14:22,040 --> 00:14:24,240 Speaker 2: And when they're flying over the Dakotas, they say, look, 268 00:14:24,280 --> 00:14:30,480 Speaker 2: I see Van Nostron's house, our buddy Van Nostrin. And 269 00:14:30,520 --> 00:14:34,200 Speaker 2: then there's also we said that wetlands occur in all 270 00:14:34,240 --> 00:14:36,400 Speaker 2: different kinds of climates. They also occur in the desert. 271 00:14:36,440 --> 00:14:40,000 Speaker 2: There's something called Plia lakes, which are these depressions that 272 00:14:40,080 --> 00:14:42,800 Speaker 2: apparently no one has any idea exactly how they formed. 273 00:14:42,800 --> 00:14:44,520 Speaker 2: It could have been from erosion, it could have been 274 00:14:44,520 --> 00:14:47,520 Speaker 2: from an ancient sinkhole. But there are depressions that are 275 00:14:47,520 --> 00:14:50,920 Speaker 2: deep enough that when the seasonal rains come, the water 276 00:14:51,240 --> 00:14:54,560 Speaker 2: is held in there and just like the prairie potholes. 277 00:14:54,600 --> 00:14:58,360 Speaker 2: It's very useful for migratory birds to stop over at 278 00:14:59,440 --> 00:15:02,200 Speaker 2: can really plays a huge role in this ecosystem where 279 00:15:02,240 --> 00:15:04,760 Speaker 2: there's almost no water, and now all of a sudden, 280 00:15:04,760 --> 00:15:07,200 Speaker 2: there's water, and it's in this nice little lake. So 281 00:15:07,280 --> 00:15:09,440 Speaker 2: let's all go gather there and have a social hour, 282 00:15:09,720 --> 00:15:12,240 Speaker 2: but responsibly six feet apart. 283 00:15:12,560 --> 00:15:15,400 Speaker 1: That's right, Okay, I think we should take a break 284 00:15:16,600 --> 00:15:19,040 Speaker 1: and we will talk a little bit about inland swamps 285 00:15:19,160 --> 00:15:41,720 Speaker 1: right after this. All right, So inland swamps we promised 286 00:15:41,720 --> 00:15:45,040 Speaker 1: to talk about that. These are, for my money, some 287 00:15:45,080 --> 00:15:49,600 Speaker 1: of the coolest areas in the country, because I think 288 00:15:49,600 --> 00:15:51,200 Speaker 1: I talked about it at some point. But I took 289 00:15:51,240 --> 00:15:54,560 Speaker 1: a very special fun trip many many years ago to 290 00:15:54,600 --> 00:15:58,040 Speaker 1: the Okefinoki Swamp and did one of those canoe trips 291 00:15:58,560 --> 00:16:00,960 Speaker 1: where you have to rent. You know, there's no place 292 00:16:01,000 --> 00:16:03,400 Speaker 1: to stop in the Okey Pinocchi Swamp if you're like, 293 00:16:03,640 --> 00:16:07,200 Speaker 1: I think i'll camp here, it's like in the water, right, 294 00:16:07,240 --> 00:16:09,960 Speaker 1: So they had these camping pads built up, essentially just 295 00:16:10,320 --> 00:16:14,200 Speaker 1: decks that are like six feet above the water, and 296 00:16:14,280 --> 00:16:16,840 Speaker 1: you have to reserve those. They're not just wide open 297 00:16:16,880 --> 00:16:19,760 Speaker 1: for anyone because there's nothing else out there, so you 298 00:16:19,760 --> 00:16:23,560 Speaker 1: have to reserve them for specific nights on these specific 299 00:16:24,080 --> 00:16:27,480 Speaker 1: pathways or you know, paddle ways. And me and a 300 00:16:27,480 --> 00:16:29,200 Speaker 1: couple of buddies did it one year and we canued 301 00:16:30,040 --> 00:16:33,800 Speaker 1: from from deck to deck and very cool. It was amazing, 302 00:16:33,880 --> 00:16:35,840 Speaker 1: Like one of the coolest trips I've ever taken. 303 00:16:36,080 --> 00:16:38,680 Speaker 2: That is very cool was ned Baby with you. 304 00:16:38,680 --> 00:16:41,920 Speaker 1: No, but you do wake up surrounded by alligators. It's 305 00:16:42,040 --> 00:16:43,440 Speaker 1: a little creepy. 306 00:16:43,560 --> 00:16:45,680 Speaker 2: Yes, alligators are very creepy, Like. 307 00:16:45,880 --> 00:16:48,400 Speaker 1: You wake up on that pad and pee off the 308 00:16:48,440 --> 00:16:50,000 Speaker 1: dock and they're growling at you. 309 00:16:50,520 --> 00:16:52,440 Speaker 2: Yeah, and you do not want to get too close 310 00:16:52,480 --> 00:16:54,200 Speaker 2: because they can move faster than you think. 311 00:16:54,440 --> 00:16:56,800 Speaker 1: Yeah, they can. It was a lot of fun though, 312 00:16:56,840 --> 00:16:58,880 Speaker 1: but not for the faint of heart, because you know, 313 00:16:58,920 --> 00:17:01,720 Speaker 1: you don't realize until you out there, a how bad 314 00:17:01,760 --> 00:17:04,240 Speaker 1: the sun is going to beat you up because there's 315 00:17:04,280 --> 00:17:08,000 Speaker 1: no shade, and b how tough it is to paddle 316 00:17:08,640 --> 00:17:11,360 Speaker 1: all day long without like, you know, let me get 317 00:17:11,359 --> 00:17:14,080 Speaker 1: out and stretch my legs, right, I mean, there is 318 00:17:14,119 --> 00:17:17,840 Speaker 1: no getting out. You just go and go and go, 319 00:17:18,000 --> 00:17:20,720 Speaker 1: and by the time you finally reach that janky deck, 320 00:17:20,840 --> 00:17:23,840 Speaker 1: it is like, might as well be the plaza hotel, 321 00:17:24,040 --> 00:17:26,960 Speaker 1: you know, Oh nice, But what I'm talking about in 322 00:17:26,960 --> 00:17:29,280 Speaker 1: the case of the Okefinoki, I thought it was a 323 00:17:29,320 --> 00:17:33,320 Speaker 1: forested or a bottom bottom land hardwood swamp, you'd think 324 00:17:33,359 --> 00:17:37,080 Speaker 1: from reading this, But apparently it's called a non riverine 325 00:17:37,359 --> 00:17:40,879 Speaker 1: swamp forest, right, And that is a forested swamp that 326 00:17:40,960 --> 00:17:45,720 Speaker 1: fills up from non river sources, basically rain or groundwater. 327 00:17:45,680 --> 00:17:49,280 Speaker 2: Right right. So the what would make a forested swamp 328 00:17:49,359 --> 00:17:52,119 Speaker 2: like a bottom land hardwood swamp is a proximity to 329 00:17:52,200 --> 00:17:55,720 Speaker 2: a river that floods its banks or that is just 330 00:17:55,800 --> 00:17:58,159 Speaker 2: so so big it kind of spills over into some 331 00:17:58,240 --> 00:18:00,920 Speaker 2: of the surrounding land, and that surrounding land is swamp. 332 00:18:00,960 --> 00:18:02,440 Speaker 1: I want to look that up, though I'm not quite 333 00:18:02,440 --> 00:18:03,280 Speaker 1: your name's right. 334 00:18:03,640 --> 00:18:06,680 Speaker 2: Well, it's okay. It's so it's either river fed or 335 00:18:06,720 --> 00:18:11,399 Speaker 2: groundwater fed or precipitation fed. And if you're talking bottomland 336 00:18:11,400 --> 00:18:15,840 Speaker 2: hardwood swamps, that's or a river fed swamp. There's usually 337 00:18:15,880 --> 00:18:19,840 Speaker 2: also a shrub swamp, which is a transition or buffer 338 00:18:19,920 --> 00:18:24,280 Speaker 2: zone between the forested swamp and you know, somebody's backyard, 339 00:18:24,760 --> 00:18:27,159 Speaker 2: which is it's just dominated by shrubs. But it's all 340 00:18:27,160 --> 00:18:29,640 Speaker 2: the same thing. It's all freshwater swamp. 341 00:18:29,440 --> 00:18:31,640 Speaker 1: Yeah, I think I bet you anything that ok Fino 342 00:18:32,080 --> 00:18:34,800 Speaker 1: has several different types of these. It would be my guess, 343 00:18:35,160 --> 00:18:38,639 Speaker 1: because there were full on lakes that we paddled through. Yeah, 344 00:18:38,960 --> 00:18:40,680 Speaker 1: so that would be my guess. And I also think 345 00:18:40,720 --> 00:18:42,359 Speaker 1: if I had a country band, they would we would 346 00:18:42,359 --> 00:18:44,879 Speaker 1: be the Bottomland hardwood swamp rats. 347 00:18:45,400 --> 00:18:47,240 Speaker 2: Oh that's a good one, not bad. That sounds like 348 00:18:47,280 --> 00:18:48,439 Speaker 2: an all star band, you know. 349 00:18:48,640 --> 00:18:49,160 Speaker 1: Oh sure. 350 00:18:49,280 --> 00:18:52,680 Speaker 2: Yeah, So another kind of wetland that you're going to 351 00:18:52,720 --> 00:18:55,920 Speaker 2: find all over the place, especially in Europe, which when 352 00:18:55,920 --> 00:18:58,080 Speaker 2: I think of bogs and fens, I think of Europe, 353 00:18:58,119 --> 00:19:01,160 Speaker 2: but apparently plenty of them in the United States too, 354 00:19:01,800 --> 00:19:05,360 Speaker 2: But bogs and fens are kind of their own thing. 355 00:19:06,160 --> 00:19:09,080 Speaker 2: Bogs in particular are very unique as far as wetlands go, 356 00:19:09,240 --> 00:19:13,800 Speaker 2: because not only are they anaerobic, which by definition wetland 357 00:19:13,920 --> 00:19:19,640 Speaker 2: is anaerobic soil, they're like very little nutrient and very 358 00:19:19,720 --> 00:19:23,840 Speaker 2: high acidity. I've heard like the kind of acid that 359 00:19:24,000 --> 00:19:27,399 Speaker 2: is put out by the peat that's created in the 360 00:19:27,440 --> 00:19:31,560 Speaker 2: bog has the same acidity roughly of vinegar. It's like 361 00:19:31,600 --> 00:19:35,280 Speaker 2: a yeah, it's really really acidic stuff, and yet some 362 00:19:35,440 --> 00:19:38,560 Speaker 2: plants prefer it, like you can grow cranberries and blueberries 363 00:19:38,800 --> 00:19:42,160 Speaker 2: in a bog. Sure you can preserve a body from 364 00:19:42,160 --> 00:19:45,000 Speaker 2: the Iron Age forward. And do we ever coover that 365 00:19:45,200 --> 00:19:46,000 Speaker 2: the bog bodies. 366 00:19:47,240 --> 00:19:48,720 Speaker 1: I feel like we did. Maybe it might have been 367 00:19:48,760 --> 00:19:51,720 Speaker 1: one of our video things on YouTube. 368 00:19:51,600 --> 00:19:54,639 Speaker 2: Maybe mummies, because I think if I remember correctly, our 369 00:19:54,720 --> 00:19:58,399 Speaker 2: Mummy episode covered more than just Egyptian mummies that they covered, 370 00:19:58,400 --> 00:20:01,480 Speaker 2: like Inca mummies and the people. I'm sure we did. 371 00:20:01,640 --> 00:20:04,280 Speaker 2: We saw some and when we went to uh on 372 00:20:04,320 --> 00:20:07,280 Speaker 2: our UK trip, we got to visit some of those cats, 373 00:20:07,560 --> 00:20:11,760 Speaker 2: like first hand, like right there in that in that glass, right, 374 00:20:12,160 --> 00:20:13,800 Speaker 2: you know I have to do is smash it with 375 00:20:13,800 --> 00:20:14,760 Speaker 2: a hammer and it's yours. 376 00:20:14,760 --> 00:20:17,160 Speaker 1: You got a bog person, yeah, or at least whatever 377 00:20:17,200 --> 00:20:19,000 Speaker 1: you can grab like a bog ear. 378 00:20:19,960 --> 00:20:23,000 Speaker 2: Right just crumbles in your hand. But I was like, 379 00:20:23,160 --> 00:20:26,200 Speaker 2: I was like, okay, why why are the the the 380 00:20:26,240 --> 00:20:28,960 Speaker 2: bogs so great for preservation? Part of it, from what 381 00:20:29,000 --> 00:20:32,480 Speaker 2: I understand, is that acidity that the bodies are actually pickled. 382 00:20:32,800 --> 00:20:38,720 Speaker 2: But another part is the the aerobic life is so 383 00:20:39,160 --> 00:20:43,119 Speaker 2: devoid there. There's just anaerobic bacteria and they don't decompose 384 00:20:43,200 --> 00:20:46,600 Speaker 2: nearly as well as aerobic bacteria. So the decomposition doesn't 385 00:20:46,640 --> 00:20:50,399 Speaker 2: set in and the remains are pickled, So like you 386 00:20:50,440 --> 00:20:53,119 Speaker 2: can preserve a body in a really great state. Yeah, 387 00:20:53,520 --> 00:20:57,320 Speaker 2: for a very like Toland man. You could his whiskers 388 00:20:57,320 --> 00:20:59,919 Speaker 2: are still intact on his face. Yeah, like that was 389 00:21:00,119 --> 00:21:03,120 Speaker 2: the level of preservation. And he was sacrificed into a bog, 390 00:21:03,119 --> 00:21:04,960 Speaker 2: which is a very specific kind of wetland. 391 00:21:05,440 --> 00:21:07,680 Speaker 1: Yeah, and a fin, like I said, it's f e 392 00:21:07,800 --> 00:21:10,840 Speaker 1: n it's sort of like a bog in that it 393 00:21:10,880 --> 00:21:15,160 Speaker 1: is a peat peaty wetland. But they're a little bit 394 00:21:15,160 --> 00:21:19,240 Speaker 1: different than bogs. The water supply doesn't come primarily from 395 00:21:19,320 --> 00:21:22,080 Speaker 1: rain and it comes from the ground, so it's not 396 00:21:22,160 --> 00:21:24,280 Speaker 1: it's gonna be less acidic because I don't think we 397 00:21:24,440 --> 00:21:27,399 Speaker 1: mentioned mentioned. I know it's partially because of the peat, 398 00:21:27,440 --> 00:21:31,120 Speaker 1: but the acidity also comes from the fact that there's 399 00:21:31,320 --> 00:21:34,520 Speaker 1: acid and rain that gets filling up, that fills up 400 00:21:34,560 --> 00:21:37,400 Speaker 1: these bogs, right, But not the case in a fin. 401 00:21:37,720 --> 00:21:41,080 Speaker 2: No, No, because that groundwater is able to kind of 402 00:21:41,480 --> 00:21:43,920 Speaker 2: dilute it a little bit. So they're much more nutrient 403 00:21:44,000 --> 00:21:45,720 Speaker 2: rich than a bog is. So they're going to have 404 00:21:45,800 --> 00:21:50,840 Speaker 2: much a much wider diverse range of plants in animal life. Yeah, 405 00:21:50,880 --> 00:21:51,080 Speaker 2: and this. 406 00:21:51,200 --> 00:21:53,200 Speaker 1: I love that. This next section from Day was called 407 00:21:53,240 --> 00:21:54,800 Speaker 1: other fun types of wetlands. 408 00:21:55,400 --> 00:21:57,320 Speaker 2: Yeah, mud flats, Yeah, you. 409 00:21:57,240 --> 00:21:59,040 Speaker 1: Get your mud flat. It's another good country band. 410 00:22:00,080 --> 00:22:03,040 Speaker 2: My favorite are seeps. These are just gorgeous little pieces 411 00:22:03,040 --> 00:22:05,840 Speaker 2: of nature. If you ask me, it's if you have 412 00:22:05,920 --> 00:22:08,760 Speaker 2: a spring that comes up out of the ground, it 413 00:22:08,880 --> 00:22:11,920 Speaker 2: spills over into the ground, so the surrounding ground is wetland, 414 00:22:11,960 --> 00:22:15,440 Speaker 2: and it's called a seep. That's right. It's where gnomes 415 00:22:15,480 --> 00:22:16,400 Speaker 2: like go and shower. 416 00:22:17,200 --> 00:22:20,560 Speaker 1: Yeah. And it's not like you said, it's a spring, 417 00:22:20,600 --> 00:22:23,400 Speaker 1: so it's not like a creek. No, it's actually coming 418 00:22:23,440 --> 00:22:26,560 Speaker 1: up from the ground. You ever drink from a natural spring? 419 00:22:28,680 --> 00:22:30,760 Speaker 2: I did when I was a kid. In it my 420 00:22:30,840 --> 00:22:33,679 Speaker 2: mom fired the babysitter that like took us drink from 421 00:22:33,720 --> 00:22:36,080 Speaker 2: a spring? Yeah, she was like, what are you doing. 422 00:22:36,440 --> 00:22:39,040 Speaker 2: It was either a spring or like a river in Ohio, 423 00:22:39,119 --> 00:22:40,320 Speaker 2: and either way. 424 00:22:40,160 --> 00:22:42,760 Speaker 1: Two very different things. If it was like a Cyagara river, 425 00:22:42,880 --> 00:22:43,800 Speaker 1: then you're in bad shape. 426 00:22:44,320 --> 00:22:46,040 Speaker 2: It was on fire while we were drinking. 427 00:22:46,600 --> 00:22:49,440 Speaker 1: But I mean, we have creeks. If you're listening, you've 428 00:22:49,480 --> 00:22:52,000 Speaker 1: never been to Atlanta. Atlanta has creeks all over the place, 429 00:22:52,800 --> 00:22:55,520 Speaker 1: Like all of the intowln neighborhoods just are riddled with creeks. 430 00:22:55,520 --> 00:22:58,159 Speaker 1: They're just sort of out of view. But like, we 431 00:22:58,200 --> 00:23:00,360 Speaker 1: have a creek, you know, one hundred and twenty from 432 00:23:00,359 --> 00:23:02,879 Speaker 1: our house, sure, which might have something to do with 433 00:23:02,880 --> 00:23:03,760 Speaker 1: our drainage, who knows. 434 00:23:04,200 --> 00:23:05,080 Speaker 2: And it's spring fed. 435 00:23:06,240 --> 00:23:09,760 Speaker 1: No, it's just you know, just a part of the 436 00:23:09,800 --> 00:23:12,720 Speaker 1: Atlanta probably all comes from the Chattahoochee at some point. 437 00:23:12,960 --> 00:23:16,320 Speaker 2: Sure, So, Chuck, if that creek behind your house started 438 00:23:16,359 --> 00:23:20,320 Speaker 2: meandering in a different direction and left a body of 439 00:23:20,400 --> 00:23:23,240 Speaker 2: water where it originally flowed, it would be an ox 440 00:23:23,280 --> 00:23:26,720 Speaker 2: bow lake. But if you were in Australia and you 441 00:23:26,760 --> 00:23:29,439 Speaker 2: were calling it this proper Aboriginal name, you'd call it 442 00:23:29,440 --> 00:23:32,600 Speaker 2: a billabong, the billabong, which I had no idea. What 443 00:23:32,640 --> 00:23:33,760 Speaker 2: does that have to do with surfing? 444 00:23:34,600 --> 00:23:37,560 Speaker 1: Oh? I think they just probably co opted the name 445 00:23:37,640 --> 00:23:41,000 Speaker 1: and it became more associated with surf and surf gear. 446 00:23:42,000 --> 00:23:44,120 Speaker 2: Then it's true. Meaning that doesn't seem right. 447 00:23:44,600 --> 00:23:45,680 Speaker 1: No, let's take it back. 448 00:23:46,080 --> 00:23:48,359 Speaker 2: But that's what an ox bow lake is in Australia. 449 00:23:48,400 --> 00:23:52,400 Speaker 2: Among the Aborigines, it is a bill of bong, which 450 00:23:52,440 --> 00:23:53,080 Speaker 2: is great. 451 00:23:52,920 --> 00:23:55,560 Speaker 1: And billibong that was some like along with op was 452 00:23:55,600 --> 00:23:59,800 Speaker 1: one of the prime T shirts to have when you 453 00:23:59,840 --> 00:24:01,040 Speaker 1: were a kid in the eighties. 454 00:24:01,240 --> 00:24:04,040 Speaker 2: Oh yeah, if you were cool. I had this amazing 455 00:24:04,200 --> 00:24:07,000 Speaker 2: op long sleeved blue shirt that I wore with my 456 00:24:07,119 --> 00:24:10,399 Speaker 2: parachute pants. Those were the best my British nights. 457 00:24:10,680 --> 00:24:12,680 Speaker 1: I remember those long sleeve op shirts. 458 00:24:12,960 --> 00:24:16,520 Speaker 2: Yeah, they're good, gorgeous, so Chuck. One of the things 459 00:24:16,520 --> 00:24:21,520 Speaker 2: we've been talking about is the kind of the characteristics 460 00:24:21,520 --> 00:24:24,040 Speaker 2: that make a wetland a wetland. And it's not just 461 00:24:24,119 --> 00:24:27,600 Speaker 2: the fact that the soil table or the ground is 462 00:24:27,960 --> 00:24:32,560 Speaker 2: either flooded or almost completely flooded up to the surface 463 00:24:32,640 --> 00:24:37,359 Speaker 2: level with water. That's not the entirety of it. Like, 464 00:24:37,440 --> 00:24:41,360 Speaker 2: different wetlands are characterized by by how that water gets 465 00:24:41,440 --> 00:24:43,320 Speaker 2: to it. Like we said, you know, some kinds of 466 00:24:43,320 --> 00:24:46,360 Speaker 2: swamps are fed by groundwater, others are fed by precipitation, 467 00:24:47,240 --> 00:24:50,200 Speaker 2: some are tidal. So there's a whole group of scientists 468 00:24:50,240 --> 00:24:54,920 Speaker 2: out there that are called wetland hydrologists, and what they 469 00:24:54,960 --> 00:24:57,679 Speaker 2: study is how that water gets into a wetland to 470 00:24:57,720 --> 00:25:00,520 Speaker 2: create a wetland, what happens to it while it's there, 471 00:25:00,680 --> 00:25:03,640 Speaker 2: and then where it goes, and how all these things 472 00:25:03,720 --> 00:25:07,119 Speaker 2: kind of interact to form this very unique ecosystem. 473 00:25:07,800 --> 00:25:10,760 Speaker 1: Yeah, and we talked early on about the kind of soil. 474 00:25:10,840 --> 00:25:14,640 Speaker 1: Hydric soil is saturated with water, and so if it's 475 00:25:14,640 --> 00:25:16,959 Speaker 1: saturated with water, it's not going to have nearly as 476 00:25:17,040 --> 00:25:21,400 Speaker 1: much oxygen. And usually oxygen and soil are in these 477 00:25:21,400 --> 00:25:22,640 Speaker 1: little tiny air pockets. 478 00:25:22,960 --> 00:25:24,920 Speaker 2: Remember we talked about it in our Soil episode. 479 00:25:25,119 --> 00:25:28,879 Speaker 1: Yeah, exactly. And in the case of a wetland, then 480 00:25:28,920 --> 00:25:30,879 Speaker 1: those air pockets are going to be filled with water 481 00:25:31,000 --> 00:25:33,600 Speaker 1: or just collapsed all together, and then you've got your 482 00:25:33,600 --> 00:25:37,880 Speaker 1: anaerobic condition. But if your plant, you need CO two 483 00:25:37,960 --> 00:25:40,760 Speaker 1: and oxygen, and you'll get a little bit of that 484 00:25:40,840 --> 00:25:43,040 Speaker 1: from photosynthesis in the leaves, but the roots are like, 485 00:25:43,080 --> 00:25:46,080 Speaker 1: what about meat down here? I need oxygen too, And 486 00:25:46,560 --> 00:25:48,840 Speaker 1: if it was an aerobic soil, like we talked about 487 00:25:48,840 --> 00:25:51,680 Speaker 1: in the Soil podcast, the roots can get it from 488 00:25:51,720 --> 00:25:54,960 Speaker 1: those air pockets. But in wetlands they have to really 489 00:25:55,000 --> 00:26:00,359 Speaker 1: really adapt to become hydrophytic or water loving plants some 490 00:26:00,400 --> 00:26:01,439 Speaker 1: pretty amazing ways. 491 00:26:02,000 --> 00:26:04,199 Speaker 2: So I just have to say that this is like 492 00:26:04,240 --> 00:26:07,920 Speaker 2: a lifelong mystery solved and solved in like the simplest 493 00:26:07,960 --> 00:26:11,760 Speaker 2: way possible. Like it's anaerobic because there's water there instead 494 00:26:11,800 --> 00:26:13,679 Speaker 2: of air. The air can't be in there because the 495 00:26:13,720 --> 00:26:18,800 Speaker 2: water's there ipso facto anaerobic. I just I just think 496 00:26:18,840 --> 00:26:22,600 Speaker 2: that's brilliantly simple. Yeah. Did you get that intuitively? Because 497 00:26:22,600 --> 00:26:24,879 Speaker 2: I never did. I always thought it was something mysterious, 498 00:26:24,920 --> 00:26:27,199 Speaker 2: like we're talking about a whole different type of soil 499 00:26:27,359 --> 00:26:28,480 Speaker 2: or something else. 500 00:26:28,680 --> 00:26:30,240 Speaker 1: Hmmm, No, I think I got it. 501 00:26:30,440 --> 00:26:33,640 Speaker 2: Okay, well it was. I've been around for forty four 502 00:26:33,720 --> 00:26:35,920 Speaker 2: years and wondered it until just now. 503 00:26:36,080 --> 00:26:37,960 Speaker 1: Well I'm forty nine, so I might have worn that 504 00:26:38,000 --> 00:26:38,840 Speaker 1: in the last five years. 505 00:26:39,200 --> 00:26:42,800 Speaker 2: So the plants that we're talking about, like, they, like 506 00:26:42,840 --> 00:26:45,480 Speaker 2: you said, the roots still need oxygen. So they've said, Okay, 507 00:26:45,520 --> 00:26:47,480 Speaker 2: well I really like it here. I like this wet 508 00:26:47,560 --> 00:26:49,600 Speaker 2: land area. This is a pretty amazing place to live. 509 00:26:49,920 --> 00:26:52,440 Speaker 2: I'm going to change so that I can stay here. 510 00:26:53,000 --> 00:26:57,240 Speaker 2: And some of the ways that plants have adapted, well, 511 00:26:57,240 --> 00:27:00,480 Speaker 2: one good example is a cattail. Right. Cattail are pretty 512 00:27:00,520 --> 00:27:04,560 Speaker 2: much synonymous with marshalans. Yeah, they're beautiful. They're that long, 513 00:27:04,760 --> 00:27:08,560 Speaker 2: thin stem with like a big fat thing on top, 514 00:27:08,680 --> 00:27:10,800 Speaker 2: like a hot dog that's ready to be roasted on 515 00:27:10,840 --> 00:27:11,240 Speaker 2: the fire. 516 00:27:11,520 --> 00:27:13,159 Speaker 1: Yeah. I grew up with those. I don't know if 517 00:27:13,200 --> 00:27:15,680 Speaker 1: it was the southern thing. But they can be decorative 518 00:27:15,720 --> 00:27:18,600 Speaker 1: items in the home. And I grew up I feel 519 00:27:18,600 --> 00:27:20,919 Speaker 1: like with a lot of cattails in vases and stuff. 520 00:27:21,480 --> 00:27:27,399 Speaker 2: Okay, so that in wasps nests, yeah, or it's nests. Yeah. 521 00:27:27,480 --> 00:27:33,960 Speaker 2: So cattails have this thing called air nicum. No, I've 522 00:27:33,960 --> 00:27:43,160 Speaker 2: got aeriniicima, aerne chyma, aerne chyma. I think I got it. Anyway, 523 00:27:43,400 --> 00:27:47,280 Speaker 2: they're like these these channels that basically direct air from 524 00:27:47,400 --> 00:27:49,359 Speaker 2: the leaves and the stem and every other part of 525 00:27:49,359 --> 00:27:51,960 Speaker 2: the cattail down to the roots. It says, here you go, roots, 526 00:27:51,960 --> 00:27:54,240 Speaker 2: here's some oxygen fresh from the leaf. 527 00:27:54,880 --> 00:27:55,720 Speaker 1: Yeah. 528 00:27:55,840 --> 00:27:58,280 Speaker 2: So that cattail can have as much roots as it 529 00:27:58,359 --> 00:28:00,880 Speaker 2: wants down in this anaerobic soil. It doesn't matter because 530 00:28:00,920 --> 00:28:04,080 Speaker 2: it's getting its oxygen from the air through the leaves. 531 00:28:04,480 --> 00:28:08,760 Speaker 1: Yeah. One of my favorites is the speckled alder. You 532 00:28:08,840 --> 00:28:10,720 Speaker 1: just look up a picture of that, and they have 533 00:28:10,800 --> 00:28:14,840 Speaker 1: these enlarged pores called lentisills, and they allow for the 534 00:28:14,920 --> 00:28:19,159 Speaker 1: passage of oxygen directly into that wood. And if you 535 00:28:19,160 --> 00:28:21,480 Speaker 1: look up a picture and you see those, you go, oh, 536 00:28:21,760 --> 00:28:24,240 Speaker 1: that's what those are. That's what those are for. They 537 00:28:24,240 --> 00:28:26,400 Speaker 1: look like someone took a knife and they're just tiny 538 00:28:26,440 --> 00:28:29,119 Speaker 1: little horizontal slits all up and down the alder i guess, 539 00:28:29,160 --> 00:28:30,679 Speaker 1: and they're breathing. 540 00:28:30,720 --> 00:28:35,280 Speaker 2: Basically, Yeah, that's creepy as heck, but it's like really neat. 541 00:28:35,160 --> 00:28:36,800 Speaker 1: Little mouths, little slitty mouths. 542 00:28:37,480 --> 00:28:41,240 Speaker 2: So are the grasses that we talked about growing in 543 00:28:41,320 --> 00:28:45,840 Speaker 2: salt marshes. Just like an iguana sneezes out excess salts 544 00:28:45,880 --> 00:28:49,080 Speaker 2: as part of digestion, things like cord grass that grow 545 00:28:49,080 --> 00:28:53,640 Speaker 2: in these salt marshes, they actually excrete salts through their leaves, 546 00:28:54,080 --> 00:28:56,960 Speaker 2: so they can sit there and take all the nutrients 547 00:28:57,000 --> 00:29:02,920 Speaker 2: they need from this cylinic ironment and still not get 548 00:29:02,920 --> 00:29:05,640 Speaker 2: overloaded with salt. It's just pretty amazing that they can 549 00:29:05,680 --> 00:29:05,920 Speaker 2: do that. 550 00:29:06,520 --> 00:29:09,280 Speaker 1: Yeah, And then to me, maybe the most amazing, and 551 00:29:09,320 --> 00:29:11,200 Speaker 1: this is where the mangroves kind of come back in. 552 00:29:11,960 --> 00:29:15,040 Speaker 1: Although the mangroves apparently utilize all these to stick around, 553 00:29:15,480 --> 00:29:18,800 Speaker 1: but the bald cypress they grow in those forested swamps 554 00:29:19,160 --> 00:29:22,840 Speaker 1: where there's always water and they are deciduous conifers, and 555 00:29:22,880 --> 00:29:26,440 Speaker 1: they grow this root structure that they call a knee. 556 00:29:26,440 --> 00:29:29,040 Speaker 1: It's a new metaphor, but like a knee on your leg. 557 00:29:29,320 --> 00:29:32,080 Speaker 1: Is how it's spelled. And they just sit above the 558 00:29:32,080 --> 00:29:34,720 Speaker 1: water line and take in oxygen. And that's what those 559 00:29:34,880 --> 00:29:40,560 Speaker 1: I guess, mangroves, man crooves. There's a soul train joke 560 00:29:40,600 --> 00:29:41,200 Speaker 1: in there somewhere. 561 00:29:41,800 --> 00:29:44,200 Speaker 2: It struck me as like a terrible jam band's name 562 00:29:44,280 --> 00:29:44,880 Speaker 2: the mangroves. 563 00:29:45,200 --> 00:29:49,520 Speaker 1: Yeah, God, you're right, that play somewhere in Florida probably probably. 564 00:29:50,160 --> 00:29:53,440 Speaker 1: But the man grove uses, like I said, a lot 565 00:29:53,440 --> 00:29:56,360 Speaker 1: of these tricks, and I think certainly when you see 566 00:29:56,360 --> 00:29:59,280 Speaker 1: those roots, they're using those knees. 567 00:30:00,080 --> 00:30:02,600 Speaker 2: Yeah, which is basically it's a it's a it's a 568 00:30:02,640 --> 00:30:06,040 Speaker 2: way to get oxygen from the surrounding air down to 569 00:30:06,120 --> 00:30:09,760 Speaker 2: the roots. The mangroves do it. The bald cypresses do it. 570 00:30:09,840 --> 00:30:14,040 Speaker 2: Mangroves have all those adapt adaptations different species thing. They 571 00:30:14,040 --> 00:30:16,680 Speaker 2: can do things like excrete salt, They can draw oxygen 572 00:30:16,680 --> 00:30:19,040 Speaker 2: in from the environment. They have channels where they can 573 00:30:19,080 --> 00:30:21,280 Speaker 2: pump oxygen from one part of the plant to the other. 574 00:30:22,480 --> 00:30:25,320 Speaker 2: The one that gets me though, I'm just fascinated by bogs. 575 00:30:25,520 --> 00:30:30,560 Speaker 2: So we said that there it's an acidic, anaerobic, nutrient 576 00:30:30,680 --> 00:30:34,520 Speaker 2: depleted environment, and yet there's still plants that live there. 577 00:30:34,920 --> 00:30:37,400 Speaker 2: And one of those plants. One kind of plant is 578 00:30:37,520 --> 00:30:40,960 Speaker 2: carnivorous plants. They get their nutrients not from like the soil, 579 00:30:41,000 --> 00:30:44,040 Speaker 2: but from eating bugs. Yeah, so they can just live 580 00:30:44,080 --> 00:30:46,800 Speaker 2: there like a pitcher plant or a venus flytrap or 581 00:30:46,840 --> 00:30:51,080 Speaker 2: something like that. Yeah, those are nature. Wasn't Venus Flytrap 582 00:30:51,120 --> 00:30:53,160 Speaker 2: one of the DJs on WKRP. 583 00:30:53,480 --> 00:30:54,520 Speaker 1: That's a great DJ name. 584 00:30:54,680 --> 00:30:56,800 Speaker 2: Yeah, well he was a great DJ. 585 00:30:57,400 --> 00:31:00,280 Speaker 1: All right, So let's take our final break and we'll 586 00:31:00,320 --> 00:31:02,440 Speaker 1: talk about why wetlands are important and what you can 587 00:31:02,480 --> 00:31:04,680 Speaker 1: do to help them do their thing right after this. 588 00:31:24,880 --> 00:31:29,000 Speaker 2: Okay, Chuck. So, just the fact that wetlands are as 589 00:31:29,040 --> 00:31:32,680 Speaker 2: amazing as they are means that they should be saved. 590 00:31:33,760 --> 00:31:36,040 Speaker 2: But there's also like a lot of benefits that we 591 00:31:36,160 --> 00:31:38,960 Speaker 2: figured out. Like you said, the fifties to the seventies 592 00:31:39,000 --> 00:31:42,480 Speaker 2: were a really rough time for wetlands in the United 593 00:31:42,480 --> 00:31:44,680 Speaker 2: States because we were filling them in for cropland for 594 00:31:44,760 --> 00:31:48,240 Speaker 2: real estate, and even previous to that, we filled in 595 00:31:48,320 --> 00:31:51,760 Speaker 2: a lot of marshland in the US and built cities 596 00:31:51,760 --> 00:31:55,680 Speaker 2: over them, like DC was built largely on marshland. The 597 00:31:55,720 --> 00:32:00,720 Speaker 2: fact that mosquitoes tend to live in wetland areas kind 598 00:32:00,720 --> 00:32:03,360 Speaker 2: of justified filling in a lot of the wetlands because 599 00:32:03,680 --> 00:32:05,800 Speaker 2: we were dealing with malaria at the time, so it 600 00:32:05,840 --> 00:32:07,840 Speaker 2: made a lot of sense. Get rid of the mosquitos habitat, 601 00:32:07,880 --> 00:32:09,960 Speaker 2: you get rid of the mosquitos, and it worked. But 602 00:32:10,000 --> 00:32:12,160 Speaker 2: we've paid a heavy price for it, because over time 603 00:32:12,160 --> 00:32:16,680 Speaker 2: we've realized these wetlands provide some really important benefits to 604 00:32:17,160 --> 00:32:21,160 Speaker 2: the local ecosystems and in turn humans who live around them. 605 00:32:21,640 --> 00:32:24,400 Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean, helping flood conditions is a big one. 606 00:32:24,440 --> 00:32:27,920 Speaker 1: They are big, big natural sponges when it comes down 607 00:32:27,920 --> 00:32:31,120 Speaker 1: to it, and flooding would be way, way worse. And 608 00:32:31,160 --> 00:32:33,440 Speaker 1: we still have floods obviously, but it'd be way worse 609 00:32:33,800 --> 00:32:36,760 Speaker 1: if we didn't have wetlands. They'd be far more destructive 610 00:32:37,240 --> 00:32:39,840 Speaker 1: if they weren't around to soak in that excess water 611 00:32:40,320 --> 00:32:43,320 Speaker 1: and then kind of slowly trickle it to the water 612 00:32:43,360 --> 00:32:46,640 Speaker 1: table below, and the same It was obviously true of 613 00:32:47,120 --> 00:32:51,719 Speaker 1: hurricanes and big storm surges. The wetlands basically operate as 614 00:32:51,760 --> 00:32:53,200 Speaker 1: big storage tanks for water. 615 00:32:53,720 --> 00:32:55,840 Speaker 2: Yeah, I saw somewhere. I can't find it now, but 616 00:32:56,160 --> 00:32:58,240 Speaker 2: like it. Oh there it does. An acre of wetlands 617 00:32:58,600 --> 00:33:00,880 Speaker 2: can hold up to about a million and a half 618 00:33:01,000 --> 00:33:04,760 Speaker 2: gallons of water just one acre, so you got to 619 00:33:04,800 --> 00:33:08,200 Speaker 2: think like that water's staying put there and it's not 620 00:33:08,400 --> 00:33:12,040 Speaker 2: flooding some human habitation instead, which is a good reason 621 00:33:12,040 --> 00:33:15,080 Speaker 2: to keep wetlands around just for that that buffer area, 622 00:33:15,280 --> 00:33:17,480 Speaker 2: or to slow down the surge like you were saying. 623 00:33:18,120 --> 00:33:20,440 Speaker 2: I also saw that we found out the same thing 624 00:33:20,560 --> 00:33:23,760 Speaker 2: goes for beaver dams that they build. They're like a 625 00:33:23,920 --> 00:33:26,440 Speaker 2: temporary artificial wetland, and they provide a lot of the 626 00:33:26,440 --> 00:33:30,920 Speaker 2: same functions that natural or other I guess naturally occurring 627 00:33:31,000 --> 00:33:34,800 Speaker 2: or growing wetlands provide too. And I think we should 628 00:33:34,840 --> 00:33:38,520 Speaker 2: do a whole episode on Beaver's. Okay, oh, totally into Beaver's. 629 00:33:39,080 --> 00:33:46,040 Speaker 2: So water filtration is is another is it water? I'm 630 00:33:46,080 --> 00:33:49,720 Speaker 2: getting you back for the Oregon thing. So water filtration 631 00:33:49,960 --> 00:33:53,800 Speaker 2: is a is another big service that wetlands provide. I 632 00:33:53,880 --> 00:33:56,320 Speaker 2: don't remember where we talked about this, but we talked 633 00:33:56,320 --> 00:34:00,240 Speaker 2: about it recently. Where the water oh I think it 634 00:34:00,280 --> 00:34:03,200 Speaker 2: was water treatment plants. Yeah, the water's brought in and 635 00:34:03,240 --> 00:34:05,400 Speaker 2: it's got all the sediment and gunk and muck, and 636 00:34:05,440 --> 00:34:09,160 Speaker 2: it's cloudy and turbid, and then it slows down. They 637 00:34:09,200 --> 00:34:12,000 Speaker 2: slow it down like running it through some grates or whatever, 638 00:34:12,360 --> 00:34:15,640 Speaker 2: and as it slows down, the sediment that is making 639 00:34:15,680 --> 00:34:18,160 Speaker 2: the water turbine and polluted and everything has a chance 640 00:34:18,200 --> 00:34:22,520 Speaker 2: to settle the bottom. Well, wetlands provide that same function naturally. 641 00:34:22,840 --> 00:34:26,080 Speaker 2: So when you have a bunch of like polluted water 642 00:34:26,200 --> 00:34:30,120 Speaker 2: basically come through there, it slows down when it hits 643 00:34:30,160 --> 00:34:33,680 Speaker 2: all those mangrove roots or tree trunks or whatever it is, 644 00:34:34,200 --> 00:34:36,600 Speaker 2: and it gives it a chance for that sediment to 645 00:34:36,680 --> 00:34:39,080 Speaker 2: fall to the bottom. It's gets sucked up by the 646 00:34:39,120 --> 00:34:43,600 Speaker 2: tree roots and stored in the trees, or the microbial 647 00:34:43,640 --> 00:34:45,759 Speaker 2: life can break a lot of that stuff down too. 648 00:34:45,920 --> 00:34:49,600 Speaker 2: And there's definitely a limit to where you can very 649 00:34:49,680 --> 00:34:54,160 Speaker 2: easily overload the wetlands ability to filter the water. But 650 00:34:54,200 --> 00:34:57,480 Speaker 2: if you gave it like a manageable supply, that is 651 00:34:57,520 --> 00:35:00,319 Speaker 2: a major service that it does. Is it cleans water. 652 00:35:00,400 --> 00:35:03,360 Speaker 2: They call wetlands the kidneys of the earth. 653 00:35:03,840 --> 00:35:06,759 Speaker 1: Yeah, And they they've even done studies where they tried to, 654 00:35:07,800 --> 00:35:11,239 Speaker 1: i guess, sort of monetize what an area of wetland 655 00:35:11,320 --> 00:35:13,640 Speaker 1: might do if it were a treatment plant. And there's 656 00:35:13,719 --> 00:35:17,800 Speaker 1: one in South Carolina called the Congaree Bottomland Hardwood Swamp. 657 00:35:18,880 --> 00:35:22,120 Speaker 1: These are just all country bands for sure is They 658 00:35:22,160 --> 00:35:25,879 Speaker 1: said that that is basically equivalent to about a five 659 00:35:25,960 --> 00:35:29,719 Speaker 1: million dollar water treatment plant just sitting there being a 660 00:35:29,719 --> 00:35:30,919 Speaker 1: wetland doing its thing. 661 00:35:31,480 --> 00:35:32,560 Speaker 2: Thank you Nature. 662 00:35:33,120 --> 00:35:33,840 Speaker 1: Pretty amazing. 663 00:35:34,200 --> 00:35:38,120 Speaker 2: I saw that beavers provide the dams that they build 664 00:35:38,200 --> 00:35:42,080 Speaker 2: that end up being temporary wetlands that somebody estimated it's 665 00:35:42,080 --> 00:35:44,640 Speaker 2: worth about one hundred grand if a human tried to 666 00:35:44,680 --> 00:35:47,600 Speaker 2: build an artificial one, which we do that if you 667 00:35:47,719 --> 00:35:51,240 Speaker 2: just let beavers do their thing, they will they will 668 00:35:51,440 --> 00:35:54,520 Speaker 2: do the same thing for free. That's right. You don't 669 00:35:54,520 --> 00:35:58,920 Speaker 2: have to pay them one hundred grand. Nope. There's also 670 00:35:59,080 --> 00:36:03,160 Speaker 2: because there's so much going on in a wetland, there's 671 00:36:03,200 --> 00:36:06,520 Speaker 2: so much life, they kind of form like these metropolis 672 00:36:06,640 --> 00:36:09,719 Speaker 2: is for all sorts of different types of animals all 673 00:36:09,760 --> 00:36:17,000 Speaker 2: the way up the food chain, including plants, animals, microbial life, worms, fish, 674 00:36:17,440 --> 00:36:22,440 Speaker 2: larger predators like dolphins and alligators, and all of them 675 00:36:22,480 --> 00:36:27,279 Speaker 2: are sitting there providing food for us. If you like 676 00:36:27,360 --> 00:36:30,719 Speaker 2: gator tail, buddy, you better preserve those wetlands. 677 00:36:31,200 --> 00:36:34,600 Speaker 1: Yeah. Dave points out here that the commercial fishing industry 678 00:36:34,600 --> 00:36:37,400 Speaker 1: in the US, seventy five percent of the fish and 679 00:36:37,440 --> 00:36:41,080 Speaker 1: shellfish harvested here had fish that at least had a 680 00:36:41,080 --> 00:36:44,319 Speaker 1: temporary home in the wetlands, and that recreationally. If you're 681 00:36:44,320 --> 00:36:50,400 Speaker 1: a recreational fish person fisher person, then ninety percent of 682 00:36:50,440 --> 00:36:54,880 Speaker 1: the US fish catch is at least the breeding ground 683 00:36:55,520 --> 00:36:57,360 Speaker 1: lies in the wetlands for those fish. 684 00:36:57,760 --> 00:37:01,280 Speaker 2: And the same thing goes for birds too. Enormously important 685 00:37:01,280 --> 00:37:06,120 Speaker 2: habitats for birds, some permanent, but also migratory too, because 686 00:37:06,280 --> 00:37:09,279 Speaker 2: if you're flying along and you're a bird, and you 687 00:37:09,480 --> 00:37:11,879 Speaker 2: are a water bird and you need a place to land, 688 00:37:12,000 --> 00:37:13,839 Speaker 2: not only are you looking for water, but you might 689 00:37:13,920 --> 00:37:17,640 Speaker 2: really enjoy a swamp because it offers protection from predators, 690 00:37:17,680 --> 00:37:20,839 Speaker 2: it offers a port in the storm. It's just an 691 00:37:20,840 --> 00:37:23,399 Speaker 2: all around valuable thing for birds too. Yeah. 692 00:37:23,440 --> 00:37:29,920 Speaker 1: I mean, imagine flying from Canada to Texas and you're 693 00:37:29,960 --> 00:37:33,839 Speaker 1: going over Oklahoma and you're a little tired. You look down, 694 00:37:33,880 --> 00:37:35,719 Speaker 1: you see one of those which ones? Were those? 695 00:37:35,760 --> 00:37:40,800 Speaker 2: The prairie plias, the prairie potholes. 696 00:37:40,360 --> 00:37:45,680 Speaker 1: Prairie potholes. Yeah, oh, man, sight, aren't you describing a 697 00:37:45,760 --> 00:37:47,640 Speaker 1: scene in Jonathan Livingston Siegull. 698 00:37:47,840 --> 00:37:50,800 Speaker 2: Probably so. 699 00:37:50,800 --> 00:37:52,759 Speaker 1: So the point is we need to take care of 700 00:37:52,800 --> 00:37:58,800 Speaker 1: our wetlands because they are a threatened, diverse, very useful 701 00:38:01,280 --> 00:38:04,040 Speaker 1: place all over the world, especially here in the United States, 702 00:38:04,160 --> 00:38:07,480 Speaker 1: and if they are threatened and if things happen, there 703 00:38:07,480 --> 00:38:10,120 Speaker 1: are going to be all kinds of bad things, you know, 704 00:38:10,480 --> 00:38:15,200 Speaker 1: vegetative damage, the plant life just being maybe wipened out, 705 00:38:15,480 --> 00:38:17,040 Speaker 1: wiped out altogether. 706 00:38:17,120 --> 00:38:22,280 Speaker 2: Storm searches being way worse, flooding being way worse especially, 707 00:38:22,320 --> 00:38:24,600 Speaker 2: helps to see the value in them if you consider 708 00:38:24,640 --> 00:38:29,480 Speaker 2: them a buffer zone between us and the hardest ravages 709 00:38:29,520 --> 00:38:30,040 Speaker 2: of nature. 710 00:38:30,239 --> 00:38:32,320 Speaker 1: Yeah, and like you mentioned, pollution, there is a limit, 711 00:38:32,800 --> 00:38:36,400 Speaker 1: but they do absorb and mitigate levels of water pollution, 712 00:38:36,560 --> 00:38:40,680 Speaker 1: and they just can't take too much of us, you know. 713 00:38:41,320 --> 00:38:45,800 Speaker 2: Right exactly, which, man, if there's anything that characterizes humans 714 00:38:45,840 --> 00:38:48,359 Speaker 2: of the twentieth and twenty first centuries, it's too much 715 00:38:48,400 --> 00:38:50,600 Speaker 2: of us. Yeah, you know what I mean. 716 00:38:50,680 --> 00:38:54,760 Speaker 1: What can we do though, well, such donating to wetland projects. 717 00:38:54,760 --> 00:38:55,960 Speaker 1: We can definitely do that. 718 00:38:56,239 --> 00:38:58,880 Speaker 2: You can definitely do that. There's some good ones out there. 719 00:38:59,040 --> 00:39:04,000 Speaker 2: I believe Ducks Unlimited as one of them, the Wetlands Initiative, 720 00:39:04,160 --> 00:39:09,400 Speaker 2: Natural Resources Defense Council, Wetlands International. But apparently in the 721 00:39:09,520 --> 00:39:12,520 Speaker 2: United States something like seventy five percent of wetlands are 722 00:39:12,560 --> 00:39:16,200 Speaker 2: on privately owned property, and in the United States, we 723 00:39:16,320 --> 00:39:18,560 Speaker 2: have I mean, private property is one of like the 724 00:39:18,760 --> 00:39:22,799 Speaker 2: fundamental tenets of American society. So if you say, I 725 00:39:22,880 --> 00:39:25,960 Speaker 2: want to fill in this wetland and kill off these beavers, 726 00:39:26,400 --> 00:39:29,440 Speaker 2: you're allowed to do that. Whether that's a good idea 727 00:39:29,480 --> 00:39:33,120 Speaker 2: and whether that's going to affect other people, that's a 728 00:39:33,120 --> 00:39:36,799 Speaker 2: different story. So if you own private property with a 729 00:39:36,840 --> 00:39:40,040 Speaker 2: wetland on it and you're doing just fine with that wetland, 730 00:39:40,280 --> 00:39:43,080 Speaker 2: leave the wetland alone. It's very important. 731 00:39:43,360 --> 00:39:45,000 Speaker 1: Yeah, I guess this is where it gets a little 732 00:39:45,040 --> 00:39:49,200 Speaker 1: tricky in definitions, because in plenty of places there are 733 00:39:49,280 --> 00:39:54,879 Speaker 1: restrictions on building near water like this. Sure, I guess, 734 00:39:54,960 --> 00:39:58,920 Speaker 1: I just don't know. Like you can't build in a 735 00:39:58,920 --> 00:40:01,359 Speaker 1: flood zone. You can't. I mean, it depends on where 736 00:40:01,400 --> 00:40:04,080 Speaker 1: you are, But in Atlanta you can't. And then with 737 00:40:04,160 --> 00:40:06,120 Speaker 1: these all these creeks and streams in Atlanta, they have 738 00:40:06,200 --> 00:40:09,799 Speaker 1: what's called stream buffers. Sure, fifty foot seventy five foot, 739 00:40:09,840 --> 00:40:11,879 Speaker 1: one hundred foot and I think I think twenty five 740 00:40:11,960 --> 00:40:14,279 Speaker 1: is the lowest. And for these you have to get 741 00:40:14,360 --> 00:40:17,560 Speaker 1: variances to do anything, which your neighborhood has to approve. 742 00:40:17,680 --> 00:40:20,560 Speaker 1: And I talk to a guy that Apparently anything over 743 00:40:21,760 --> 00:40:25,000 Speaker 1: anything under seventy five feet is pretty pretty tricky to 744 00:40:25,000 --> 00:40:27,560 Speaker 1: get approved. So I don't know if they're wetlands or not, 745 00:40:27,800 --> 00:40:29,680 Speaker 1: but there are restrictions on stuff like that. 746 00:40:29,960 --> 00:40:32,000 Speaker 2: Okay. So that brings up the next point of what 747 00:40:32,040 --> 00:40:34,040 Speaker 2: you and I and everybody else can do, which is 748 00:40:34,120 --> 00:40:38,200 Speaker 2: vote for people for to local elected office who part 749 00:40:38,200 --> 00:40:40,880 Speaker 2: of their platform is protecting wetlands. Yeah, like all of 750 00:40:40,920 --> 00:40:44,480 Speaker 2: those buffer zones, all those variances, and all those prohibitions. Tho, 751 00:40:44,920 --> 00:40:48,319 Speaker 2: those came from Atlanta City councils over the years that 752 00:40:48,440 --> 00:40:52,359 Speaker 2: decided that wetlands needed protecting. You don't find those everywhere, 753 00:40:52,520 --> 00:40:55,120 Speaker 2: but once they get put in place, they usually don't 754 00:40:55,280 --> 00:41:00,000 Speaker 2: get repealed very easily. So if you make preserving wetland 755 00:41:00,080 --> 00:41:02,880 Speaker 2: it's part of what you're voting for, that would have 756 00:41:02,920 --> 00:41:06,560 Speaker 2: an impact for sure. Yeah, and whatever you're voting for, 757 00:41:06,680 --> 00:41:09,920 Speaker 2: just vote, okay, vote especially. 758 00:41:10,520 --> 00:41:13,600 Speaker 1: I know everyone the presidential elections are always the big 759 00:41:14,200 --> 00:41:19,200 Speaker 1: sexy votes, but the local politics matters even more almost sometimes. 760 00:41:19,440 --> 00:41:21,960 Speaker 2: Yeah, I vote for all of it. Take an interest 761 00:41:22,000 --> 00:41:26,439 Speaker 2: in in your society. Yeah, okay, Well, you got anything 762 00:41:26,480 --> 00:41:29,799 Speaker 2: else about wetlands. Nope, I don't either. This is a 763 00:41:29,800 --> 00:41:32,759 Speaker 2: good one. I'm pretty happy with it. And since I 764 00:41:32,800 --> 00:41:38,239 Speaker 2: said that, everybody, it's time for listener mail. Yeah. 765 00:41:38,280 --> 00:41:41,600 Speaker 1: I'm gonna call this the first s y five K. 766 00:41:42,400 --> 00:41:46,280 Speaker 2: Oh. Yeah, did you see these? Yes? Man, Congratulations everybody 767 00:41:46,280 --> 00:41:47,000 Speaker 2: who took part. 768 00:41:47,239 --> 00:41:50,600 Speaker 1: Yeah. So what happened was some stuff you should know. 769 00:41:50,640 --> 00:41:54,880 Speaker 1: Listeners got together and put together five k stuff you 770 00:41:54,920 --> 00:41:58,160 Speaker 1: should know five K, and we got periodic updates from 771 00:41:58,320 --> 00:42:01,320 Speaker 1: Aaron Huey, Mizelle or Myzell. I'm not sure how you 772 00:42:01,360 --> 00:42:01,880 Speaker 1: pronounce it. 773 00:42:02,120 --> 00:42:03,560 Speaker 2: I'm going with Mizel Mizelle. 774 00:42:03,560 --> 00:42:08,120 Speaker 1: But this is this is the final email about how 775 00:42:08,160 --> 00:42:10,319 Speaker 1: it went. Hey, guys, want to let you know that 776 00:42:10,360 --> 00:42:12,880 Speaker 1: the s y five K is over. It was so 777 00:42:12,960 --> 00:42:15,240 Speaker 1: nice to look at everyone's pictures and hear what episodes 778 00:42:15,239 --> 00:42:17,200 Speaker 1: of stuff you should know they listened to because that 779 00:42:17,280 --> 00:42:19,600 Speaker 1: was the idea. Imagine some people might have fudged that 780 00:42:19,680 --> 00:42:21,320 Speaker 1: and listened to Mark Maron or whatever. 781 00:42:21,800 --> 00:42:23,960 Speaker 2: That's not like they're disqualified. 782 00:42:25,080 --> 00:42:26,560 Speaker 1: I think a lot of us have suffered from a 783 00:42:26,600 --> 00:42:28,960 Speaker 1: lack of human connection at this time, and the silly 784 00:42:29,000 --> 00:42:32,400 Speaker 1: little virtual event gave us something to bond over. I 785 00:42:32,400 --> 00:42:34,120 Speaker 1: don't think I would have tried this with any other 786 00:42:34,160 --> 00:42:36,200 Speaker 1: group of people. The stuff you should Know Army is 787 00:42:36,200 --> 00:42:38,280 Speaker 1: wonderful and it speaks volumes in regard to you guys. 788 00:42:38,800 --> 00:42:41,080 Speaker 1: The tone that you set in your podcast, interesting and funny, 789 00:42:41,440 --> 00:42:44,040 Speaker 1: carries over into your fan base and it's created a 790 00:42:44,040 --> 00:42:47,800 Speaker 1: little lovely corner of the Internet. I totally agree, Aaron, 791 00:42:48,000 --> 00:42:50,320 Speaker 1: And the same can be said of the movie Crush page. 792 00:42:50,400 --> 00:42:54,680 Speaker 1: Very very good people, not snipy or rude and going 793 00:42:54,680 --> 00:42:57,360 Speaker 1: after each other on Facebook, which is kind of what 794 00:42:57,440 --> 00:42:58,680 Speaker 1: Facebook seems to be all about. 795 00:42:59,120 --> 00:43:03,440 Speaker 2: Oh yeah, it's like a garden paradise over there on 796 00:43:03,480 --> 00:43:04,840 Speaker 2: the SYSK Army page. 797 00:43:04,920 --> 00:43:05,520 Speaker 1: Yeah that's great. 798 00:43:06,200 --> 00:43:06,319 Speaker 2: Now. 799 00:43:06,360 --> 00:43:08,560 Speaker 1: I'm not suggesting that you made these people wonderful, but 800 00:43:08,560 --> 00:43:11,600 Speaker 1: the average stuff you should know Army member is like that, interesting, 801 00:43:11,640 --> 00:43:13,839 Speaker 1: funny and willing to participate in a virtual five K 802 00:43:14,239 --> 00:43:15,800 Speaker 1: with a complete stranger. 803 00:43:15,680 --> 00:43:17,279 Speaker 2: And they love stroop waffles. 804 00:43:17,640 --> 00:43:19,680 Speaker 1: I even about thirteen stuff you should Know stickers to 805 00:43:19,719 --> 00:43:22,000 Speaker 1: send out to some people as surprizes. It's just a 806 00:43:22,000 --> 00:43:23,839 Speaker 1: little thing. But everyone that I've been in touch with 807 00:43:24,120 --> 00:43:26,879 Speaker 1: has been exceedingly kind. This is what we need right now, 808 00:43:26,920 --> 00:43:29,719 Speaker 1: these small human connections. A podcast to listen to and 809 00:43:29,800 --> 00:43:33,880 Speaker 1: laugh with, a walk run Bear chase to do virtually 810 00:43:33,960 --> 00:43:36,600 Speaker 1: with a bunch of near strangers and a stuff you 811 00:43:36,640 --> 00:43:38,239 Speaker 1: should know sticker to pull on your fridge or on 812 00:43:38,280 --> 00:43:40,400 Speaker 1: your laptop. If you get a chance to go to 813 00:43:40,440 --> 00:43:42,000 Speaker 1: the event page and scroll through some of the posts, 814 00:43:42,000 --> 00:43:44,400 Speaker 1: they're delightful, like the woman who did our five K 815 00:43:44,440 --> 00:43:47,480 Speaker 1: at three months postpartum and crushed it, or the dad 816 00:43:47,480 --> 00:43:49,520 Speaker 1: who pushed his adorable daughter in her stroller on the 817 00:43:49,520 --> 00:43:52,800 Speaker 1: five K while listening to his favorite episode, which was Spam. 818 00:43:53,480 --> 00:43:55,680 Speaker 1: We had first timers, ye, that was a good one. 819 00:43:55,760 --> 00:43:59,040 Speaker 1: We had first timers, people recovering from injury, runners and walkers, 820 00:43:59,040 --> 00:44:00,880 Speaker 1: so many smiles and stuff you should know t shirts. 821 00:44:01,239 --> 00:44:02,680 Speaker 1: Sign off for now, but just writing and tell you 822 00:44:02,760 --> 00:44:06,560 Speaker 1: as a success we might even do it again with love. 823 00:44:06,600 --> 00:44:10,040 Speaker 1: And that is again from Aaron Huey Mozelle and that 824 00:44:10,160 --> 00:44:13,319 Speaker 1: is great. Aaron, thank you for doing this and that 825 00:44:13,400 --> 00:44:16,040 Speaker 1: really does speak to to the quality of our listeners 826 00:44:16,040 --> 00:44:16,960 Speaker 1: in every single way. 827 00:44:17,440 --> 00:44:19,920 Speaker 2: Indubitably. Yeah, thanks a lot, Aaron. It's good to hear 828 00:44:19,960 --> 00:44:23,600 Speaker 2: from you and everybody who participated in the s y 829 00:44:23,600 --> 00:44:29,680 Speaker 2: five K. You are the champions, our friend. 830 00:44:30,480 --> 00:44:34,440 Speaker 1: Even if you listen to Mark Maren. 831 00:44:34,320 --> 00:44:42,000 Speaker 2: But maybe not. What Chuck just said, that's it okay. Well, 832 00:44:42,000 --> 00:44:43,319 Speaker 2: if you want to get in touch with this like 833 00:44:43,440 --> 00:44:46,319 Speaker 2: Aaron did and do something interesting, we want to hear 834 00:44:46,360 --> 00:44:49,480 Speaker 2: about it. You can write to us in an email 835 00:44:49,840 --> 00:44:56,480 Speaker 2: to Stuff Podcast at iHeartRadio dot com. 836 00:44:56,640 --> 00:44:58,880 Speaker 3: Stuff you Should Know is a production of Iheartradios How 837 00:44:58,920 --> 00:45:02,600 Speaker 3: Stuff Works. More podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, 838 00:45:02,680 --> 00:45:05,320 Speaker 3: Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.