NANFA-- bad news for Pine Barrens
Christopher Scharpf (ichthos_at_charm.net)
Thu, 27 Jan 2000 17:43:18 -0400
NEW JERSEYıS PINELANDS: A new five-year study proves that ³suburban sprawl
and farming in Camden, Burlington and Atlantic Counties have brought
pollution and fertilizers in doses so large that the water quality has
changed in some Pinelands streams and rivers,² reports the Philadelphia
Enquirer (1/27). The Pinelands is an area of pine trees, bogs and black
satin rivers that comprises 22 percent of New Jersey. Historically the
highly acidic waterways and nutrient-poor soils would not support the
existence of certain frogs, fish and vegetation, but water quality has since
changed so much in the area from the results of agriculture and development
that the flourishing of nonnative plants and animals are worrying
ecologists. Bullfrogs, black crappie, yellow perch and largemouth bass are
now thriving in the area where nitrates have enriched the soil, feeding many
nonnative plants, and lowered the acidity in water, allowing nonnative fish
to flourish.
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