Chapter 23 – Landscape Ecology (and Lake succession and wetland types)

► Landscape mosaic  A quilt-work of different habitats ► Patches  Distinct communities making up the mosaic

► Edge  Where two different landscapes meet  Field bordering a forest  Can be caused by soil differences, fire, grazing, farming, etc

► Ecotone  Blending of two different ecosystems  Trees and grasses meeting and overlapping  Copy the drawing

► Edge Effect  Typically more biodiversity around edges because of varied plant communities  Example: Ruffed Grouse ► Needs a variety of plant cover for it’s food, nesting and courting behavior

► Corridors  Strips of vegetation that connect one patch with another  Function as travel lanes for organisms  Usually created by humans

Shade tolerant - Shade tolerant - sugar maple, beech, oak, hickory sugar maple, beech, oak, hickory Shade intolerant trees – Shade intolerant trees – Cherry, Birch, aspen Cherry, Birch, aspen

► Progression of a lake into a field ► This does not typically occur in deep water lakes

► Starts with the cattails, rushes and other surface vegetation growing around the shore. ► These die and fall into the water with other organic matter

► Organic matter continues to build up and more species begin crowding the lake edge ► Oxygen levels drop (b/c of decomposition) and fish species decrease

► Lake finally turns into a marsh, swamp or bog

► Marsh  Frequently flood  More open water and deeper than a swamp  Dominant species are grasses, reeds, shrubs, etc  Fresh, salt or brackish water

► Swamp  Typically have large amounts of woody vegetation  Shallow  Fresh or salt water

► Bog  Fill mostly with precipitation  Poor soils and a lot of sphagnum moss (acidic) ► Low decomposition ► Accumulate peat (dead organic matter)