Glade Wetland

Numerous raptors, such as the red-tailed hawk, find wintering habitat in this wetland-community in the ancient Teays River Valley. © Jim Roetzel

Glade Wetland contains some of the most unique wetland plant communities and bird habitat in the state of Ohio. When the Teays River still flowed into Ohio from the Appalachian highlands and the southeastern U.S., it provided an effective migration route for plants. A few of these relicts from pre-glacial times can still be found in places in Ohio and many are found at the Glade Wetland Preserve. The significance of the Glade Wetland lies in the variety of habitats represented within the site, and the relatively diverse number of species it supports.

The terrain is flat and the poorly drained soils are clays deposited by preglacial Lake Tight. A sedge meadow is reverting from agriculture and is dominated by wetland grasses and sedges, with prairie species. The wooded areas are dominated by pin oak and swamp white oak. Very poorly drained areas support buttonbush swamps and grassy meadows.

Location
Pike and Jackson Counties, in the abandoned valley of the preglacial Teays River Valley in the Western Allegheny Plateau Ecoregion.

Plants

• Bush’s sedge
• Wolf’s Spikerush - the only known Ohio occurrence, a state-listed species which until now was presumed extirpated in Ohio.
• Carolina leaf-flower
• Virginia meadow-beauty
• Hyssop skullcap
• Keeled bur-reed
• Lance-leaved violet
• Low spearwort
• Prairie wedgegrass
• Least St. John's-wort
• Butternut
• One-sided rush
• Lindheimer's panic-grass
• Philadelphia panic-grass 

Birds
Glade Wetland provides essential wintering habitat for numberous raptors - hawks, kestrels, and owls, and nesting habitat for grassland birds.  Although not a major waterfowl staging area, both wood ducks and mallards are known to nest on the site, while black ducks and ring necked ducks are known to use the area as a migratory stopover.

Other birds found here include:

• Henslow’s Sparrow
• Upland Sandpiper
• Dickcissel
• Woodcock
• Grasshopper sparrow
• Northern harrier 

Why the Conservancy Selected This Site
The site is one of the best remaining examples of a Teays Valley wetland represented by sedge-grass meadow and pin oak-red maple flatwoods. It provides essential wintering habitat for numerous raptors and nesting habitat for birds.

Competition from invasive non-native species, including wetland and old field invaders such as multiflora rose, Japanese honeysuckle and forage grasses, is the primary threat to the preserve's habitat.

What the Conservancy Has Done/Is Doing
In partnership with the Natural Resources Conservation Service and the Division of Wildlife, the Conservancy is working to restore the site's natural hydrology to enhance the quality of the sedge meadow-grassland mosaic and to maintain the breeding bird diversity of the site. Prescribed burning and mowing will be important management tools for expanding the native grassland community, decreasing non-native species and reducing the invasion of woody plants into the grassland.