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Freshwater river habitats will be compared to saltwater coastal environments through the study of the wetlands of East Rock Park and the wetlands and coast of Lighthouse Point Park. We will focus in on comparisons between freshwater habitats, using the Mill River as an example, and salt water habitats, using Long Island Sound as a reference. We will compare how each unique aquatic environment provides habitats for very specific life forms. This unit will help make clear to a young mind the reasons for the differences and similarities between these two unique environments and will lay the foundation for further investigation into their own accessible surroundings.
Parks are critical open areas in our city, the city dweller’s primary contact point with the “natural” environment. As children and adults who live in the city are more removed from their natural surroundings by concrete and asphalt, a need for environmental education is more critical than ever. In our city of New Haven, I have selected two distinct parks to cover in this unit. Both parks are unique in their own flora, fauna, and geology. Both parks contain aquatic environments which support wild animals that depend upon the aquatic environments for survival. Aquatic environments may be freshwater, such as rivers, lakes, ponds, streams and freshwater marshes; or saltwater, such as oceans, estuaries, and saltwater marshes. Some aquatic animals such as fish or crabs, might live in the water. Others might live in the water some of the time and out of the water some of the time, such as frogs and salamanders. Some aquatic animals may find food, water, shelter, and space both in and out of the water, such as beaver or seals. Other animals like osprey, kingfisher, or seagulls are examples of wildlife that need to live near aquatic environments. All aquatic wildlife depends directly on aquatic habitats for survival. Water is one of the basic components of habitat for people and for wildlife. Water is essential for all life. Aquatic ecosystems and wildlife give humans early clear warning about the quality of the water environment upon which we all depend. For example, frogs, considered the “coal mine canaries” of the aquatic ecosystem, show signs early on of detrimental effects from human contaminants.
Waters from all of New HavenÍs streams, marsh creeks, and rivers drain into Long Island Sound which in turn drains into the Atlantic Ocean. The place where this fresh water drains into the salt water is called an estuary. Estuaries are semi-enclosed parts of the coastal ocean where sea water is diluted and mixed with fresh water coming from land. Our local rivers, harbors, and even Long Island Sound itself is all part of an estuarine system.
The word marsh has been defined as a treeless area of soft, wet land. To be a good marsh for wildlife it must be wet and it must have a varied balance of marsh plants that can support a population of small and larger animals which feed on the plants and on each other. Available food is not enough, the marsh must have a great variety of habitats in order to support a broad range of wildlife. It must have, deep water areas, shallow water areas, heavy vegetation on some of the shoreline, some bare areas on the shoreline, flooded grassy meadows, and dry grassy meadows. Marshy areas vary greatly. Some are permanent, some are temporary, some are freshwater, brakish water, or salt water, some are acidic, some are alkali, and they vary in size, depth, and in the forms of life they support. East Rock Park and Lighthouse Point have their own unique wetlands to study.
East Rock Park and Lighthouse Point Park both have a story to tell; it’s a record of what came before as well as what’s happening now. When you walk through the ranger station entrance to East Rock Park on the corner of Orange Street and Cold Spring Street and look up at the red sandstone around the base and up to the summit of East Rock along the traprock vertical ridges, think about the fact that these rocks are the result of molten mater