Fens and Bogs Part One: the Importance of Geology and Geography

​Breakfast on the Marsh is a community forum sponsored by Little River Wetlands Project and usually held at Indiana Wesleyan University Fort Wayne. In May 2024 the speaker was DNR botanist Scott Namestnik. He spoke on the unique geology and geography of Indiana and the related unique plants and ecosystems.
 
The first part of his presentation focused on geology and geography. This was an informative walk-through geological history that impacts life in Indiana today. That included the impact of glaciers, both the Indiana and the Wisconsin Glaciers. The formation and declining of the glaciers  left  different areas of Indiana was fine sand, hard clay, sand dunes, and eventually Lake Erie. The changing temperatures and the changing levels of water influenced what grew in Indiana. This included types of forests, prairies, wetlands including marsh, fens, and bogs, and shallow seas. These unique ecosystems were influenced by watersheds, rock beds, altitude, and degrees of
acidity.
 
Scott’s presentation was clear, geology and the related geography was dynamic and always changing. What is new is the influence of humans. First the Indigenous Peoples of the area used land management techniques that mimicked nature. The European settlers altered the landscape.  This included deforestation, draining or wetlands, and mono-species farming. The result has been a change in ecosystems, wildlife, and plant life. The first part of Namstnicks’s presentation focused mainly of the foundational, the unique geography and geography that influences life in Indiana
today.

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