The boardwalk in Cedar Bog Nature Preserve in Springfield leads you into a microclimate of white cedar trees and through a portal into Ohio’s glaciated past.
Diana Boggs, the appropriately-named Cedar Bog Preserve Assistant, led me on an early February morning trip through remnants of our Pleistocene ice age.
Navigating the icy remains of recent snowfall on the path, we entered a cavern of Dr. Seussian-like trees. White cedars are tipped and slanted at strange angles. The spongy soil of Cedar Bog is like quicksand in places. Boggs explained that the components of this soil are muck and marl. Muck, the decomposed organic matter, such as leaves and marl, chemically-weathered limestone, is felt in the soil as gritty particles. The trees tilt in this soil in such a way that they can reach sunlight, explained Boggs, and this juniper species found in northern climates, the white cedar, thrives in Cedar Bog due to the fresh water fed by springs.
Cedar Bog is not actually a bog. It is really a fen, a type of wetland fed by waters underground. These underground waters then rise and filter through the wetland soil and plants. “Bogs clog and fens flush,” according to Boggs. A fen is refreshed by flowing incoming underwater springs. When the most recent glaciers covered three-fourths of Ohio nearly 12,000-35,000 years ago, sediment was deposited and covered the ancient Teays River Valley. The Teays River flowed downstream from North Carolina and emptied out into the waters north of Springfield. The most recent Wisconsin glaciation had other ideas and changed the surface of the land. The resulting drainage patterns from glacial meltwaters created our Ohio River.
Despite being buried under layers of glacial till and sediment, the embedded Teays still contributes its ancient waters. Water percolates through springs and is consistently a cool 50 degrees Fahrenheit. This water is the force that maintains the unique microclimate of Cedar Bog, keeping it cooler in the summer and warmer in the winter. White cedars are at home here because of these cooler temperatures.
After leaving the thicket of white cedars, we entered Ohio’s rarest habitat: the sedge meadow. Sedges are a type of wetland plant that adapt to a diversity of soil conditions. Unlike grasses that have hollow interior stems, sedges have solid stems and “edges” to their leaves.
Boggs recounted the efforts to maintain this unique meadow of sedges. “We have to keep the white cedars from taking over this meadow,” she explained as she showed me how some young cedars had to be cut on the meadow border. This constant vigilance is necessary to maintain the meadow and habitat for all the animals that depend on it.
Although the animals of Cedar Bog hid from us that morning, we saw traces of their residency. Boggs showed me a small opening at the base of a tree. A well-worn path to and from this home showed the various paths to the creek, the forest and beyond. Raccoons, opossums, deer and mink left their traces in the snow. We also found scat on the boardwalk possibly deposited by an opossum. There have been trail cam sightings of bobcats as well.
Unique plant life calls Cedar Bog home. Boggs stressed visiting Cedar Bog at least once a month to see the everchanging array of flora. She pointed out the skunk cabbage erupting from the soil - it’s called “skunk” for a good reason. Boggs describes the smell as reminiscent of “warm garbage.” It may be disgusting to the receptors in the human nose, but to its pollinators, the flies, it is aromatic. There’s an added attraction for its fly pollinators. Boggs said that the plant is thermogenic, generating heat by itself, and this too is irresistible to its insect visitors.
The Skunk Cabbage Walk took place on the Cedar Bog boardwalk in the afternoon and volunteers were available on the boardwalk to point out the emerging skunk cabbages and answer questions. Board member and enthusiastic volunteer Cheryl Erwin made me promise to return to see how this plant changes throughout its life. And I will. The rare beauty of this glacial remnant and the passion shown by Boggs and the Cedar Bog’s volunteers will inspire many return trips.
Future events at Cedar Bog Nature Preserve are listed on the website and include nature-based walks such as the upcoming Orchid Walk (June 7) and Birds of the Bog Walk (June 20) and Action-Based Ecology presentation (May 9).
For more information, visit cedarbognp.org.
Springfield Rocks is a monthly column dedicated to exploring the unique geological points of interest and natural wonders found throughout Springfield.
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