Lumber River State Park: Especially Unique Black Water

The Lumber River is a unique blackwater river. There are two main places on Earth we find blackwater rivers: the Amazon River Basin and in southeastern United States. The blackwaters of the Lumber River flow for 115 miles, crossing from North Carolina into South Carolina and eventually empting into the Atlantic Ocean. Much of the swamp forests along its banks are protected. The forest filters pollution and keeps the soil from eroding into the river.

The swamp forest is a wetland ecosystem, with water-loving plants and waterlogged soils. Some of the most impressive plants in the swamp forest ecosystem are the bald cypress trees. Bald cypress trees grow to be the widest and oldest trees in North Carolina. Hollow bald cypress trees provide habitat for bats, wood ducks, raccoons, lizards and owls.

As rainwater soaks through the swamp forest, dark chemicals called tannins drain out of the decaying plants and stain the water brown. Tannins are the same chemicals that give us the brown color of sweat tea as water drains through tea leaves. Despite its dark appearance, the Lumber River is a healthy home for fish and other animals that are adapted for life in the water.

Student Resources:

Discover More (reading page) — Lumber River Blackwater
Explore Outdoors — Lumber River Black Water Tea
Lumber River State Park Fact Sheet

Video and student resources are correlated with the following North Carolina Standards:

Science
· 3.L.2. Understand how plants survive in their environments.
· 4.L.1. Understand the effects of environmental changes, adaptations and behaviors that enable animals (including humans) to survive in changing habitats.
· 5.L.2. Understand the interdependence of plants and animals with their ecosystem
· 6.L.1. Understand the structures, processes and behaviors of plants that enable them to survive and reproduce.
· 6.L.2. Understand the flow of energy through ecosystems and the responses of populations to the biotic and abiotic factors in their environment.

Social Studies Standards
· 3.C&G.2. Understand how citizens participate in their communities.
· 4.G.1. Understand how human, environmental and technological factors affect the growth and development of North Carolina.
· 5.G.1. Understand how human activity has and continues to shape the United States.
· 5.C & G.2. Analyze life in a democratic republic through the rights and responsibilities of citizen.
· 6.H.2 Understand the political, economic and/or social significance of historical events, issues, individuals and cultural groups.