Wetlands Final

Understand the definition of a wetland~ clean water act

areas that are inundated or saturated by surface or ground water at a frequency and duration sufficient to support, and that under normal circumstances do support, a prevalence of vegetation typically adapted for life in saturated soil conditions

Understand the definition of a wetland

1. hydrology

2. veg

3. soils

Any ecosystem that has saturated soils for a portion of the year, creates hydric soils, and supports hydrophytes

Identity where wetlands are located locally and globally

everywhere

identify different wetland types by using multiple classification systems

USFW classification system

Canadian Classification system

Canadian Wetlands structure

class → form → type

USFW classification system

hierarchal approach, similar to plant taxonomy

1. system

2. subsystem

3. class

4. subclass

5. dominance type

6. modifiers

describe the functions, values, and services of wetlands

Functions- what the wetland does naturally (ex. habitat, chemical cycling, carbon storage and sequestration, etc.)

Values- the importance of those functions to society (ex. economic, Kosrae people’s culture surrounding wetlands as a second income and to help with their families needs, etc.)

Services- direct or indirect benefit that people receive (ex. flood or storm protection, provide timber services, etc.)

How hydrology affects ecosystem processes in wetlands

Hydrology and water tables effect everything:

• soils

• biogeochemistry

• pH

• plants

Because:

• Their levels

• the water source (presip, ground water, lake, river, etc.)

• what it runs through

• changes in source

• climate change

• morphology of the landscape (basin, slope, river, floodplain, lake shore, etc.)

How hydrology creates different types of wetlands

• water table

• morphology

• flow though wetlands

• source

• inputs and outputs

• saturation

• hydrology effects on:

  • hydroperiod

  • biogeochemistry

  • soils

  • plants

  • pH

  • oxygen availability

How water moves through a wetland

Inputs and outputs, where the water is coming from, the different flows and depth spots in the wetland, tides, ground water, precip, rivers, lakes, oceans.

How to measure different components of hydrology in wetlands

• Ground water

  • piezometer~ an open ended pipe. Measures hydraulic head at the depth of the open end

  • monitoring well~ height of water table

  • Piezometer nest~ used to determine vertical hydraulic gradients

• hydroperiod/ water budget

• channelized flow

  • weirs

  • flumes

  • staff gauges

  • flow meters

• precip

Recharge and discharge with Piezometer nest

Direction of water flow

1. up

2. down

3. horizontal

oxygen cycle in wetlands

Ground is saturated which limits oxygen in soil and respiration of plants, because plants aren’t respirating there is less oxygen being created, microorganisms also use the oxygen that is created by roots in the soil (sedges)

Why are oxygen levels so low in wetlands?

Slow water movement, saturated soils, and decomposition rates are all contributing factors to low oxygen levels. Microorganisms also contribute to this as well, they use oxygen faster than diffusion can replace it.

What parameters affect soil oxygen content?

Soil water content

Organic matter content

Soil compaction

Soil temperature

order of sequential reduction in wetlands

Oxygen, Nitrogen, Manganese, Iron, Sulphur, Carbon Dioxide

carbon cycle in wetlands

slowed decomposition, lots of carbon is stored up, used by plants for respiration, peat, carbon created when expelled from micro organisms

Carbon inputs to a wetland are:

Photosynthesis

Carbon outputs from a wetland are:

Methane production

Dissolved organic carbon

Plant and microbial respiration

Nitrogen inputs

• biological N₂ fixation

• dry and wet deposition

• nonpoint sources

• wastewaters

nitrogen storages

• plant biomass

• microbial biomass

• soil organic N

• soil pore water

• exchangeable N

• Clay fixed NH₂-N

Nitrogen outputs

• volatilization

• outflow

• gaseous losses

• plant harvest

redox cycle in wetlands

The wetter a system gets the further down in the redox cycle they go

Understand the differences and similarities between organic and mineral soils

Organic

• 40cm deep

• >12% carbon content

• peat

• muck

• histosols

Mineral

• higher bulk density

• anything that does not fit organic soils definition

O horizon

• surface organic layer

• deep in histosols (>40cm)

• shallow in mineral (<40cm)

• 12-18% carbon

A horizon

• upmost mineral soil

• results from biological activity

E Horizon

• loss of iron aluminum and clay from leaching

• whiteish

• not always found

• can be confused with reduced conditions

B Horizon

• where materials accumulate

• high concentrations of clays, iron oxides, and OM

• greater structural development

C Horizon

parent material

Learn how redox reactions influence wetland soils

iron reduction causes grey soils, fluctuating water levels cause modeling, oxidation cause orange around roots

Learn how plants have adapted to live in wetlands

Salinity: Salinity is stressful to plants because it causes cell dehydration and cell toxicity

• Salt exclusion

• Water acquisition

unstable/mucky soils: Unstable/mucky soils are as said in the name unstable they provide little to no support and are also low in oxygen.

• Aerenchyma

• Prop roots

low nutrient conditions: Low nutrient conditions are stressful to plants because it stunts growth, disrupts metabolic process and nutrient uptake.

• Carnivory

• Evergreen leaves

low oxygen conditions: Low oxygen conditions are stressful because their roots require oxygen for cellular respiration, without it they can't produce ATP needed to survive.

• Knees

• Lenticels

How can autogenic and allogenic succession both occur in a wetland?

Autogenic succession occurs when the wetland changes because of itself, changing the conditions and plant species within. Allogenic succession is the wetland species and conditions changing because of an outside factor.

Understand wetlands zonation

Understand how rivers structure riparian ecosystems

• conditions very in water depth, oxygen availability, and water chemistry in different zones

• Different plants are adapted to handle the conditions in these different zones specifically, leading to contrasts based on these zone condition differences.

Learn how surface and groundwater interact in riparian systems

• Phreatophyte are plants that Are connected and use groundwater

• steams

• river valleys

Learn how plants have adapted to riparian environments

1) seed dispersal timed with flooding

2) very short lived seeds

3) seeds are dispersed by wind and water

4) some are phreatophytes, meaning the plants are connected and use groundwater (roots are always saturated)

5) flexible stems

6) resprout from breaking

7) asexual reproduction

8) adventitious roots

Learn how river regulation modifies riparian forests

dams change:

• flood patterns

• invasive species

• water temp

• low peak flows

• shape and river structure

• river flow/ meandering

Understand the marsh types

• lacustrine

• tidal

• riverine

• basin

• delta

• great lakes

Learn the basics of marsh hydrology and how that varies by marsh type

• tides

• flooding

• salinity

• precip

• erosion

learn how marshes are modified by changes in hydrology

zones

The fluctuation of the lake's water levels cause the same fluctuations in the costal marshes, Causing many different habitats and groups of species to form, at higher levels that are saturated at high times woody wetland plants will form. Mid-levels will often have moss, sedges, and grass, and lower levels will have cattails and floating plants, This fluctuations create these diverse plant communities and habitats, without them the wetland would be very different. It would be stagnant, not diverse, have low nutrient cycling, and almost be more of a peatland.

vernal pools

Vernal pools can help with flood control, water filtering, ground water recharge, nutrient cycling, food web support, and more. One of the most important functions is that they provide a fish free breeding ground for specialist species. Many species need shallow water to lay eggs in but doing this in a lake will often get the eggs eaten by fish. So amphibians and especially salamanders use vernal pools as a safer way to lay their eggs.

Understand how peatlands form

Peatlands are wetlands that have accumulated deep profiles of organic soil or peat, they need stable and long-term water levels near the surface.

• don't have a specific hydrology, which means that peatlands can be formed by any kind of wetland as long as the water table is stable and near the surface for a prolonged period of time.

• could form from:

  • a bog which is fueled by precipitation

  • fens (poor, intermediate, or rich) which are ground water fueled

  • swamps which can be fueled by either, etc.

Terrestrialization

when peat develops in open water eventually turning a pond into a peatland

Paludification

when peat accumulates over previously drier mineral soil

Primary peat formation

when peat forms directly on top of bare wet mineral soil

Ombrotrophication

the process by which a minerotrophic fen converts to a ombrotrophic bog

Define a swamp

a type of wetland defined by its dominance of woody plants, like trees and shrubs, in waterlogged soils that are saturated for long periods, often supporting cypress, tupelo, or cedar, with water that can be fresh, brackish, or saltwater

Gain an overview of cedar ecology and management

Need hummocks and pools

Northern White Cedar are:

Pioneering species

Late successional species

Calciphile

Found growing in uplands

Found growing in swamps

Third most common tree in Michigan

Important winter deer habitat

Actually a type of Cypress, not cedar at all

Probably stores more soil carbon than any other ecosystem in UP

Really cool trees!

Learn to delineate a wetland

• hydrology indicators:

  • Oxidized root channels

  • Saturated soil

  • Fac-neutral test

• hydric soil indicators:

  • Histosol

  • Hydrogen sulfide smell

  • Gleying

  • Mottles

• Wetland plants

Be able to describe what wetland restoration is

Repairing damage to a harmed wetland ecosystem

• people damage

• hydrology

• contamination

• construction

• invasive plants

• etc.

Understand how climate change is modifying wetlands

• floods

• droughts

• temp changes

  • decomp

  • gas release

• extreme weather

• storms

• wildfire

• degraded wetlands turn into carbon emission sources instead of sinks

• permafrost

Be able to think through how to manage wetlands in the face of a changing climate

• restoring natural water flows, protecting migration corridors, reducing stressors like pollution, enhancing native plant diversity, and using "nature-based solutions" like living shorelines to build resilience, focusing on adaptive strategies like managed retreat and maintaining natural processes to help wetlands cope with sea-level rise, floods, and droughts

• felicitated migration of plants from the south

• cedar swamp

• black ash (emerald ash borer)

Climate-Smart
Wetland Management
Climate-Smart Wetland Management

Protect What’s Intact

• Intact wetlands are climate refugia

• Prevent drainage, clearing, fragmentation, and hard shorelines

• Conserve catchments, groundwater sources, and upland buffers

Restore Hydrology

• Reconnect natural flows; fix drains, ditches, roads, levees, and other diversions

• Maintain high water tables in peatlands; natural tidal exchange in coastal systems

• Restore hydrologic regimes robust to droughts, storms, and sea-level rise

Give Wetlands Room to Adapt

• Ensure space for landward migration (marshes, mangroves, tidal flats)

• Preserve upslope and headwater areas for peatlands

• Reconnect rivers to floodplains; protect lateral movement zones

Reduce Stressors

• Lower nutrient and pollutant loads; manage grazing, trampling, and disturbance

• Control invasive species; maintain native, stress-tolerant vegetation

• Integrate fire-smart strategies; support community-based stewardship

• Use adaptive management with long-term monitoring tied to climate indicators