1. Wetlands

2. Wetlands
Wetlands occur when the water level is close to ground level and can mostly be found around lakes, ponds, or on oceans
Wetlands – area with wet soil with plants that are adapted for it
Upland – land around wetlands

3. Classification Classified by type of vegetation
By type of water, salt or fresh
The most common system, “Circular 39”, puts wetlands into 8 categories

4. Type 1 (Temporary Flooded Wetlands)
Shallow depressions or floodplains
Contain water for a short time in spring or after heavy rain
Form when rivers flood or with melting snow
Dry up very fast

5. Type 1 (continued)
Vegetation – nut-grass, smart weed, hardwoods, stinging nettle
Reptiles/Amphibians – turtles, small frogs, garter snake
Mammals – shrew, mink, beaver, bats, raccoon
Birds – killdeer, mallard, geese, kingfisher, woodpeckers, warblers

6. Type 1 (values) Holding water during floods
Slow water down to let soils fall to bottom
Clean out water pollute and recharge aquifers
Migrating birds use them for pit stops

7. Type 2 (Wet Meadows and Fens)
No standing water but waterlogged within inches of surface
Open, treeless, grassy areas
Fens have fewer nutrients in soil
Fens are peat based

8. Type 2 (continued)
Vegetation – sedge, bulrush, milkweed, asters, bladderwort
Reptiles/Amphibians – garter snake, turtles, frogs, salamanders
Mammals – shrew, moose, wolf, fox, raccoon, weasel, skunk, coyote
Birds – Forster’s tern, sparrows, snipe, owl, birds of prey, shorebirds

9. Type 2 (values) Support rare vegetation and wildlife
Slows down floodwaters
Lock up nutrients and sediments to control pollution
Enrich soil for good growing seasons
Prevent carbon dioxide from going into the atmosphere

10. Type 3,4,5 (Marshes)
Range from depressions that go completely dry to ponds with open water
Mix of open water and standing vegetation
Differ from other wetlands by having deep water and no hard wood plants, like swamps

11. Type 3,4,5 (continued)
Vegetation – cattail, bulrush, smartweed, wild rice, coontail, water lily
Reptiles/Amphibians – garter snake, turtles, mudpuppy, water snake
Mammals – shrew, mink, muskrat, otter
Birds – blackbirds, eagle, pheasant, heron, wren, pelican, osprey, gull
Fish – panfish, bass, minnows, northern pike

12. Type 3,4,5 (values) Abundant vegetation form foundation of food chains
Soak up phosphorus that could cause algae blooms
Allows sediments in water to settle
Slow down flood water
Recreational use

13. Type 6 and 7 (Swamps)
Dominated by shrubs and trees, not the soft stemmed plants of other wetlands
Two types of swamps, shrub swamps and forested swamps
Shrub swamps have less than 30% shrub coverage
Forested swamps have more than 30% shrub and tree coverage

14. Type 6 and 7 (continued)
Vegetation – alder, dogwood, willow, birch, black ash, maple, fir, cedar, spruce
Reptiles/Amphibians – salamander, newt, frog, toad, peeper
Mammals – shrew, hare, deer, bobcat, moose, lynx, raccoon, squirrel
Birds – cuckoo, owl, kingbird, grouse, snipe, heron, woodpeckers, osprey

15. Type 6 and 7 (values)
Protect and preserve over one hundred different plant species
Help prevent carbon dioxide from entering the atmosphere

16. Type 8 (Bogs)
Very waterlogged soil that supports a spongy covering of mosses
Form on peat that builds up above the water table
Receive all water from rain and snow, no rivers or streams or flowing water
Dead matter takes a very very long time to decay in bogs

17. Type 8 (continued)
Vegetation – sphagnum moss, spruce, leatherleaf, rosemary, cranberry, lady’s slipper, pitcher plant
Reptiles/Amphibians – frog, turtle, toad, salamander
Mammals – shrew, vole, moose, hare, lynx, black bear, deer
Birds – wren, swallow, hawk, grouse, owl, raven

18. Type 8 (values) Uncommon animals and plants live here
Plant types here are adapted for acidic soil and can’t live any where else
Do the best job of locking up carbon dioxide