Life Along the Water – Calais’ Streams, Ponds, and Wetlands

If you want to find the richest variety of life in Calais, look to the water. Our waterways and wetlands are the most biodiverse habitats in town, providing homes for fish, amphibians, reptiles, invertebrates, and myriad plants. Nearly all of Calais’s known rare, threatened, and endangered species are found in wetlands, ponds, or streams. Our riparian areas—the vegetated edges along streams and ponds—are also indispensable: supporting shore-dwellers like otters, minks, wood turtles, and kingfishers, and providing some of the best wildlife travel corridors.

These areas do more than just host wildlife. Naturally vegetated streambanks stabilize soil, reduce erosion, and filter sediment and pollutants before they reach our waterways. Trees and shrubs along streambanks shade the water, keeping it cool for species like brook trout, and drop leaves and branches that become food and shelter for aquatic life. Wetlands store large volumes of water, prevent downstream flooding, and help recharge groundwater. Many wetlands also have deep organic soils that developed over millennia from accumulating plant matter, which store huge amounts of carbon and keep it out of the atmosphere.

Historical land use practices had a big impact on our aquatic ecosystems. In the 1800s many streams were straightened and channelized and many wetlands were converted to pastures. Beavers were also trapped and eliminated from Vermont. They have returned now, but their impact is much reduced. Before European colonization, beavers shaped many of our stream valleys into extensive, shifting mosaics of ponds, wetlands, and regenerating meadows—slowing water, storing it, and creating diverse habitat.

Take a look at this map of Calais’ waterways, which includes property lines so you can see how your land relates: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1dV7t5WhT9gFwuevZ3KzSKlIU_Mc-oIfx/view?usp=drive_link

Next in the series: How old forests—and the special features they hold—support forest health and biodiversity.