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 Myth of the Month
A new ePostcard is released every month.
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EcoMyths Chicago
DIRT!
| Do Not Draw Your Sword to Kill a Fly |
| - Korean Proverb |
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MYTH: Pesticides Only Kill Bad Bugs
Myth Explored:
Whether you’re wrangling with Japanese beetles munching on your flowers, slugs eating holes in your vegetables, or caterpillars feasting on your trees, it’s tempting to use pesticides to solve the problem. And it’s easy to forget that there’s more going on in your backyard ecosystem than meets the eye.
We often resort to pesticides to deal with garden pests. But pesticides don’t just control unwanted beetles and slugs. They often kill more than just the target nuisance, including beneficial natural predators like lady bugs. If a pesticide gets into your soil, it may also harm soil organisms that help to keep your plants healthy. There are many ways to control pests before resorting to pesticides. Know the story and explore your options on the EcoMyths Chicago website.
Photo: chicagonow.com
Myth Busted
Dig deeper into Pesticides
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Exploring Deeper
Natural Solutions May be Effective Against the Pests in Your Garden
Pesticides define a broad category of products that are designed to prevent, kill, or reduce pests such as insects and mice. Pesticides also include products that control weeds, fungi, bacteria, and viruses. By their nature, pesticides present risk to animals, humans, and the environment because they are designed to harm living organisms. At the same time, pesticides are also useful to society because they help control disease-causing organisms, pests, invasive weeds, and insects.
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) acknowledges the potential benefits of pesticides, but also monitors their potential impacts on the environment, including fisheries, birds, and threatened and endangered species. According to a recent U.S. Geological Survey study, pesticides were found over 90% of the time in streams, in more than 80% of fish sampled, and in 33% of major aquifers. USFWS also cites pesticide use as the likely cause of deformities and declines in amphibian populations as well as declines in species of pollinators and other beneficial insects.
The Problem
Bugs and other tiny creatures are all around us. But it is important to differentiate helpful insects from harmful ones. Many insects that we see are actually beneficial, such as butterflies, bees, ladybugs, lacewings, and fireflies. Butterflies and bees perform the important function of pollinating our crops and flowers, helping plants to reproduce. Ladybugs (technically Coccinellidae or Lady Beetles) and brown lacewings eat aphids, scale insects, mites, and insect eggs. Firefly larvae are predators of various insects, slugs, and snails.
Soils also are home to many beneficial organisms including bacteria, fungi, earthworms, ants, and beetles. Above ground, it is easy to see the plants, birds and bugs. But we don’t often think about the microorganisms that help keep our soils healthy. They’re vital to our backyard ecosystems just the same. Our plants draw their nitrogen from the soil, for example, and they count on beneficial soil bacteria and fungi to breakdown dead organic material (leaves, for instance) releasing ammonium and nitrate that a plant can easily absorb. Beneficial bacteria and fungi also help control diseases that might otherwise run amok. They decompose dead animal and plant material into nutrient-rich, organic matter that helps your garden thrive. They even help the soil retain water. (For the record, bacteria and fungi are not doing this from the good of their little microbial hearts; breaking down dead material in the soil liberates the energy and nutrients they need to satisfy their own needs; their usefulness for the plants in your garden are an advantageous by-product) (Source: USDA Soil Biology Primer).
Unfortunately, pesticides may kill beneficial insects and other organisms right along with the bad.
In the soil, chemical pesticides may lead to unfavorable conditions. If pesticides are overused and seep into on the soil, they can harm insects and other living organisms that contribute to the health of your lawn. "Healthy soil is part of a functioning ecosystem and within the soil itself there is an ecosystem." says Kim Stone of the Safer Pest Control Project, a non-profit Illinois agency. "The repeated use of pesticides may throw the soil ecosystem out of balance, by killing beneficial organisms that help keep the soil rich."
Above the soil, pesticides create unwanted problems too. The use of broad spectrum pesticides sprayed all around the yard, rather than spot treatments on affected plants, can harm beneficial insects like ladybugs and lacewings. If pesticides drift onto plants that are attractive to bees and butterflies, these insects could be unintentionally killed.
The Solution
It’s natural to have a few bugs nibbling on your plants. If you keep your soil and your backyard ecosystem healthy, Mother Nature will normally keep things from getting out of hand. The discovery of one caterpillar in a row of thriving tomato plants is probably not a portent of doom. One possible solution is to expect and tolerate a certain amount of pest activity.
When control of pests is necessary, there are many options to choose from before resorting to pesticide. The best way to control pests is to head the problem off before it gets started. Plant a diversity of plants that bloom all summer. Many predators supplement their diets with pollen and nectar, so the same blossoms that make your garden beautiful will tend to attract the insect predators that you need to defend it (For more information see University of Illinois Extension horticulture article: "How to Attract Beneficial Insects to the Garden"). Plant some marigolds alongside those tomatoes and you’ll get more than just the splash of color. You’ll get protection, too.
Before you act, identify the insects you suspect are pests and understand how they can be controlled. The Illinois Natural History Survey website has helpful online ID cards with brief descriptions of beneficial and detrimental landscape insects and other organisms ("The Good Guys" and "The Bad Guys"), what they eat, and how to manage or encourage them.
You may find that you can control your particular pest with relatively non-toxic measures. Spraying pests off plants with a stream of water from a garden hose may be sufficient. For easily visible pests, like Japanese beetles, shake them into a cup of soapy water-- which kills them without damaging the surrounding environment. Catch winged aphids, whiteflies, and leafhoppers with yellow sticky boards, which you can make yourself with yellow poster board and sticky glue. Even homemade garlic spray (15 crushed garlic cloves blended in one pint of water and strained) is effective against most insect pests.
If homemade solutions are not enough, you may need to use an organic pesticide. These include horticultural oils, insecticidal soaps and botanical insecticides. However, use organic pesticides in a targeted way in order to prevent unwanted consequences on other insects, birds, and soil microorganisms that are part of a healthy garden ecosystem. Fortunately, organic pesticide impacts are short-term because they tend to breakdown quickly and have no lasting impact on the environment. Other non-chemical pesticides are also an alternative. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, "Biologically-based pesticides, such as pheromones and microbial pesticides, are becoming increasingly popular and often are safer than traditional chemical pesticides".
When no other solution is available, US Fish and Wildlife recommends careful use of chemical pesticides, to minimize impact on the environment: "It is important to use these products only when necessary (rather than on a regular schedule), use the minimum amount required to be effective, and to target application so that only the intended pest is affected."
Many lawn fertilizers include pesticide, so if you do want to avoid adding pesticide to your soil you are better off also avoiding certain fertilizers -- particularly those labeled as weed and feed. See EcoMyth’s articles from April 2010 on Fertilizer and May 2010 on Mulch for more information on alternatives to fertilizer.
What You Can Do
- Anticipate and accept some pest activity.
- Attract natural predators and pollinators with a diverse and colorful garden.
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When possible, use non-chemical practices to keep the lawn healthy and the ecosystem in balance.
- Remove pests by hand or shake into a cup of soapy water
- Spray pests off plants with the garden hose
- Water adequately to keep plants healthy
- Keep insects off plants and vegetables by using polyester row covers
- Remove insect-damaged plants
- Pull weeds and remove fallen leaves where insects can hide
- Shop for natural lawn care products: A listing of Natural Lawn Care Product Suppliers in the Chicago Wilderness region is available from Safer Pest Control, a non-profit Illinois agency.
- If pesticides are necessary, choose organic pesticides and those that are least toxic to non-pest species. Target pesticide applications to avoid water and non-target species. Avoid spraying in windy conditions.
Information in this publication is provided purely for educational purposes. No responsibility is assumed for any problems associated with the use of products or services mentioned. No endorsement of products or companies is intended, nor is criticism of unnamed products or companies implied.
May
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EcoMyths Chicago
DIRT!
Mulch Ado About Weed Control
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Series 2, Vol. 5
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MYTH: Mulching Your Garden is Always the Environmentally Correct Thing to Do
Myth Explored:
Anyone who listens to the news is going to be uncomfortable using herbicides to control weeds in a home garden. Though touted as safe when introduced, herbicides do seem to have a way of getting linked to unexpected health hazards.
The obvious, safer solution is to use mulch instead. Mulches not only control weeds, they help the soil retain moisture. Some mulches actually feed the soil as they decompose.
Unfortunately – as is so often the case – it turns out that there's a bit more to it. Some mulching options produce unwanted side effects, and it's useful to know what they are.
Photo: University of Minnesota Extension Service
Myth Partially Busted
Dig deeper into Mulch
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Exploring Deeper
You Can Be "Eco-smart" When it Comes to Mulch
The Situation
We all try to pick and choose which plants will be allowed to reside in our gardens, but weeds have ideas of their own. Some weeds succeed because they're invasive species with no local natural enemies. Some can poison the soil to prevent competition. Others are just splendidly adapted for the local environment. They're tough customers, and they see that open space in your garden as a standing invitation to move on in.
Few gardeners enjoy weeding. And many of us are quite dubious about the safety of commercial herbicides, no matter what it may say on the label.
So as an alternative we use mulch, as recommended by Horticulturist Joseph Krol, of the Morton Arboretum. And while mulch is a useful weapon against weeds, not all mulches are the same.
The Problem - The Cypress Crisis
Cypress mulch has been a perennial favorite. But the truth is that cypress mulch isn't what it's made out to be. Its popularity is based upon the idea that cypress mulch contains natural chemicals that fend off insects and resist rot. And it did – back in the days when the mulch was made from full-grown, fully developed, century-old trees. But that's no longer the case. The demand for cypress timber and mulch has led to an unsustainable over-harvesting of cypress trees, so much so that most cypress mulch now comes from immature trees that have not yet developed the properties that made its mulch so popular in the first place.
And it gets worse. Cypress groves thrive where lowlands meet the ocean, and they protect inland areas from hurricanes by cutting storm surge by as much as 90 percent. They're also the pillars of their local ecosystems, protecting the region from invasive species and helping to maintain proper conditions for the local flora and fauna. A study by the Louisiana Coastal Wetland Science Working Group (SWG) estimates that the lumber in Louisiana's cypress groves would have a one-time value of $3.3 billion if the groves were harvested. That sounds like a lot of money until you read the rest of the report. If left in place as hurricane barriers and guardians of the local environment, the same groves are worth $6.7 billion per year, year in and year out.
Few groves will ever grow back once harvested. Mature cypress trees can live to be more than 1000 years old, but their seedlings need the freshwater floods that used to replenish the land with fresh layers of silt on a regular basis. Thanks to more than a century of dam-building, shipping canals and flood control, very little new silt makes it into the cypress groves anymore. Instead of being continually rebuilt, the land is slowly subsiding, and brackish water from the Gulf of Mexico keeps creeping farther inland. The cypress seedlings can't survive.
It's not impossible that our water management practices will change at some time in the future, and that conditions in the cypress groves will change with them. But until that happens, the cypress groves will not regenerate.
According to the Louisiana Forestry Association, loggers are erasing up to 20,000 acres of cypress every year. At that pace Louisiana's best defense against hurricanes will be gone in less than two decades. Without the cypress groves to hold them back, even minor hurricanes could strike like Katrina. Buying cypress mulch just brings the disaster closer.
Mulch Options Evaluated - Bad Mulches
Cypress mulch has been a perennial favorite. But the truth is that cypress mulch isn't what it's made out to be. Its popularity is based upon the idea that cypress mulch contains natural chemicals that fend off insects and resist rot. And it did – back in the days when the mulch was made from full-grown, fully developed, century-old trees. But that's no longer the case. The demand for cypress timber and mulch has led to an unsustainable over-harvesting of cypress trees, so much so that most cypress mulch now comes from immature trees that have not yet developed the properties that made its mulch so popular in the first place.
So what are your other options? Rubber mulches aren't a great choice. They're made from chipped automobile tires, which, according to Linda Chalker-Scott, Ph.D., of Washington State University, contain zinc and other contaminants that leech into the soil and can kill neighboring plants. In addition, rubber mulch is not as effective at controlling weeds as wood chips. It's also worth pointing that a hot summer day will make your rubber mulch stink to high heaven.
Cocoa Bean Shells look and smell nicer, but they contain theobromine, the same chemical that makes chocolate toxic to dogs. How dangerous it is depends upon the dog's habits, and how many cocoa shells get eaten. Even the most voracious pups probably won't eat enough to kill themselves outright. But they may very well experience diarrhea, vomiting, tremors, and an elevated heart rate. Not surprisingly, the ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center recommends avoiding the use of cocoa bean shell mulch in landscaping around dogs. If you're a dog owner you may find yourself raking all that mulch back up again.
Beneficial Organic Mulches
Last year's leaves, shredded so that they won't matt up, make excellent mulch. But that doesn't help you if you haven't got a lot of leaves.
Sawdust works, as long as it's made from clean, untreated lumber. But who generates sawdust in sufficient quantity? You don't want take chances with sawdust you didn't create yourself, because if it was made from things like particle board or plywood it will leech all kinds of nasty chemicals.
Pine needles make fine mulch, but you need a stand of pine trees.
Pure, completely decomposed compost works well, because it makes the soil too rich for weed seedlings. But if the compost is applied before its ready, the weeds will move right in. Done correctly, using compost as mulch is a rich option for both controlling weeds and applying nutrients to the soil. For more information on compost, see this primer from the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service.
The Solution - Natural Wood Mulch
Fortunately there are other excellent options. High quality wood mulch, like compost, keeps weeds down and releases nutrients as it decomposes. You'll want to be careful about the source, of course. Low quality wood mulches are often made from recycled wood products like old pallets and demolished buildings, and they may very well contain unwelcome ingredients like arsenic, creosote or lead-based paint. In which case, you're right back to the same problem posed by chemical herbicides.
So read the label. Good mulch is made from natural wood products rather than recycled trash wood, and the label will boast about it. And you'll also see a statement saying that the mulch has been certified by the Mulch and Soil Council. Often made from pine, certified mulches are the byproducts of lumber milling and processing operations, and they're not being allowed to go to waste.
The EPA says there's nothing to fear from the red or black colorants used in good wood mulches. The red colorant is an ingredient in everything from cosmetics to paint, and in those applications we call it "iron oxide." When it starts to appear on our cars we usually just call it "rust." There's normally going to be plenty of iron in your soil anyway, and adding a bit more won't hurt anything.
The black colorant is ordinary carbon, and wood mulch is already roughly 50 percent carbon. Again, there's no reason to panic. If you're using Mulch and Soil Council certified mulch, a byproduct of the lumber industry, the area harvested to make the mulch is normally going to be allowed to grow back as a forest again. So as your wood mulch decomposes and releases carbon, new vegetation will be sequestering carbon back at the source.
When using wood mulch, don't let the top layer remain chronically wet. And add a new layer every year. When kept wet, old rotting wood mulches can eventually breed "shotgun" or "artillery" fungus that may permanently stain homes and cars up to 30 feet away. The fungus shoots out spores that look like little tar balls, and they're just about impossible to remove.
But used wisely, non-cypress wood mulches do have their place in a gardener's toolbox. You're not contributing to the demise of the cypress groves or trying to drown your neighbors down in Louisiana. You're fertilizing your plants a bit and you're helping them conserve water. You're making your landscape more attractive, you're not contaminating the soil -- and it sure beats the beats the heck out of weeding.
Morton Arboretum provides a guide to full range of organic mulches, including those shown here, plus how to apply them, and more.
What You Can Do
Don't buy cypress mulch and don't be shy about explaining the cypress mulch issue to your fellow gardeners.
Be aware that some mulch will leak poisons into your soil, including rubber, cocoa shells and recycled wood mulch.
Read the label. Make sure that your mulch was made from natural forest products and is certified by the Mulch and Soil Council.
You can't beat chopped up leaves, if you've got a large supply. They're a natural mulch and a natural fertilizer at the same time. And they're free.
Make your own compost. Pure, fully-decomposed compost will keep weeds down for a season, while steadily enriching the soil below.
Don't pile any mulch up against a building. Termites will use it as a highway to termite heaven.
Don't pile any mulch against the stems or trunks of your trees and plants. It makes it easier for insects and diseases to attack the plant.
April
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EcoMyths Chicago
DIRT!
Feed the Soil Without
Soiling the Water
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Series 2, Vol. 4
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MYTH: All fertilizers are good for plants and for the environment
Myth Explored:
When you walk into your local lawn and garden store you'd like to think that they've done their homework. The products they've put on display will all be perfect for your region, everything will perform as expected and none of it will stir up any environmental mayhem. And what could be more worry-free than fertilizer? You're just feeding your lawn or garden.
Unfortunately, those folks at the garden center are as busy as you are. They've got a business to run, they stock and sell hundreds of different items, and they probably haven't invested the time it takes to research and evaluate every single one. There will be things on the shelves that waste your money, damage the environment and don't even perform their intended functions.
So what can you do? Click here to find out!
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Exploring Deeper
You can be "eco-smart" when it comes to mulch and fertilizer
The Situation
It would be nice if your grass stopped growing when it was exactly two inches tall and dandelions tasted like homegrown tomatoes. Maintaining a lush, green lawn, beautiful flowers and a fresh vegetable garden would be no trouble at all. In real life, however, Mother Nature has ideas of her own. Weeds sprout and spread, lawns develop bare patches, and -- though aficionados do exist -- eating dandelions is most definitely an acquired taste.
Fertilizers seem like an easy answer. They'll make your grass and garden thrive, or at least that what it says on the label. What could be wrong with that?
Lots of things -- if you're using the bagged, store-bought stuff. Let's talk about that.
The Problem
We home gardeners mean no harm when we use fertilizers. We're merely trying to make our own little corner of the planet bright and beautiful. Unfortunately, most environmental scientists agree that chemical fertilizers create significant environmental problems. A lot of the fertilizer that we put down gets washed into our lakes and streams, where it promotes algae blooms that cover the rocks and shore with algae slime and devour the oxygen supplies needed by the fish. Killing off the fish wreaks havoc with the birds and animals that depend upon them. The area's ecosystem begins to collapse.
There's an area in the Gulf of Mexico that demonstrates the problem on a grand scale. The Missouri/Mississippi river system collects agricultural runoff from 31 different states and pours it into the Gulf, where the resulting algae bloom kills or drives away the marine life in an area that can sometimes cover more than 7000 square miles. Called the "dead zone," it's a larger version of what happens to our local waterways when we're careless with our fertilizers.
(Read about the dead zone: http://www.gulfhypoxia.net.)
The Solution
"If you feel that you absolutely must use lawn fertilizer, at least be sure to buy a phosphorus-free version," says Bob Kirschner, Director of Aquatics for the Chicago Botanic Garden. "Our local soils contain all the phosphorus that your lawn really needs. When you buy lawn fertilizer that contains phosphorus, you're purchasing and distributing an unnecessary pollutant."
Fertilizers are not all identical, and they'll list their ingredients on the bag. In many cases the three main ingredients will appear as a row of three highly visible numbers: the percentages, by weight, of nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P) and potash (K). On bags that make these numbers prominent the phosphorus content will be the number in the middle. Look for a fertilizer that lists the phosphorus content as "0".
Sometimes you'll have to look for that number in the fine print on the back. That's especially true when you're using products that combine things like fertilizer, weed killer and grass seed in a single bag.
Sometimes they'll make it easy for you by splashing "Phosphorus Free!" across the front of the package. In some places they make it even easier yet -- in Wisconsin and Minnesota they've passed laws that essentially ban the sale of lawn fertilizer containing phosphorus. Municipalities like Highland Park, Antioch, Vernon Hills, Lindenhurst, Long Grove, Annapolis and Ann Arbor have done the same. But in most of Illinois we still have to read the bag.
Just remember that you don't want -- or need -- phosphorus in your lawn fertilizer.
(If you garden with native prairie and woodland plants you'll want to avoid using any kind of fertilizer at all. Native plants will actually be healthiest in soils with lower nutrient levels.)
There are alternatives to bagged fertilizer. Whether we know it or not, we Americans throw away free lawn fertilizer every season. We bag our leaves and grass clippings, pile them by the curb to be hauled away, and never give it a second thought. It's pure folly.
Do you want more nitrogen in your lawn? It's easy -- just leave your grass cuttings on the lawn. The grass you're cutting still contains the nitrogen that helped it grow. If you keep a sharp edge on your mower's cutting blade it will chop the grass into small particles that will decompose right back into the lawn. It's an eco-friendly, slow release nitrogen fertilizer -- and it doesn't cost a nickel.
And leaves are absolutely magical. Trees sink their roots more deeply than many other plants, and they pull all kinds of nutrients up into the leaf structure. Then -- come autumn -- the trees drop the bounty right into your lap. For lawn fertilizer, let the leaves dry out a bit and then pulverize them with your lawn mower. For a natural mulch and weed control, pile some up. A decomposing leaf is both fertilizer and mulch at the same time.
Any mulch will keep the weeds down and help your garden soils retain water. But when you mulch your garden with a few inches of last year's leaves you accomplish several things at the same time: You're making life miserable for the weeds. You're shielding the soil from the sun and wind and keeping it from drying out as quickly. And the bottom layer of your mulch is slowly and steadily decomposing into compost and high-grade fertilizer; fertilizer that won't easily run off into the lakes and streams.
What You Can Do
Bag the bag! Let your mower put the nitrogen-rich grass clippings right back into your lawn. And if you keep your grass just a bit taller -- three inches or so -- it will be much healthier. Weeds will have a harder time competing with it and your lawn will need less water.
You can't beat leaves. They're natural mulch and natural fertilizer at the same time. And they're free.
If you must buy lawn fertilizer, only buy phosphorus-free products. Your lawn doesn't need phosphorus unless you have a brand-new lawn or very unusual soil.
Don't let applied fertilizer scatter on driveways and sidewalks where the rain will wash it into the storm sewer and off into our lakes and streams.
If you like that "off-the-grid" feeling, buy a push mower. They actually do the job, are great exercise, and they never need a drop of fuel.
Consider avoiding the use of chemical fertilizers altogether. Better yet, plant a prairie in your front yard and avoid both fertilizing and lawn mowing!
Next Month: Mulches
Teaser: Never purchase cypress mulch. Cypress mulch is no longer made with mature trees that have developed the natural resistance to rot that once made cypress so popular. Instead, it's made with immature trees that lack that resistance. These days, buying cypress mulch does nothing but contribute to the demise of our ecologically important cypress groves.
March
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EcoMyths Chicago
DIRT!
Alien Earthworms
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Series 2, Vol. 3
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MYTH: Worms are great for Chicago's plants and soil
Myth Explored:
Spring is upon us. With the snow off the ground (for now at least), and little new growth to obscure our view of the soil, it is easy to see the early stirrings of earthworm activity. Earthworm castings, neat piles of worm poop deposited on the surface as the worms busy themselves with their soil-work, are already accumulating on the lawns and parkways. Although nothing seems as natural or as necessary as this silent toiling, earthworms are, in fact, not native to the Chicago area. As crazy as it may sound, nearly every worm you've seen in Chicago is an import! Native or not, their presence in gardens is often welcome as they increase soil fertility, making for bigger plants. However, in natural areas, where plant and animal communities have developed over thousands of years on worm-less soils, earthworm presence can be disruptive to these communities. Worms may be excellent companions in our vegetable plots, but are not so welcome in our natural areas.
Myth (Partially) Busted
Written By:
Liam Heneghan and Lauren Umek, Institute of Nature and Culture, DePaul University.
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Photo by Liam Heneghan
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Exploring Deeper
Chicago's non-native earthworms may be degrading our natural areas
Impact of Non-Native Worms
Earthworms are themselves a pretty species rich group. Several thousand species are known1. As is true of many other biological groups though, increasingly worm species are being moved from one part of the world to another. Many European and Asian species have become very prevalent in the United States. Though this may be good news for farmers and gardeners, the presence of non-native worms is not such good news for people who want to restore or protect native plants. This is because alien worms can invade areas where there are no native earthworms, like in much of the Midwest. Concerns about earthworms have been increasing in recent years, due the greater scientific understanding of the damage these alien species can cause, including being linked to the decline of an endangered plant species.2
The fact that every earthworm you have seen in the Chicago region has been a non-native species originally from Europe or Asia is so surprising to the non-specialist (yes, there are several ecologists who specialize in the study of earthworm, a testament to the importance of these "ecosystem engineers") that the observation is sometimes met with disbelief. It is however fairly easy to understand the reasons why there are no native earthworms in this region. Much of the Midwest was covered in glaciers until a little over 10,000 years ago!
Alien earthworms probably first arrived in plants and soil brought to the Midwest from Europe on ships during the late 1800's and early 1900's. Soil and rocks were often used as ballast to adjust the weight of European ships and then dumped here; European plants desired by settlers were imported for landscaping purposes and their resident earthworms along with them. More recently bait has become an issue because all common fishing bait worms are non-native species.3
No less a naturalist than Charles Darwin took a lively interest in the humble earthworm. In fact, he devoted an entire book to them. That book entitled The Formation of Vegetable Mould through the Action of Worms, with Observations on their Habits (1881)4 culminated an almost lifelong interest in worms. Nothing escaped his attention: their density in the soil, their taste preferences, and even their unusual sexual habits (their "passion" he said, "is strong enough to overcome for a time their dread of light.") In particular, he meticulously quantified the rate at which worms convert leaves into soil, thereby increasing the fertility of the soil.
Darwin's influential early work has been followed by a sustained interest in earthworms by soil ecologists. In recent years, ecologists have adopted the term "ecosystem engineers" to refer to animals such as earthworms that can directly or indirectly alter the availability of resources to other species.5 That is, earthworms engaged in relatively simple activities such as burrowing through the soil, consuming leaves, and even depositing layers of mucous in their burrows, change the physical nature of the soil and its fertility in such a way that it can greatly benefit other organisms. Generally, earthworm activity results in greater soil fertility and more plant growth. However, oftentimes only one or two plant species benefit (for instance, our crops, or, less desirable, fast-growing weeds). Where earthworms abound in the Chicago region, there typically will be fewer native plant species that you would find in areas without earthworms.
And When They Got Together...
Soils without native earthworms track the extent of the last glaciations. Areas extending north through Canada that were covered by glaciers have no native earthworms and the native earthworms which can be found in the southern US are very slow to re-colonize northwards, moving approximately 5-10 meters per year.i Alien earthworms move just as slowly. So, unless humans move alien worms into local woodlands and other native areas, it is very difficult for the worms to get to these areas on their own!
Although there can be few complaints about the mighty feats performed by worms in our gardens, there are concerns in the Chicago region that earthworms make the protection of native plants and animals in nature preserve even more difficult. For instance, the voraciousness of earthworms for leaf material noted by Darwin is responsible for reducing the buildup of leaf litter layer in our woodlands. The forest relies on the natural organic compost that occurs when leaf litter decays slowly. However non-native earthworms eat the leaves in this litter and cause it to disappear completely, resulting in the loss of the natural fertilizer produced by leaf decay and in fewer plants and wildflowers growing on the forest floor.
Leaf litter also is home to an exceptionally rich community of small creatures including soil organisms, insects, spiders, small mammals, salamanders and toads (see EcoMyth article January 2010). As a result, there may be a cataclysmic loss of litter critters – almost a local mini mass extinction – in these natural areas. In addition, we now know that the greatest abundance of worms is found where the invasive shrub European buckthorn is at its peak density. It seems as if the success of this earthworm invader is assisting in the spread of the plant invader (ecologists have coined the term "invasional meltdown" to describe this phenomenon). Currently, researchers are investigating the plausible idea that ecological restoration which improves degraded habitat also reduces earthworm populations. Preliminary results of this work suggest that areas with higher plant diversity that have been under restoration or management for longer periods of time have lower earthworm populations, but that earthworm-invaded areas may stay invaded for several years after restoration has begun. That is, supporting ecological management of our natural areas may reduce problems associated with alien earthworms.
What You Can Do
- Support and/or participate in ecological restoration in our natural areas!
- Keep non-native compost worms out of the woodlands: Non-native earthworms are commonly sold around the country for home compost piles. Freeze the compost for at least one week to kill worms in the compost before you use homemade compost near a wooded area.
- Don't dump fishing bait or other worms in the woods; toss any unused bait in the garbage.
Written By Liam Heneghan and Lauren Umek, Institute of Nature and Culture, DePaul University.
February
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EcoMyths Chicago
DIRT!
The Assault of Salt
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February 2010
Series 2, Vol. 2
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MYTH: No big deal right? Sidewalk salt is natural and just disappears.
Myth Explored:
Most of the de-icers we use on roads and sidewalks are simply salt — common, everyday table salt. Sounds innocent enough, right? But when salt mixes with snow and melts into the soil, the salt begins its dirty work underground, preventing water and nutrient absorption by garden plants.
Above ground, the results are brown lawns with bare spots, spring bulbs which are undernourished and may not flower, crabgrass, tired-looking rose bushes, scorched maple leaves, and pine trees with brown needle tips. Salt products also damage waterways when they wash away in the spring.
The dirt on salt? It's out of sight, but not out of our soil—and it can damage the plants which grow in that soil!
Click here to find out more!
Myth Busted
Written By:
Karen Zaworski with scientific contributions by Patrick Kelsey of Wills, Burke, Kelsey and Associates and the EcoMyths Chicago team.
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Photo by TooFarNorth@Flikr
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Exploring Deeper
The Assault of Salt
Salt that's spread in winter...
How does salt get into our soil?
Here's the big picture: In just 50 years, our country has gone from using sand and cinders (think traction) to spreading a mind-boggling 10+ million tons of salt onto roadways annually, which is enough salt to fill Soldier Field's playing area to a depth of 10 feet deep over 500 times! All that salt is on the move: sprayed into the air by high-speed traffic when wet, kicked up as dust when dry, splashed out of puddles, plowed into snow banks, and melting into streams and rivers, city sewers…and our yards.
Homeowners add to salt's assault on soil by de-icing steps, sidewalks, and driveways, then shoveling or snowblowing salt-filled snow directly onto plants and trees.
...Shows up in your yard in spring.
Plants are 90% water, and they depend on water moving from the soil up to their roots and leaves. Excess salt stalls and prevents this movement, literally dehydrating the plants growing in that soil.
Some common landscape plants are particularly susceptible to salt damage:
- Sugar maples and red maples, both beloved in residential areas, may show leaf scald.
- Pine trees, especially white pines, are highly salt-sensitive and are attacked externally by airborne salt all winter. Watch for needles' telltale brown tips in spring.
- Rose bushes, Japanese maples, and spirea — prized by gardeners — don't grow well as salt levels rise.
- Lawn: Salt and other de-icers can burn or kill lawns, often leaving bare soil (but happy crabgrass).
NIMBY (Not In My Beautiful Yard)
What are your de-icing alternatives? The search is on for scientists to find a de-icer that has no environmental consequences. In the meantime, use products sparingly. Spreading sand is the safest alternative for your soil and plants. But if you do require a de-icer, the least harmful salt product is potassium chloride (KCI). Read manufacturer's directions and consider the potential risks to your soil and plants when choosing which one to purchase. Here are some of your salt de-icing choices:
- Everyday table salt -- Sodium chloride (NaCl), sold as "rock salt", is the cheapest and most popular de-icer. However, NaCl stops working around 20º F, and it damages plants by releasing high amounts of chloride.
- Potassium chloride (KCl) is the best choice for northeastern Illinois if you must use a de-icer, because it causes the least amount of damage to soils and plants. But it only melts ice and snow at temperatures above 15° F. Potassium chloride ice-melter is available at most gardening and discount retail stores.
- Calcium chloride (CaCl2), is your second best salt choice based the impact on soil and plants, and works below 15° F. However, CaCl2 can irritate skin, damage concrete, and corrode metal.
- Calcium magnesium acetate, known as CMA, may cost 4 to 5 times as much as NaCl. Try to avoid this product. Made from the reaction between acetic acid (the acid in vinegar) and lime, it appears to pose fewer impacts to plants, but if washed into waterways it may cause fish toxicity problems.
The best option of all for plant and soil health is to use sand to provide traction. Sand does not damage soil or plants. However use sand sparingly, because excessive sand can accumulate in your soil, raising the level of your lawn or flower bed; and sand-laden runoff can clog up storm sewers and choke creeks and streams.
What's a Gardner to Do?
- If you can, halt the salt! Use de-icers sparingly, limiting de-icers to reduce icy patches that resist shoveling.
- Shovel or snow-blow soon after it stops snowing and before the snowy slush freezes, so that little or no de-icer is needed.
- Check the current and predicted outdoor temperatures before you use de-icers, lest it's too cold and they prove ineffective.
- Shovel snow thoughtfully. Avoid piling salt-laden snow in garden areas or beneath your prized trees and shrubs.
- Even if you take action to reduce de-icer applications, there still may be areas in your landscape where impacts are simply going to be unavoidable. Luckily, some plants are relatively tolerant of salty soils, including Little Bluestem, Sweet Gum, and Bald Cypress (more salt-tolerant plants can be found in this list from The Morton Arboretum and this list from The Natural Garden).
- Consider moving your favorite salt-sensitive landscape plants away from salt-prone areas in your yard.
- Share what you know. Your neighbors may be over-salting, too!
Read About It
Written By Karen Zaworski with scientific contributions by Patrick Kelsey of Wills, Burke, Kelsey and Associates and the EcoMyths Chicago team.
January
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EcoMyths Chicago
DIRT!
MYTH: Dirt is Dead!
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January 2010
Series 2, Vol. 1
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Actually, soils support more life than any other part of an ecological system
Myth Explored:
With snow piled inches deep, the trees ragged and leafless, and scurrying animals forlornly looking for morsels, it is unsurprising that our thoughts turn to spring and its promise of rebirth. Apply a spade or even the heel of your boot to the dirt and confirm that of all the dead wintery things in the world, the soil seems to be the deadest of them all. In fact, many share the common misconception that dirt is always dead (and not just in winter!). People often think that while soil may contain life to be sure, the soil itself, that matrix that supports roots and provides nutrients for plants, is an inert or dead substance. On the contrary, however, living things are essential to the proper working of the soil and in the absence of living things soil would not be soil at all.
Living things are such an important part of the soil that in our part of the world, the so-called temperate ecological zone, the greatest species diversity occurs in the upper centimeters of the soil. In fact, because they are so rich in species one soil ecologist has named temperate soils the "poor man's tropical rain forest"1.
Click here to find out more!
Myth Busted
Written By:
Liam Heneghan and Lauren Umek, Institute of Nature and Culture, DePaul University.
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Photo by the Natural Landscapes Project.
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Exploring Deeper
The Dirt is Not the Dirt without Living Things
What is soil and why should we be concerned about it?
The classical definition of soil is "the unconsolidated mineral or organic material on the immediate surface of the Earth that serves as a natural medium for the growth of land plants."2 Ouch! Though technically correct, of course, it hardly promotes a sufficient appreciation of the profusion of life that abounds in the "dirt"3, or of the critical functions that living things perform to sustain plant growth and diversity. There is an astonishing diversity of life in the soil, everything from bacteria to mammals and every major living group in between. These include creatures like termites, beetles, and earthworms, and even some fairly exotic looking creature like pseudoscorpions and primitive wingless insects called springtails. These underground microbes and animals are typically neglected in conservation work even though their protection is likely to make it easier to restore a degraded ecosystem.4 Soils and the creatures that live in them are very sensitive to human mismanagement. We need to understand the living and non-living components of the dirt in order to be a responsible soil steward.
Digging Deeper
Sometimes regarded as the greatest but least recognized scientist of the 20th Century, Swiss born Hans Jenny spent his career in the US. He captured the mutual dependence of living, chemical, and physical factors in the development of the soil in an important equation (one that should perhaps be as well know as Einstein's more famous one). Identifying the soil forming factors, the equation is written as follows:5
s = f(cl, o, r, p, t, ...)
This can be read as soil formation is influenced by climate, organisms, relief (the shape of the landscape or topography), parent material (the rock under the soil), and time.6
Applied to the dirt in your yard or your favorite forest preserve, it indicates that our Illinois soils are formed as a consequence of moderate climate, gentle topography, with parent material drawn during the ice ages from a variety of sources. The soils of Illinois are also young (less than 10,000 years old – youthful for a soil). Finally, these Midwestern soils that have been essential for agricultural production are healthy and productive because of all of these above facts and as a consequence of the richness of life found in these soils. In fact, there can be up to 7,000 different species of organisms in just 1 teaspoon of soil (NRCS). These bacteria, fungi, insect grubs, earthworms and other small organisms are hard at work, even in the winter decomposing roots, leaves, branches and other material under our feet making them essential to the dirt we live on.
Living things are integral to the dirt. Without it, the soil would be simple "unconsolidated [jumbled] rock material scattered over a landscape." This material is called "regolith" by soil scientists a term also used by Apollo scientists for the material found on the dead surface of the moon!
As we look out at the frozen surface in our garden it may be invigorating to learn that beneath the surface, underneath the insulating layer of snow, life is very active in the dirt; decomposing last year's organic material, preparing the way for the abundance of springtime.
Further reading
James B. Nardi, Life in the Soil: A Guide for Naturalists and Gardeners; University Of Chicago Press (October 15, 2007)
What You Can Do
- Dig in your garden and examine what you find. As we approach spring look for beetles, springtails, sow bugs, millipedes, all performing essential soil functions.
- Visit the Field Museum's "Underground Adventure"7
- Take a soil ecology course!
- Consider the needs of the soil in restoration projects
Written By Liam Heneghan and Lauren Umek, Institute of Nature and Culture, DePaul University.
December
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EcoMyths Chicago
Water Ecosystems: III-D
~ How many straws can drink from Lake Michigan? ~
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Myth: Lake Michigan is so big that the Chicago area will never run out of water!
Myth Explored:
Nearly 6.5 million people throughout Chicago and 200 surrounding suburbs depend on Lake Michigan for their drinking water. However, despite Lake Michigan's appearance as being an endless supply of fresh water, Illinois is limited by the federal courts to withdraw only 2.1 billion gallons each day from the lake. As our towns and cities make plans to accommodate the region's growth projected for the coming decades, an alarming fact emerges: we are already pushing the upper limit of our lake water restriction, and our groundwater resources are being depleted faster than they're being replenished. It's quickly becoming clear that in order to meet the demand of a growing population and to maintain a vibrant economy, we need to become much more efficient and thoughtful with our water usage.
Click here to find out more!
Myth Busted
Written By: Tim Loftus, Project Director, Northeast Illinois Regional Water Supply Planning, Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning (CMAP).
To view a WTTW Chicago Tonight video on water supply planning, click on the link below, scroll down to the article "VIDEO: CMAP water supply planning," and then click on the "more" button to activate the embedded video. Click Here for Video on Water Supply.
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Exploring Deeper
We Need to Conserve Now to Ensure Sufficient Water in the Future
The Situation: Lakes, Rivers, and Groundwater are all Important
The geography of northeastern Illinois has made abundant fresh water supplies available to the region's ever-growing population and, for about three-quarters of them, Lake Michigan is their source of drinking water. Groundwater, from both deep and shallow wells, serves another 20% of our residents and it's currently the primary source of water for newly-developing suburbs that are located the furthest from Lake Michigan. The remaining 5% of our region's residents live in communities that draw their water from the Fox and Kankakee rivers.
The Problem: Our Water Supply is Not Infinite
Illinois' withdrawal of Lake Michigan water is strictly limited by a federal court decree. This supply of Lake Michigan water has been able to keep up with new demands, currently serving nearly 200 communities in five counties plus the city of Chicago. The Illinois Department of Natural Resources has committed to continue serving communities currently supplied by Lake Michigan water until the year 2030. Looking past 2030, however, there is uncertainty about how well Illinois' allotment of Lake Michigan water will be able to meet the needs of a larger population. Additional regional demands for water will also come from communities that may begin to experience shortages of, or quality concerns with, their groundwater supplies. Based on projections for the region's population growth, the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning (CMAP) projects that Illinois' demand for Lake Michigan water could exceed the available supply by the year 2050. Further complicating the picture is that our groundwater resources are also at risk. Half of the region's groundwater-dependent residents draw from deep aquifers, from which water is being withdrawn faster than it is being replenished. These deep aquifers will likely continue to be "de-watered". The regional water demand scenarios indicate that demand for groundwater from both deep and shallow wells could increase by 43% - 135% within the next few decades.
The Solution: Communities and Homeowners Need to Work Together to Reduce Water Waste
In an effort to reduce the risk of future water supply shortages, a comprehensive regional water supply planning process was initiated in 2006. Three years of work by CMAP and the Northeastern Illinois Regional Water Supply Planning Group has produced a regional water demand and supply plan that will be released in February 2010. Scientific support was provided by the Illinois State Water Survey and funding support was provided by the Illinois Department of Natural Resources. The regional water plan aims to ensure adequate and affordable water for all users. Implementing the plan will maintain, if not enhance, the region's economic prosperity while providing environmental protection and social equity. By March 2010, the public will be able to download this report by clicking on this link: CMAP Water Supply Planning Report.
While water is not currently considered scarce here in northeastern Illinois, research shows that a lot of water is being wasted. The new regional plan projects potential savings based on both conserving water and using it more efficiently. Drinking water providers (primarily municipal governments) can choose from a broad range of conservation practices that save both water and energy. These practices include community-level infrastructure improvements such as detecting and repairing leaks in water distribution systems, as well as assisting individual homeowners with water-use audits of their homes. Other ways homeowners and municipalities can become part of the solution include replacing older water-wasting toilets, retrofitting showerheads, and evaluating municipal water-rate structures to better reflect the true cost of water delivery. In short, a new way of thinking about what is arguably our most precious natural resource – water – simply must take root.
What You Can Do To Conserve Water
- Replace old, water-guzzling toilets with newer high-efficiency toilets that are WaterSense labeled. High-efficiency toilets can reduce your home's water usage by 18,000 gallons and save over $100 each year on your water bill! But if replacement isn't an option for you right away, a "free" way to reduce water use in older toilets is to fill an empty milk jug with water and place it in your toilet tank (it displaces much of the water in the tank and thereby reduces the amount of water the toilet uses with each flush).
- Replace your older clothes washer with a WaterSense labeled high-efficiency washer that saves water, energy, and detergent over the life of the machine.
- Reduce outdoor lawn watering – or eliminate the need altogether by landscaping with native trees, grasses, and perennials.
- Install low-flow showerheads and faucets. Find out how much water (and money!) you might save at http://www.epa.gov/watersense/calculate_your_water_savings.html
- Tell your elected officials that you expect them to implement a water-use conservation and efficiency program in your community.
- Install rain barrels beneath downspouts and use the stored rainwater to keep your gardens healthy during summertime dry periods.
- Become better informed about your community's aging water supply infrastructure, the costs and benefits of water conservation programs, and how these both might relate to your monthly water bill.
Written by Tim Loftus, Project Director, Northeastern Illinois Regional Water Supply Planning, Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning (CMAP).
November
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EcoMyths Chicago
Water Ecosystems: III-C
~ Lost But Not Gone? ~
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Myth: Once a Wetland Is Lost, It Is Lost Forever
Myth Explored:
Wetlands provide valuable services for society, including cleaner water and keeping pesky mosquitoes in check. The sad fact, however, is that a significant portion of wetlands in the United States has been lost in the name of economic development. In Illinois alone, over 85% of the original wetlands in existence in 1780 have been lost to agriculture and development. Despite these losses, there is some good news. While we can never hope to perfectly replicate Nature, recent research demonstrates how degraded and "lost" wetlands can undergo "ecological interventions" to restore important aspects of their natural function. We can even create wetlands in areas where none existed previously. Perhaps ironically, we now know that wetlands provide tremendous economic benefits to society. Just ask the shrimpers in Louisiana whose very livelihood depends on the protective coastal marshes.
Click here to find out more!
Myth Busted
Written By: John Sentell (The Wetlands Initiative), James Montgomery (Environmental Science Program, DePaul University), and Bob Kirschner (Chicago Botanic Garden).
For ways you can help wetlands, click here!
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Exploring Deeper
Restoration is Possible, But the Best Wetland is a Native Wetland
The Situation: Chicago Was Once a Wetland
The city we know as Chicago was once a wetland. Glaciers from the last Ice Age left behind a flat expanse of poorly-drained mucky land adjacent to Lake Michigan which was marsh and wet prairie1. Out of this mucky ooze sprang the muscular granite, steel and glass that frame Chicago – metropolis of the Midwest. But this transformation was not easy and included a cost seemingly forgotten. The expansive fresh water marshes once found along Lake Michigan are now gone – filled as part of an aggressive land-creation program. A significant part of Chicago had to be raised in elevation to facilitate drainage. Wetland destruction in many other places during this time, primarily on land drained for farms or industry, has led to serious environmental and economic impacts on local communities, as seen in degraded water quality, increased soil erosion, greater flood damages, and loss of habitat and biodiversity. On a broader scale, over 85% of the original wetlands in the state of Illinois in 1780 have been lost to agriculture and development2.
The Problem: The Disconnection of Wetlands and the Human Community
Much attention has been paid in recent years to assessing and quantifying the ecosystem services and values derived from wetlands (see the September 2009 EcoMyths postcard). However, unlike grain or pig's feet, less-tangible items such as cleaner water, carbon sequestration, or flood control that wetlands provide are not traded in the commodities markets, so determining their economic value can be tough3. But that hasn't stopped us from trying. In a classic study, Costanza et al. (1997) estimated the economic value of wetland ecosystem services and values to be approximately $37,000 per acre per year4. And we know that wetland-related tourism – like hunting, hiking, bird watching, and kayaking -- can add significant dollars local economies. In total, wetland-related ecotourism activities pumped $59 billion to our national economy in 19915. Lost in all these studies, however, is the fact that wetland destruction results in our physical and, for some, our spiritual disconnection from the landscape.
The Solution: Reconnect People with Wetlands
Given the immense ecological and economic value of wetlands, we must strive to: 1) vigorously protect existing high quality wetlands, 2) restore and rehabilitate degraded wetlands whenever possible, and 3) where feasible, create new wetlands where they haven't existed for generations. Without wetlands, our quality of life and well-being are greatly compromised. Admittedly, wetland restoration and rehabilitation are not cheap. In Minnesota, for example, wetland restoration costs were pegged at $95 to $30,000 per acre depending on the purpose of restoration. So while the cost to restore wetlands can vary substantially, the real question becomes how to pay for wetland restoration. While there are several government programs that encourage landowners to restore wetlands, we need to demonstrate the true value of land by defining the benefits our natural landscapes can provide (i.e., the "ecosystem services"). Simply put, we need to show that our land can be worth more wet than dry. For example, studies have projected that an acre of farmland can earn three times as much income for the landowner as a wetland than it can growing row crops like corn or soybeans6.
How Can Each of Us Help Protect and Enhance Wetlands?
- Keep an eye out for new development projects in your local community. If it appears that a wetland is on or near the property, check with your municipal building and zoning department to make sure safeguards are in place to protect the wetland.
- Local referendums for open space acquisition often involve property with significant wetland features. Encourage your friends and neighbors to support public programs that preserve these wetland resources.
- Can you lend a hand? Consider reaching out to volunteer for conservation organizations whose programs enhance wetlands in your community. Invasive plants pose a constant threat to our wetlands and help is always needed to help remove them. Seed collection days require many hands and play an important part in enhancing plant diversity. Why not make a New Year's resolution to donate a few hours of labor on a weekend next spring to help keep our wetlands healthy?
- Visit a wetland! Better yet, introduce a child to a wetland. Once you've experienced the beauty of this special habitat and understand more about these vibrant ecosystems, it's likely you'll never forget them.
- Clean water and healthy wetlands go hand in hand. Encourage your elected officials to support vigorous enforcement of the federal Clean Water Act.
Written by Jim Montgomery (Environmental Science Program, DePaul University), John Sentell (The Wetlands Initiative), and Bob Kirschner (Chicago Botanic Garden).
October
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EcoMyths Chicago
Water Ecosystems: III-B
~ More Wetlands = More Mosquitoes? ~
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Myth: Most of those annoying mosquitoes in my yard come from wetlands.
Myth Explored:
It's an "urban legend" that wetlands are a primary source of the mosquitoes that spread mosquito-borne diseases like West Nile Virus. Did you know that a healthy, functioning wetland can actually help reduce mosquito populations? A vibrant wetland ecosystem is home to fish, insects, amphibians, birds, and bats that devour mosquitoes. And when it comes to combating the spread of West Nile Virus, it's interesting to learn that this disease is transmitted primarily by a mosquito variety called the "house mosquito". This species does not prefer to breed in wetlands; instead, it breeds rapidly in stagnant water often found around the home – places like discarded tires, untended bird baths, and clogged roof gutters. So, healthy wetlands provide wildlife habitat, naturally cleanse our water – and even help control those annoying mosquitoes.
Click here to find out more!
Myth Busted
Written By: John Sentell (The Wetlands Initiative), James Montgomery (Environmental Science Program, DePaul University), and Bob Kirschner (Chicago Botanic Garden).
For a full list of citations click here
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Exploring Deeper
Healthy Wetlands – A Great Way to Control Mosquitoes
The Situation: Misconceptions about Wetlands and Mosquitoes
It's true that mosquitoes need standing water to breed, and because of this on a global scale wherever there are wetlands there are mosquitoes1. However, scientists recognize that draining wetlands increases rather than reduces the problem. If a natural wetland is drained, it may still be able to trap enough water after a heavy rain to breed mosquitoes. Although adult mosquitoes have a very short life cycle (from four days to a month), the eggs they lay can remain dormant for more than a year, hatching when flooded with water. Because of this a drained or degraded wetland area may actually produce more mosquitoes than it did when it was a healthy, functioning wetland! When wetlands are healthy the mosquito's natural predators – birds, bats, dragonfly, and frogs (i.e., those species normally found in a "wet wetland") can control the mosquito population. Wetland scientists are now investigating the role of restoration (see below) and other land management techniques in controlling for mosquitoes2.
West Nile Virus is a mosquito-borne disease transmitted mainly to birds, but also to animals and sometimes people. It has had devastating effect on bird populations, especially among raptors like owls, hawks, crows, and jays; and in rare cases has caused illness and death among humans3.
The Problem: Wetlands Are Wrongly Accused of Being the Villain
It's interesting to learn that 70% of West Nile Virus cases in humans are associated with a mosquito known as the "house mosquito" (Culex pipiens)4. This mosquito species doesn't usually breed in wetlands, and the adults can only fly about ¼ mile from where they hatched. And so especially if your home is more than a ¼-mile away from a wetland, it just stands to reason that wetlands shouldn't be your target when it comes to reducing the risk of getting infected with the West Nile Virus. Instead, take a look around your property for some of the house mosquito's favorite breeding spots – places like old tires, clogged rain gutters, buckets and pails behind the garage, and untended bird baths and baby pools. Here's an interesting fact: did you know a single discarded tire can produce over 500 mosquitoes?
The Solution: Reduce Mosquitoes by Restoring a Wetland
Wetland restoration and protection can help decrease mosquito populations in several ways: by providing better quality habitat for the natural predators of mosquitoes, and by helping to reduce flooding and standing water in non-wetland areas that are wet long enough to support mosquitoes – but aren't wet long enough to establish wetland vegetation and a healthy population of mosquito predators5.
Besides, wetland restoration can be smart economics. New Jersey has been controlling mosquitoes "the natural way" by using a technique called Open Marsh Water Management ("OMWM"). This technique controls mosquito larvae by eliminating low (non-wetland) areas where water temporarily collects and mosquitoes breed, and by enhancing wetland habitat to increase natural enemies of mosquitoes. Insecticides are not used. One community reported spending approximately $16,000 to implement the OMWM method on a 548-acre marsh in 1969. This expense saved the community hundreds of thousands of dollars of maintenance, cleaning, and pesticide use, which would have otherwise been required to control mosquitoes. Twenty-five years later, the local commission estimated that the cost of traditional insecticide control over this period would have been $685,000. Natural wetlands resulted in a savings of over 97 percent6!
And, when the Essex County, Massachusetts Mosquito Control Project restored a 1,500-acre wetland, the mosquito population dropped by 90 percent6. The experts there know that wetland restoration is synonymous with genuine mosquito control.
What You Can Do To Help Control Mosquitoes
Mosquitoes need just over a week to hatch and develop into adults that can transmit disease. Here's a few environmentally friendly "easy fixes" you can do around the house to reduce those pesky pests7:
- Get rid of unused tires, drums, and any other unneeded, water-trapping containers that are stored outdoors
- Throw out those old unused buckets, pails, and pots behind the garage (or at least turn them upside down!)
- Remove leaves and sticks that might trap water in your roof gutters
- Cover trash containers (and consider drilling a hole in the bottom so that any collected water can drain away)
- Store boats and kayaks upside down
- Change the water in plastic wading pools and bird baths weekly
John Sentell (The Wetlands Initiative), James Montgomery (Environmental Science Program, DePaul University), and Bob Kirschner (Chicago Botanic Garden).
September
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EcoMyths Chicago
Water Ecosystems: III-A
~ Wetlands vs. Wastelands ~
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Myth: Wetlands are useless to society! Shouldn't we just fill them all in?
Myth Explored:
Contrary to popular belief, wetlands provide important functions and are often called "nature's kidneys" or "ecological supermarkets". These important functions include storing flood water, filtering dirty water, and protecting shorelines! Wetlands also support an extensive food chain. If you like crawfish, you will find them in wetlands! Many cultures, including the Cajuns of Louisiana and various Native American tribes, have learned to live in harmony with wetlands, using them as a source of food, peat for fuel, and building materials. Wetlands may even help stabilize the climate by serving as reservoirs for excess carbon in the air. Do you still believe that wetlands are wastelands?
Click here to find out more!
Myth Busted
Written By: John Sentell of The Wetlands Initiative and James Montgomery of the Environmental Science Program, DePaul University
For a full list of citations click here
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Exploring Deeper
Wetlands – A Misunderstood Ecosystem
The Situation: Swamp Thing
Are you swamped with work? Do you get bogged down with details? The English language is full of negative images of wetlands. Sadly, wetlands have gotten a bad rap both in literature and especially in film. Take, for example, classic B-rated flicks like Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954) and that cult-fave, Swamp Thing (1982). These movies depicted wetlands as insect and disease-ridden, unattractive, and even dangerous1. Foggy, eerie, mucky and foreboding. But are these Hollywood-type depictions true?
The Problem: Wetlands Are Undervalued
Wetlands have historically been considered to be wastelands. Early settlers and later developers, farmers, and industrialists felt that wetlands were worth more to them dry than wet. As a result, wetlands were systematically drained, dammed, leveed and filled to make room for farms, cities, and industry, with catastrophic results. Even more amazing is the fact that the U.S. government at one time encouraged the destruction of wetlands to make the land "more productive." In Illinois almost 7 million acres of our wetland habitats have been lost—that's almost 90% of our pre-settlement wetlands! What is perhaps most sad is that while Illinois is often thought of as the "Prairie State", it was once a "Wetland State". In fact, 100 years ago, Illinois was labeled "the duck capital of the world". But now most of these habitats are gone, along with their vital ecosystem, functions. So why is wetland loss so important to us today?
The Solution: Our Land Can Be More Valuable Wet Than Dry
The loss of wetlands is vital to all of us because of the many ecosystem services wetlands provide. An ecosystem service describes the essential process that an ecosystem provides to support life and makes economic activity possible2. Wetlands services include flood storage, water filtration, trapping of sediment, transformation of toxins, shoreline protection, improved air quality by the trapping of carbon, and noise abatement. Without wetlands, our quality of life and well-being are greatly compromised. Land and water are interconnected by of wetlands. Degradation of any of these ecosystems may have powerful negative effects on the services provided by the others. We must understand these connections if we are to ably manage these ecosystems.
Wetland scientists are studying ways to reconnect degraded wetlands to their terrestrial and aquatic neighbors. For example, ecological engineers have proposed restoring up to 52,000 km2 of wetlands along the Mississippi River to reduce the excess nitrogen pouring to the Gulf of Mexico and the resulting hypoxia3. It is ironic that after years of ignoring and destroying our wetlands, we have found that these "scary" swamps may ultimately improve our lives, economies and the planet!
What You Can Do to Help Wetlands
You can be a good neighbor to a wetland by practicing the following environmentally-sensitive activities to decrease the amount of nutrients, pollutants, and sediment that enter a wetland:
- If you live near a wetland, establish adjacent strips of native vegetation
- Use chemicals sparingly
- Don't dump on (or in) your wetland
- Share your land with wildlife
- Keep your pets out of wild areas
- Maintain your septic system
- Control non-native plant species
Written by John Sentell of The Wetlands Initiative and James Montgomery of the Environmental Science Program, DePaul University
August
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EcoMyths Chicago
Water Ecosystems: II-D
~ Rivers in the City that Works ~
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Myth: The Chicago River doesn't look clean, so it must be unusable!
Myth Explored:
Looks can be deceiving. Although the Chicago River is murky, it has come a long way from the days of foul pollution and dumping. In fact, the water in the River is clean enough today, that fish species and other organisms are increasing dramatically. Canoeing, kayaking, and fishing are common on the River. Since the Clean Water Act of 1972, pollution being dumped from industrial sources and untreated sewage has been drastically reduced.
In spite of cleaner and more abundant fish habitat, challenges remain. The water in the Chicago River still suffers from fertilizer and motor oil washing into the River from rain water runoff. Excess algae grow in the River, blocking light while it lives, and using up oxygen in the water when it dies. Some untreated sewage still gets into the River too. Pollution accumulates as it flows downstream to neighboring states, eventually pouring into the Gulf of Mexico. We all have to work together to become even better at keeping the Chicago River clean, safe, and enjoyable.
Click here to find out more!
Myth Busted
Written By: Kate Sackman of Lake Forest Open Lands Association
For a full list of citations click here
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Exploring Deeper
Challenges remain to clean up the Chicago River
The three EcoMyths postcards since May have talked about the impacts of people and nature on the Chicago River: its fishing habitat, clean water vs. clear water, and downstream impacts. Here we pull this all together to understand the challenges that remain to clean up the river.
Fishing Habitat
In the 1970s, before the Clean Water Act was passed, there were only about 10 species of fish in the Chicago River; today there are almost 70. There are more fish due to the improved water quality over this period. Recreational fishing is now popular and the fish are safe to eat in limited quantities. The Illinois/ Indiana Sea Grant recommends removing parts that are high in fat (organs, head, skin) before eating fish, as that is where contaminants are in highest concentrations. In the past couple of years, fish habitat has become even friendlier since the Fish Hotel was installed by Friends of the Chicago River. The installation of the Fish Hotel helped to overcome the artificial changes in the river that had made it less hospitable for fish: its smooth walls, dams, and changing water levels.
The Fish Hotel is a multi-level structure with aquatic plants that provide habitat in which fish can rest, feed, and reproduce. Fish species now found in the River include: small-mouth and large-mouth bass, orange spotted sunfish, green sunfish, bluntnose minnows, and black buffalo fish. This June, Chicagoans released 400 baby bluegill into the River with the help of Friends of the Chicago River.
Clean water vs. Clear Water
Clean water and clear water are both important, in rivers as well as other bodies of water. But don't assume clear water is always clean or that murky water is always unhealthy. Often the reverse is true. A century ago, Northern Illinois streams were shallow, wide, and murky as water flowed naturally across the landscape. In order to create more dry land for development and farming, people dug deep channels over the years to divert the water into neat, narrow streams. Water in channels flows faster and erodes more, collecting sediment. Channelized water looks murky, but can still be "healthy" because the murkiness is mostly dirt. So murky water can either be healthy, or as shown below, very unhealthy.
Clear water may appear clean and pristine, but in the Chicago area, clear water may contain unseen contaminants: fertilizer (which causes algae to grow), dissolved pet waste or human waste (which contains dangerous E. coli bacteria) or dissolved pharmaceuticals which have been flushed down the toilet. While Northern Illinois waste treatment centers filter out solid waste in several steps, they do not disinfect the water nor eliminate dissolved drugs or chemicals.
Downstream Impacts
The Chicago River is one of many tributaries to the Illinois River. Most rivers and surface water in Northern Illinois flow into the Illinois River, rather than into Lake Michigan. Any pollution that leaches into this water system flows downstream to the Mississippi River and eventually to the Gulf of Mexico, contributing to the Gulf's dead zone.
The dead zone is a large area of water which is very low in oxygen that cannot support aquatic life. Too many nutrients from fertilizer flow downstream into the Gulf causing enormous amounts of algae growth. When the algae die, it sinks to the bottom and decomposes, consuming the oxygen supply in the water and killing everything that lives there. The average size of the dead zone over the past five years is 6,000 square miles, slightly larger than the state of Connecticut. The Gulf of Mexico/ Mississippi River Watershed Nutrient Task Force has set a goal to reduce the size of the zone to an average of 2,000 square miles or less by 2015.
According to the U.S. Geological Survey, Illinois is among the largest sources contributing the majority of the nutrients to the dead zone. We need to continue to work hard to reduce Illinois' impact if the dead zone is to be reduced by 2/3 in only five years.
What You Can Do
- Join Friends of the Chicago River and become active in river preservation
- Attend the Annual River Clean Up ("Chicago River Day") hosted by Friends of the Chicago River annually in May (next one is Saturday, May 8, 2010)
- Avoid or reduce phosphorus fertilizers (banned in Wisconsin)
- Be careful what you toss in the sink or toilet (no pharmaceuticals)as these can contaminate water bodies
- Keep sewer lines functioning properly
- Clean up after pets, including on streets and sidewalks, so that pet waste does not wash down the storm sewer
- Compost food waste wherever possible instead of using the garbage/food disposal. Food waste, can act just like fertilizer for your garden, but can also cause excessive algae growth in waterways
Kate Sackman of Lake Forest Open Lands Association
July
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EcoMyths Chicago
Water Ecosystems: II-C
~ What happens (and pollutes) in Chicago,
stays in Chicago? ~
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Myth: Since streams in Northern Illinois flow into Lake Michigan, Chicago's water pollution remains local.
Myth Explored:
The Illinois River drains 11,000 square miles of our state, and draws water from three major river basins in the region. The river then flows west into the Mississippi River, not eastward towards Lake Michigan. Only water that flows across a very thin strip of Chicago's shoreline runs directly into the Lake.
Because waterways close to Chicago flow primarily away from the city and Lake Michigan, pollutants in these waters can become problems for our neighbors downstream. Pollution carried down the Mississippi into the Gulf of Mexico contributes to a notorious "dead zone "an area of lifelessness in the Gulf that is now over 8,000 square miles. In recent years, Chicago has cleaned up its water, enabling the city to become a better neighbor by sending less pollution downstream.
Click here to find out more!
Myth Busted
Written By: Liam Heneghan of the Institute for Nature and Culture
For a full list of citations click here
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Exploring Deeper
Managing watersheds for better ecological health
The Situation
The rivers and streams of the Chicago area drain water from large areas of land. Three significant basins form part of the watershed of the Illinois River: the Kankakee, the Fox, and the Des Plaines/ Chicago Rivers. A watershed is the term for the geographical area drained by a single river. Chicago is located close to a continental divide – water on one side flows east to Lake Michigan, water on the other flows to the west. Since most of the watershed of the Illinois River is west of the divide, that river forms part of the vast Mississippi River watershed. With the reversal of the Chicago River in 1900, its waters have been artificially incorporated into the Mississippi watershed. The majority of our waterways flow away from the region bringing with them all residual pollutants remaining in these rivers. Good management in the watershed and of our rivers has local benefits but it also benefits a surprisingly large region of the United States and its coastal waters.
The Problem
When it was accomplished, the reversal of the Chicago River was one of the great engineering feats of its time. The project was undertaken with considerable urgency because the natural flow of the Chicago River resulted in its discharge into the Lake. Since the Chicago River was used as the sink for human sewage and for our industrial and commercial waste, this created an unwholesome environment for the young city. Not only were there problems with appalling smells but there were very grave health implications with water-borne diseases reaching epidemic proportions. At that time, one can say that what happened in Chicago, stayed in Chicago--with deadly consequences. The reversal of the River was an attempt to export our problems, or at the very least, to dilute them in the larger watercourses of the Illinois and Mississippi Rivers1. The story of the reversal of the River is an important illustration that when it comes to waterways there is no "local"; the impact in one part of a watershed can have consequences elsewhere.
Although modern sanitation and water treatment facilities have greatly decreased Chicago's impact on other regions, we need to remain vigilant. For instance, a recent review of environmental problems in the Gulf of Mexico indicates that hypoxia (the elimination of oxygen in the water), which is a consequence of the polluted water discharge from the Mississippi and Atchafalaya Rivers has resulted in the world's second largest "dead zone"2. The extent to which Chicago contributes to this problem is debatable. A recent study has suggested that Illinois is one of nine out of thirty-one states in the Mississippi and Atchafalaya River Basins that collectively contributes up to 75% of the nitrogen and phosphorus (the main sources of water pollution) to that watershed3.
The Solution
Water drains from the land into aquatic systems. Streams, rivers, lakes and the the sea are ultimately connected in a complex global hydrological system. Because land and water are interconnected, the management of land and water resources should be considered together. We can minimize adverse impacts both regionally and beyond by thoughtful practices that minimize polluted runoff from the land into waterways.
Many of the practices discussed in last month's card are relevant for minimizing Chicago's impact on regions beyond ours. For instance:
- Keep areas of bare soil in your yard to a minimum – consider adding native groundcover plants, or apply mulch products over the exposed soil.
- Apply lawn and garden fertilizers only if soil tests indicate a specific need.
- Help your municipal wastewater treatment plant discharge the cleanest water possible. Many household chemicals and pharmaceuticals are not able to be removed by the treatment plant, so rather than flushing them down the drain, keep them out of our rivers by disposing of them properly.
- In the kitchen, consider composing your fruit and vegetable waste instead of pushing it down the garbage disposal – some of the waste's nutrients aren't removed by the treatment plant and so it ends up "fertilizing" our river instead!
- Support local ordinances and public policies designed to minimize the effects of urban development on river water quality; check out the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District's Cook County Stormwater Management Plan, or the Lake County Stormwater Management Commission.
Written by Liam Heneghan of the Institute for Nature and Culture
June
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EcoMyths Chicago
Water Ecosystems: II-B
~ DOES CLEAN = CLEAR? ~
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Myth: In order for a river to be clean, the water has to be clear?
Myth Explored:
Some parts of northern Wisconsin and Michigan are rugged landscapes dominated by boulders, gravel, and sand. These popular vacation areas have rivers and streams that are swift-flowing and appear clear, cool and inviting.
But here in northern Illinois, our land surface is dominated by flat topography and fertile soils. Over the years as agriculture and urban development in the Chicago region progressed, the naturally slow and meandering stream flows were consolidated into faster-moving channels. The swifter currents erode soil along the riverbank and off the river bottom, and so the water isn't always crystal-clear.
Yet despite these suspended soil particles, the river can still be "safe" and clean for many forms of recreation, and these waterways continue to function as important plant and animal habitat.
Click here to find out more!
Myth Busted
Written By: Bob Kirschner of the Chicago Botanic Garden
For a full list of citations click here
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Exploring Deeper
Both Clean and Clear Water Are Important
The Situation
The Chicago region is richly blessed with its vast network of streams and rivers. These waterways provide wonderful opportunities for recreation, and they also function as important plant and animal habitat1. But set within a landscape so dominated by human development, we're often left to wonder some very logical questions about river water quality. Is it safe to paddle my canoe down the river or eat the fish I catch? Is the river safe for the herons and mink that I see along the shoreline? If the river water appears clear, does that guarantee that it's clean?
The Problem
Streams and rivers are the drainage component of Nature's plumbing system. They collect and convey rainwater that runs off our rooftops, lawns, parking lots and roadways. Along the way, the flowing water may erode dirt from construction sites and other areas where there is bare soil. Most of us have seen the impacts of this land erosion when our rivers appear "murky" after a heavy rainstorm. But after the storm subsides and the river water becomes clearer, there still can be other contaminants left in the water that, although invisible to our unaided eye, can have important environmental and public health impacts. Lawn fertilizer nutrients like phosphorus and nitrogen remain dissolved in the river water, and so while these compounds are generally not toxic to animals and humans, they can contribute to profuse algae blooms that cause rivers to become choked with algae2. There might be bacterial contamination from failing septic systems, leaky sewer lines, or large congregations of wildlife – but since the bacteria are so tiny and microscopic, their numbers could be dangerously high even though the river water appears clear.
The Solution
The environmental and recreational goals for many our region's streams and rivers are to have water that is both clear and clean. To help keep the water clear, certain management approaches are used to reduce the volume of storm water runoff as well as the amount of soil eroding from the land surface3. For example, you've probably seen black fabric fences alongside roadway construction projects – when properly installed this "silt fence" slows rainwater runoff from the site and helps prevent soil from being carried to downstream rivers. Or, perhaps you've seen restoration projects in your community that added deep-rooted native plants along a riverbank to keep the slopes from washing away during high flows.
And as we learned earlier, there's more to a healthy river than just clear water – we also want to help keep the river water clean and free of contaminants. Most of our region's wastewater treatment plants discharge to rivers, and so making sure they're designed and consistently operated at peak efficiency is a must4. Since a portion of lawn fertilizers, herbicides and pesticides usually end up in rainwater runoff (and ultimately our rivers), these products should be applied carefully and only when needed. Taking personal responsibility for seemingly even minor sources of water pollution can help as well – a good example is cleaning up pet waste: it's loaded with bacteria and nutrients that can wash down the storm sewer and into the river.
What Can I do?
If you like healthy rivers with clear, clean water, here are some things you can do:
- Keep areas of bare soil in your yard to a minimum – consider adding native groundcover plants, or apply mulch products over the exposed soil.
- Apply lawn and garden fertilizers only if soil tests indicate a specific need. Did you know that most of our region's soils have a natural abundance of phosphorus, and so adding more phosphorus won't make your plants grow better (but the phosphorus-laden runoff may "feed" algae blooms in downstream rivers)? In fact, just a few months ago Wisconsin effectively banned the sale of lawn fertilizers containing phosphorus5.
- Help your municipal wastewater treatment plant discharge the cleanest water possible. Many household chemicals and pharmaceuticals are not able to be removed by the treatment plant, so rather than flushing them down the drain, keep them out of our rivers by disposing of them properly – learn more at Lake County Household Chemical Waste Collections and Solid Waste Agency of Northern Cook County, Household Chemical Waste Collection.
- In the kitchen, consider composing your fruit and vegetable waste instead of pushing it down the garbage disposal – some of the waste's nutrients aren't removed by the treatment plant and so it ends up "fertilizing" our river instead! If composting isn't an option for you, then throw all kitchen waste that had been destined for the garbage disposal in with your regular trash.
- Support local ordinances and public policies6 designed to minimize the effects of urban development on river water quality; check out the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District's Cook County Stormwater Management Plan, or the Lake County Stormwater Management Commission.
- To learn more about the water quality of your favorite stream or river, visit the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency's Web site.
- Consider becoming involved in river and watershed protection organizations; take a look at the Prairie Rivers Network; the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District's Watershed Planning Councils, or one of the Illinois Department of Natural Resources' Ecosystem Partnerships that have assembled to protect our region's waterways.
Written by Bob Kirschner of the Chicago Botanic Garden
May
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EcoMyths Chicago
Water Ecosystems: II-A
~ A BIG FISH STORY ~
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Myth: The Chicago River is too dirty for fish?!
Myth Explored:
Contrary to what many believe, the Chicago River is home to a diverse collection of nearly 70 species of fish, according to the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District.
This increase from about 10 species in the 1970s can be attributed to the improving water quality in the Chicago River. Accordingly, the Chicago River has become a hub for freshwater recreational fishing.
In 2006, the Chicago Park District launched the now-annual "Mayor Daley's Chicago River Fishing Festival," which has increased in popularity with each year. Additionally, the Illinois Department of Natural Resources hosts Urban Fishing Clinics throughout the state.
Click here to find out more!
Myth Busted
Written By: Dana Murphy of the Friends of the Chicago River
Source: Metropolitan Water Reclamation District and Friends of the Chicago River
For a full list of citations click here
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Exploring Deeper
A Multitude of Fish Live in the Chicago River
The Situation
The Chicago River was once a shallow marshy corridor that meandered through a savannah dominated landscape1, an ideal habitat for fish. Fish like to spawn, mate, and mature in shallow, rocky areas of natural streams.
The Problem
Expanding human population and increased commercial use of the waterway resulted in extensive alterations to the original Chicago River.2 The main stem of the Chicago River is now a deep, straight channel which lacks the types of natural areas that allow fish to thrive. The River also has dams and other barriers and water level fluctuations that occur during heavy rains. In addition, industrial and surface pollution have been dumped into the River over the years. The combination of straight walls, dams, water level changes, and pollution have historically made the River less hospitable for fish than it would otherwise be.3
The Solution
Restoration of habitat, especially through the use of in-stream structures, has become common practice in urban rivers.3 In their study, Schwartz and Herricks evaluated a habitat improvement along a stretch of the North Branch of the Chicago River and demonstrated that abundance, biomass and diversity of fishes were greater after restoration. In another significant project Friends of the Chicago River, together with WRD Environmental, installed the first-ever Michigan Avenue Fish Hotel in the heart of downtown Chicago in 2005.
The Fish Hotel is one way to help restore the Chicago River into a vibrant ecosystem by providing fish with constructed habitat otherwise absent from the Main Stem of the Chicago River. The Fish Hotel is a floating island that offers native aquatic plants that provide natural food and shelter for fish, as well as deeper fish cribs where bigger fish can rest. Take a walk down the Chicago Riverwalk between State Street and Dearborn Street and take a look for yourself! The Fish Hotel will open for the season in May. Peek over the edge and you might see a shimmering green sunfish, baby bluegills, carp, and sometimes even Lake Michigan fish like trout and salmon that find their way in.
What Can I do?
While fishing continues to rise in popularity in the region, it is important to note that the Illinois Department of Public Health has issued advisories against dining too frequently on some species of fish found in the Chicago River. If a choice is made to eat fish caught in the river, the Illinois-Indiana Sea-Grant provides preparation guidelines to minimize the associated risks.
Learn more about how your actions affect the Chicago River by visiting the McCormick Bridgehouse & Chicago River Museum. The museum is located in the southwest bridge tower at Wacker Drive and Michigan Avenue and is easily accessed via the Riverwalk. It will open for the 2009 season on May 15.
According to Windy City Fishing, fishing is enjoyable all along the Chicago River. However, the best spots seem to be: the North Shore Channel, the North Branch from Foster to downtown, as well as downtown, in some parts of the South Branch, and the confluence of the North Branch and North Shore Channel at Foster Ave.
Not interested in fishing? The Chicago River offers other recreational pursuits for both the active and passive river lover. For a new vantage point, participate in a guided canoe trip along the river. Trips are offered by a number of organizations including Friends of the Chicago River and the Chicago Park District.
Cyclists can enjoy a number of riverside trails along many sections of the river.
Finally, lend a hand to foster the continued vitality of the Chicago River by signing up to join thousands of others for hands-on environmental work in the Annual Chicago River Day held each year in early May.
Written by Dana Murphy of the Friends of the Chicago River
April
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EcoMyths Chicago
Water Ecosystems: I-D
~ Who, Me? ~
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Myth: Lake Michigan is so big that a single person cannot make much difference to its health.
Myth Explored:
Don't underestimate your impact! For example, did you know that reducing fertilizer use in your yard, picking up your garbage after a picnic at the beach, and reducing the amount you water your lawn are all are things you can do to keep Lake Michigan healthy? Actions like these help keep the beaches open all summer and your drinking water supply clean and abundant.
Lake Michigan is not just a big body of water that never changes. Water flows in and out of the lake continuously. Humans, plants, animals, and fish all use the lake to eat, drink, wash, and have fun. This is such a part of our everyday lives that often we do not even think about it.
The three EcoMyths Chicago ePostcards since January have talked about the impacts that people and nature have on Lake Michigan: its beaches, water levels, and drinking water.
To find out more about how all this ties together, click here!
Myth Busted
Written By: Kate Sackman of Lake Forest Open Lands Association
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Exploring Deeper
Our Influence on Beach Closings
When toilets flush, must Lake Michigan beaches always close? EcoMyths Chicago showed you in January that overflows of sewage are not typically the culprit for contaminating our beaches. More often, beach closings stem from a problem with fertilizer runoff. In fact, fertilizer from your lawn can travel for miles in natural streams that open up into Lake Michigan. Once in the lake, fertilizers promote the growth of algae mats which grow large and can wash up on shore. These algae mats attract and shelter bird droppings full of E. coli bacteria, which can make people very sick..
It is also helpful, then, if you pick up your leftover food when departing from a fun day on the beach. Less garbage means less bird droppings in the water. When too much of this E. coli bacteria sticks around, local officials are forced to close the beach. So reducing fertilizer use and taking your garbage away from the beach can make a difference to your summer fun.
Changing Natural Cycles
Are recent drops in Lake Michigan water levels natural and no cause for concern? The February EcoMyth showed how water in the Lake fluctuates 4 to 7 feet every 15 years or so in a natural rhythm of climate and natural inflows and outflows of water. Water flows naturally into Lake Michigan from Lake Superior, from ground water seepage, rain, snowmelt, and streams. Water also flows naturally out of Lake Michigan into Lake Huron, is lost via evaporation and diverted down the Chicago River. For the past 10 years, Lake Michigan water levels have been staying more than a foot below the natural historic average of the past 150 years. Has something changed?
Human impacts have changed the natural patterns of the lake. Historical dredging and other engineering projects permanently altered lake levels. People have been taking more water out of Lake Michigan for drinking, sprinkling, and farming than we have been putting back in. Groundwater is replenishing more slowly than it did in the past. The likelihood of additional climate changes toward warmer and drier conditions in the Midwest creates significant potential for additional lowering of lake levels.
Population is continuing to grow around Chicago, so each of us must reduce our water use in order to ensure that Lake Michigan water levels stabilize.
People taking better care of Nature
Is it true that tap water from Lake Michigan isn't safe to drink? Chicago tap water, from Lake Michigan, is the best-tasting tap water of any city in the country! In March, EcoMyths showed that the major historical sources of water pollution in Lake Michigan are being controlled. The Clean Water Act of 1972, a federal law that restricted industrial dumping into bodies of water, was instrumental in reducing pollutants in Lake Michigan. Yet human sources of pollution remain. Some that we can prevent are the flushing of pharmaceuticals down our toilets and into the water system, as well as the lawn chemicals we discussed above.
It is up to you and me
Every one of us can make a difference by being aware of what we wash down the drain. With chemicals in the yard, medicines in the house, and the water you use, you have choices.
If we are all pushing in the same direction, it makes an impact.
- Keep the beaches clean of food waste
- Use less fertilizer
- Use less water; water the flowers, but not the lawn
- Dispose of medicines in the trash, in a sealed container
- Drink tap water in re-usable bottles instead of buying bottled water
- Work with your government representatives to ensure the Lake is protected
Written by Kate Sackman
March
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EcoMyths Chicago
Water Ecosystems: I-C
~ CAP OR TAP: THE WATER DRINKER'S DILEMMA ~
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Myth: Tap water from Lake Michigan isn't safe to drink?
Myth Explored: Yes, tap water from Lake Michigan IS safe to drink!
Chicagoland residents are fortunate to live near Lake Michigan, one of the
world's largest, cleanest sources of fresh water. The Lake services water
to millions of people in Illinois everyday . While it provides the public
with great recreational opportunities as well as valuable tap water, some
have raised concern about the safety of it for drinking purposes. Even
though the 1960s may have been plagued with warnings of the problems associated
with pollution in the Great Lakes, times have changed. Thanks to the combination
of the Clean Water Act and our sophisticated treatment facilities that clean
lake water before it enters our faucets, the water from Lake Michigan is among
the best municipal water supply in the world.
Click here to find out more!
Myth Busted
Written By: Joel Brammeier of the Alliance for the Great Lakes
Source: The U.S. EPA: Human Health and the Great Lakes
For a full list of citations click here
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Exploring Deeper
The situation
Long-time Great Lakes residents may recall scores of dead fish on the shore, a zone in Lake Erie
with no animals or plants, and raw pollution floating in the water. These and other problems
rendered the water near some Great Lakes cities extremely dirty in the 1960s and led to the
passage of the groundbreaking federal Clean Water Act2. Times have changed, to say the least.
Thanks largely to federal and state rules prohibiting the dumping of pollution, to better
research to understand problems, and to local stewardship by communities and volunteers,
the health of the Great Lakes is improving.
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The Problem
Problems stemming from invasive species, climate change, and pollution remain to be tackled;
even so, Lake Michigan's drinking water quality has increased tremendously over the last 30 years.
Recent reports have, however, caused some people to worry about the safety of our tap water.
The culprit of this worry is pharmaceuticals and its alleged emergence into our environment.
Yet, levels of pharmaceutical pollution in Lake Michigan today are lower than in some cities
that rely on groundwater. To keep it that way, it's essential that cities like Chicago pursue
a policy of prevention – knocking out emerging chemicals at the source before they get to the
environment. If the pollutants do reach our water system, not all is lost: the Metropolitan
Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago treats sewage before it is discharged and is
partnered with U.S. EPA to monitor pharmaceutical pollution in the Chicago waterways.
The Solution
Chicago's tap water was rated as "Excellent" in a 2003 nationwide study1 - the only city to take home
that honor. To ensure the quality of Lake Michigan's water supply is consistently up to par with
public health standards, officials test the water for contaminants including bacteria, viruses,
pesticides, and minerals2. In a 2008 taste test, Chicago tap water even beat popular bottled water
brands for taste3. While some Illinois residents notice an occasional change in taste that has
recently been attributed to excessive algal blooms4, you can rest assured that the tap provides
some of the highest quality water available in the world year-round. As such, cities in the
region have been attempting to promote Lake Michigan's tap water as a reliable, healthy source
for drinking. Chicago is a perfect example: confidence in the quality of Lake Michigan's water
is so high that in 2008, city officials imposed a tax on bottled water. This angered some residents,
but could have a positive environmental impact: if more residents now choose tap water, less finite
resources will be used for their production and millions of plastic bottles won't end up in the landfill.
Every boater, beachgoer, water drinker, and volunteer that spends time on Lake Michigan is one more citizen
that understands how essential restoring and protecting these waters is. And this reality hasn't been lost
on the economists – a 2006 Brookings Institution report makes it clear that the renewal of the upper Midwest
economy depends on both the protection and sustainable use of local water resources.5
The Great Lakes are a vital resource, which is why the region invests billions of dollars annually to protect them.6
What Can I do?
- Conserve water and reduce your waste by carrying a reusable water bottle with you and filling-up at a sink or a drinking fountain.
- Help spread the word about the clean, safe, and tasty source of drinking water that's right here in your backyard!
- Support government efforts to promote tap water use and to keep our drinking water clean.
Written by Joel Brammeier
February
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EcoMyths Chicago
Water Ecosystems: I-B
~ YOU NEVER MISS THE WATER 'TILL
THE WELL RUNS DRY ~
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Myth: Recent drops in Lake Michigan water levels are all natural and no cause for concern.
Myth Explored: While natural fluctuations in water levels are normal, when lake levels drop
and stay down, it raises a red flag. Lake Michigan's water level changes naturally over time,
just like the rest of the Great Lakes. Fed by precipitation, runoff, groundwater and flow
between the chain of Great Lakes, water levels fluctuate with the seasons. On a longer time
scale, 4 to 7 foot cycles between high and low occur approximately every 15 years.
In addition to this natural variation, locks, dams, and climate change are modifying these
natural cycles while other activities have permanently lowered lake levels. Much effort
has been devoted to protecting the natural ebbs and flows of the Great Lakes since they
are critical to the health of coastal habitats that support people and wildlife.
Click here to find out more!
Myth Busted
Written By: Joel Brammeier of the Alliance for the Great Lakes
Source: Changnon, S. A. (2004). "Temporal behavior of levels of the Great Lakes and climate variability." Journal of Great Lakes Research 30(1): 184-200.
For a full list of citations click here
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Exploring Deeper
The situation
The levels of water in all of the Great Lakes are in constant flux.
Rainwater and runoff feed water into the Lakes while at the same time
water flows from one lake to the next through connectors such as the St.
Marys River. With the seasons, water freezes and thaws. As a result,
research shows that lake levels fluctuate naturally over time, normally
on 303 and 160-year cycles1.
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The Problem
Human modifications to the Lakes and their connecting channels have drastically altered these natural
cycles, resulting in some pronounced changes. Dredging projects, where river channels are
made deeper and/or wider for commercial navigation, have lowered Lake Michigan up to 20
inches since the 19th century. Similarly, engineering projects including historical modifications
to the St. Clair River1 and the 19th century reversal of the Chicago River - aimed to keep waste
out of Chicago's drinking water supply1 – permanently altered lake levels.
Indirect factors impact lake levels, too. According to the Southern Lake Michigan Regional Water
Supply Consortium, groundwater is replenishing slower than it did in the past due to "overuse and
wasteful practices" on land. Since groundwater replenishes the Lake, less groundwater means less
goes into the Lake. The normal, annual average of water replenishment to Lake Michigan hovers at about 1%2.
Now, Great Lakes water levels face perhaps the toughest challenge yet: climate change.3,4 ,
Most scientific models predict warmer and drier conditions in the upper Midwest. Although
this may sound like more livable winters, what it means is that less water will freeze,
less rain and snow will fall and more will evaporate. In all, scientists predict that
climate factors may cause water levels in the Great Lakes to drop up to five feet –
permanently – over the next hundred years.
So, what happens when human and climatic modifications change lake levels? Water levels drop and stay down.
Organisms that depend on the water feel the repercussions of these permanent cycle changes. Coastal habitats
depend on the consistent rhythm of the natural fluctuations - up to 90% of Great Lakes fish species rely on
healthy coastal habitats at some point in their lifecycle. But lake ecosystems and inhabitants aren't the
only ones that are affected – changes to the natural ebb and flow can wreak havoc on other critical Great
Lakes systems like coastal wetlands as well5,6, Commercial and recreational boaters also feel the pinch of
lower lake levels when they are forced to carry lighter loads or have trouble getting out of harbor.
The Solution
The International Joint Commission, an agency that researches and recommends strategies to manage the Lakes
for the Canadian and U.S. governments, is intensively studying the water levels of Lakes Superior, Michigan,
and Huron7. Although much study is being directed towards lake level changes and their effects, it may be
years before we have full answers to these complex questions. In the meantime, the Great Lakes Water
Resources Compact - a federal law and bi-national agreement finalized last year that mandates intense
scrutiny for proposed new uses of lake water - was passed in 2008 and is already working towards protecting
the Great Lakes from the impacts of human uses of water.
What Can I do?
- Conserve water in your home by decreasing the lengths of your shower, repairing leaky faucets, and installing water-saving fixtures. Click here for more water conservation tips.
- Calculate your current water use footprint and learn how to reduce it.
- Help slow global warming by living responsibly: visit the U.S. EPA website to find out how.
- Collect rainwater from your rooftop and use it to water your lawn, wash your car, or fill your pool. Learn how to collect your own rain with the City of Chicago's Rain Barrel initiative.
- Support government efforts to reduce water use locally and enhance the economy. Read more in a recent Alliance for the Great Lakes report.
Written by Joel Brammeier
January
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EcoMyths Chicago
Water Ecosystems: I-A
~ FLUSHING OUT THE TRUTH ~
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Myth: When toilets flush, must Lake Michigan's beaches always close?
Myth Explored: No way! Despite what you may hear, Lake Michigan beach closings in
Illinois are only occasionally caused by sewage overflows from cities in the region;
they're usually triggered by other local issues. Contaminated rain water run-off from
the land, excrement from birds and wildlife, excessive algae in the lake, and occasional
diluted stormwater sewage from Chicagoland can all contribute to beach closings.
Click here to find out more!
Myth Busted
Written By: Joel Brammeier of the Alliance for the Great Lakes
Source: Whitman, R. L. and M. B. Nevers (2008). "Summer E-coli
Patterns and Responses along 23 Chicago Beaches." Environmental Science &
Technology 42(24): 9217-9224. For a full list of citations click here
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Exploring Deeper
The Real Cause
While a closed beach can be a serious bummer on a hot summer day, you
can hardly blame raw sewage dumping as the reason why you can't swim,
wade or play your favorite water sport. In fact, the majority of pollutants
that cause beach closings in Lake Michigan are derived from other local sources1.
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Water running off parking lots, streets, lawns, and homes carry bacteria and
other contaminants into the lake while also transporting nutrients that promote
excess algal growth in the water and on the beach2. This is a cause
for concern as mats of algae are suspected of harboring high concentrations of
Escherichia coli ("E. coli"), a bacterium indicating a potential threat to human
health3. Moreover, large congregations of wildlife, such as gulls, are
attracted to beaches by garbage left behind from picnics (and after they feast,
they deposit their waste both along the sand and in the water!) Fortunately,
the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District, Chicagoland's combined stormwater
and sewage treatment agency, can handle most anything. Nearly all the sewage is
directed down the Chicago Area Waterways, away from the Lake. Only on rare occasions
– 4 times in the last 6 years – do big storms force the Metropolitan Water reclamation
District to discharge excess sewage diluted by stormwater into Lake Michigan.
The Problem for People
So what's the problem for us? If your eyes, nose, ears or mouth come in contact with
pollutants in the water and on the beach, you could get sick. Keeping your best interest
in mind, local officials conduct extensive monitoring of bacterial counts which allows
them to close beaches when the water may be unsafe for swimming. According to the U.S.
EPA, of the 69 total beaches in Lake and Cook counties, 51 were monitored in 20074.
The task of monitoring and closing beaches is performed by the Chicago Park District
and Lake County health department. Most of the beaches in Illinois are monitored using
a test for E. coli bacteria; however, four beaches in Lake County and one in Chicago are
currently using a novel SwimCast system that determines pollution levels based on climate and wave data5 .
What Can I do?
Fortunately, beach closings are a problem that can often be solved with local solutions.
Here's what you can do to help:
- Don't dirty the beach - this means cleaning up your food, other garbage, and after your pet.
- Make the beach even cleaner than when you found it – join a beach clean up day6.
- Visit BEACON to review a beach sanitary survey and find out what pollutes your favorite stretch of sand.
- Reduce the amount of fertilizers and pesticides you use on your yard at home – these chemicals can flow into Lake Michigan and cause algae buildup.
- If you want to think bigger, learn about some large-scale cleanups – cities like Racine, Wisconsin7, have demonstrated how a community commitment can eliminate high bacteria counts and keep beaches safe and open to all.
- Finally, enjoy the water and the beach – in Cook and Lake counties, 83% of all beach days were open to the public in 20071 - a high enough percentage to allow for ample beach action all summer long!
Written by Joel Brammeier
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The greatest wonder is that we can see these trees and not wonder more.
- Ralph Waldo Emerson
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