Walkin' in a Winter Wetland

Today I went for a winter's walk in a special place. It is called a "wetland." A wetland is an environment that has squishy, wet soil that is squishy and wet most of the time. These wetland places would be ponds, bogs, marshes, and meadows. Today, I was walking around a big pond. Because the land around this pond is always squishy and wet, it is called a wetland.

In this special place, certain plants and animals survive well. Some plants and animals cannot survive here at all. Did you know you can over-water a plant til it dies? It's true. Also, some plants and animals would not be able to survive here because it is too cold.

Here are three organisms that survive well in this Orange County wetland. The first is moss. Moss looks like a low carpet of green. When you look at it very closely with a magnifying glass, this "carpet" is made up of hundreds of tiny plants with teeny leaves. Moss can only grow where the soil is very wet and the sun is not too strong. The next group of organisms are fungi or mushrooms, one of the FIBs. These mushrooms were growing on a dead log. These mushrooms or fungi are busy breaking down or decomposing the log. Finally, we have lovely ferns growing in the shade in the damp soil. These ferns would not survive on top of a foothill here in Orange County. There would be too much sun and not enough water.

Where do you think you would not be able to survive well? Do you prefer hot days or cold days? Do you love rainy days or do you love sunny days, or both? Where would you survive the best on planet Earth?

Did you find this useful? If so, you can send a "tip" to my PAYPAL.COM account. My email address is kathomatho@yahoo.com. I will donate 10% of your tip to The Orange County Zoo.