Wetland Types – Inland Wetland Ecosystems

1. Wetland Types – Inland Wetland Ecosystems

2. Wetland Types • Inland Wetland Ecosystems • Freshwater Marshes • Peatlands • Freshwater Swamps (Forested) • Riparian Wetlands • Open Water • Coastal Wetland Ecosystems • Tidal Salt Marshes • Tidal Freshwater Marshes • Mangrove Wetlands

3. Bog – peat-accumulating with no inflows or outflows; supports mosses Bottomland – lowlands along streams and rivers Fen – ground-water fed; peat accumulating Marsh – frequently inundated; emergent herbaceous vegetation Mire – peat-accumulating (Europe) Moor – peat-accumulating (Europe) Muskeg – Large expanses of peatlands or bogs (Canada/Alaska) Peatland – any wetland that accumulates decaying plant matter Playa – marshlike ponds similar to potholes (southwest U.S.) Pothole – shallow, marshlike pond; found in Dakotas and Canada Reedswamp – marsh dominated by common reed (Europe) Slough – swamp or shallow lake system Swamp – wetland dominated by trees or shrubs Vernal Pool – shallow, intermittently flooded wet meadow Wet Meadow – grassland with waterlogged soil near the surface – without water for most of year Wet Prairie – similar to marsh but water levels intermediate between marsh and wet meadow Kinds of Wetlands Vary based on geographic location, language, etc. Source: Mitsch and Gosselink, 1993.

4. Inland Wetland Ecosystems • Freshwater Marshes • Peatlands • Freshwater Swamps (Forested) • Riparian Wetlands • Open Water

5. Freshwater Marshes • Very diverse group • Nontidal, freshwater systems • Dominated by grasses, sedges, and other freshwater emergent hydrophytes (nonforested) • High productivity • Approximately 20% of world’s wetlands

6. Hydrology • Predominately surface water fed; some with groundwater • Deep marsh plant communities have standing water depths of between 6 inches and 3 or more feet during the growing season • Shallow marsh plant communities have soils that are saturated to inundated by standing water up to 6 inches in depth, throughout most of the growing season

7. Dominant Plant Species • Deep marsh: major dominance by cattails, hardstem bulrush, pickerelweed, giant bur-reed, Phragmites, wild rice, pondweeds and/or water-lilies. • Shallow marsh: herbaceous emergent vegetation such as cattails, bulrushes, arrowheads, and lake sedges characterize this community.

9. Wet Meadows

10. Hydrology and Soils • Supported by groundwater and surface water runoff • Usually a high water table is present • Typically drier than other marshes except during seasonal high water • Without standing water most of the year • Occur in poorly drained soils • Soils typically nutrient rich

11. Dominant Plant Species • hummock sedge (Carex stricta) • lake sedge (Carex lacustris) • Canada bluejoint grass (Calamagrostis canadensis) • woolgrass (Scirpus cyperinus) • marsh milkweed (Asclepias incarnata) • arrow-leaved tearthumb (Polygonum sagittatum) • water pepper (Polygonum hydropiper)

13. Sedge Meadows

14. Hydrology • Sedge meadows can be supported by groundwater and surface water runoff

15. Dominant Plant Species • Sedge meadows are dominated by the sedges (Cyperaceae) growing on saturated soils (Carex dominates) • Also present are Eleocharis (spike-rushes) and Scirpus (bulrushes)

16. hummock sedge (Carex stricta), Chippewa County, Wisconsin.

17. Wet Prairie

18. Hydrology • High groundwater table and, to a lesser extent, surface runoff

19. Dominant Plant Species • open, herbaceous plant communities dominated by native grass and grass-like species; at least half of the vegetative cover is made up of true grasses • similar to fresh (wet) meadows, but are dominated by native grasses and forbs associated with prairies such as prairie cord-grass, big bluestem, gayfeather, New England aster, culver's root, prairie dock and sawtooth sunflower

21. Prairie Potholes • Depressional Wetlands formed by glaciers • Located in Upper Midwest • North Dakota, South Dakota, Wisconsin, and Minnesota

22. Hydrology • Water source is from primarily snowmelt and rainwater • Many hold water temporarily

23. Dominant Plant Species • Submerged and floating aquatic plants take occur in the deeper water in the middle of the pothole while bulrushes and cattails grow closer to shore. • Sedge marshes lie next to the upland.

24. Photo: http://www.epa.gov/owow/wetlands/types/pothole.html

25. Vernal Pools • Seasonal depressional wetlands (ephemeral) • Occur predominately in West Coast but Eastern vernal pools also occur • Range in size from small puddlesto shallow lakes and are usually found in a gently sloping plain of grassland

26. Hydrology • Pools collect water during winter and spring rains • Change in volume responding to varying weather patterns • Pools may fill and dry several times • In years of drought, some pools may not fill at all • Generally isolated but are sometimes connected to each other by small drainages known as vernal swales • Beneath vernal pools lies either bedrock or a hard clay layer in the soil that helps keep water in the pool

27. Vegetation • Wildflowers bloom in circles following the receding shoreline of the pools • When water has evaporated, soil is brown, barren, and cracked

28. Photo: http://www.epa.gov/owow/wetlands/types/vernal.html

29. Playa Lakes • Ephemeral, round hollows in Southern High Plains of the United States • West Texas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Colorado, and Kansas

30. Hydrology • Playa origin: • either carved by wind or formed by land subsidence. • Freshwater collects in the round depression after spring rains • Saltwater-filled playas • Underlying aquifers bring salt as it percolates up through the soil.

31. Vegetation • Grow and flourish when water is present • Recede and die when water evaporates • Wildlife depend on water and plants after spring rains

32. Photo: http://www.epa.gov/owow/wetlands/types/playa.html

33. Peatlands

34. Fens

35. Hydrology • Upwelling, calcareous groundwater discharge • Small, calcareous streams frequently originate in the fen complex due to the groundwater discharge

36. Dominant Plant Species • sterile sedge (Carex sterilis) • beaked spike-rush (Eleocharis rostellata) • fen beak-rush (Rhynchospora capillacea) • whorled nut-rush (Scleria verticillata) • common valerian (Valeriana edulis) twig-rush (Cladium mariscoides) • white lady-slipper (Cypripedium candidum)

39. Bogs

40. Hydrology • Ground water sourced with peaty soils saturated to the surface

41. Dominant Plant Species • sphagnum mosses (Sphagnum spp.) • bog sedge (Carex oligosperma) • tawny cottongrass (Eriophorum virginicum) • three-way sedge (Dulichium arundinaceum) • leatherleaf (Chamaedaphne calyculata) • bog rosemary (Andromeda glaucophylla) • bog buckbean (Menyanthes trifoliata) • poison sumac (Toxicodendron vernix) • broad-leaved cattail (Typha latifolia)

43. Gros Morne National Park, Newfoundland, Canada.

44. Pitcher plant

46. Freshwater Swamps • Cypress-tupelo Swamps • Southeastern U.S. • White Cedar Swamps • Atlantic and Gulf Coasts • Red Maple Swamps • Northeastern U.S.

47. Hydrology • Groundwater discharge (seepages), rainwater, overland flow, floodwater

48. Dominant Plant Species – Midwest • black ash (Fraxinus nigra), red maple (Acer rubrum), formerly American Elm • groundlayer dominated by • lake sedge (Carex lacustris), • ostrich fern (Matteuccia struthiopteris) and • marsh marigold (Caltha palustris) • wood reedgrass (Cinna latifolia) • jewelweed (Impatiens capensis) • jack-in-the-pulpit (Arisaema triphyllum) • giant goldenrod (Solidago gigantea)

50. Riparian Wetlands