Wonders of Wetlands Final Exam

What tangible benefits do we receiev from nature

Ecosystem Services

3 parameters that must be satisfied for an area to qualify as a wetland

wetland hydrology

hydrophytic vegetation

hydric soil

Definition of Wetland Hydrology

Wetlands occur among a moisture gradient: above mud flats but as a low enough elevation to be saturated for 2 consecutive weeks during the growing season

Definition of Hydrophytic Vegetation

A community of plants that are dominated by plants adapted to life in saturated soils

The most important adaptation wetland plants is their ability to get oxygen down into their roots

Definition of Hydric Soil

Soils that, due to saturation, are anoxic to such an extent that mostly hydrophytes live there

Structure

The "stuff" of naturel; What ecosystems are composed of

Example of Structures

Biomass, species, water, nutrients, soil

Functions

What the structures "do." Processes that occur in ecosystems

Examples of Functions

colonization, reproduction, carbon fixation, flood water storage, evapotransportation

Ecosystem Services

Things nature does that society needs or wants. Often these are based on functions

Examples of Ecosystem Services

Provide habitat for wildlife, sequester carbon, improve water quality, flood buffering

FO

Forested Wetlands

Em

Emergent Wetland = Marsh

SS

Scrub-shrub Wetland

Examples of carbon-related functions

Decomposition and Primary Production

Function: Forest Productivity

Can be estimated by tree rings, a structural component

Annual Ring

Growing cells that surround a tree form a ring of new xylem cells each year.

Light Band

Forms in spring when there is plenty of rain and growth is rapid

Dark Band

Forms in summer when there is less rain and growth is slower - they look darker b/c the xylem cells are close together

What is the policy that uses funds from hunting and fishing licenses to support restoration and conservation of wetlands?

Pittman-Robertson Act of 1937

Wetland Mitigation

Wetland destruction requires a permit, which requires a "trade" of natural wetlands for replacement wetlands

Ratio of Wetland Mitigation

2 wetlands for every 1 mitigated

What is the source of water?

Direct Precipitation

Wetlands in Springs or Seeps

The water source is called "groundwater" and is very reliable

Why is the location of springs difficult to predict?

Impenetrable layers aren't visible at the surface

Non-Tidal Rivers

Most are the main source of water for non-tidal Floodplain Wetlands

Fear to Hope

Addressing climate change while addressing climate anxiety and enhancing education

What is Fear to Hope restoring?

shoreline retreat, elevation, king tidesm salt plant biodiversity, ghost forests, productivity fish, oyster reefs, waterfowl, terrapins, bats

Soil Development

Influenced by water and forming horizons, it has its own classification system

Soil Profile: O

Organic material

Soil Profile: A

Minteral (sand, silt, and clay) but colored by organic molecules

Soil Profile: B

Mineral. Clays may accumulate and are colored by elements such as oxidized iron

Soil Profile: C

Parent material, an important source of minerals

What is in Organic Matter?

Living organisms, dead plant material, active fraction organic matter

A Horizon

Organic acids leahed from the O horizon control A-horizon color, it's brown; soil colored by organic acids and containing some organic matter

What else can the A Horizon be referred to as?

Top Soil

B Horizon

Sub-soil; soil is NOT colored by organic acids leached from the O horizon; rather, the coloring effects of iron are evident

Soil Orders: 1

Entisols

Soil Orders: 2

Andisols

Soil Orders: 3

Histisols

Soil Orders: 4

Gelisols

Soil Orders 5:

Inceptisols

Soil Orders: 6

Aridisols

Soil Orders: 7

Vertisols

Soil Orders: 8

Alfisols

Soil Orders: 9

Mollisols

Soil Orders: 10

Ultisols

Soil Orders: 11

Spodosols

Soil Orders: 12

Oxisols

Vertisols

mostly for fun, or to save your home

Aridisols

Opposite of wetlands

Mollisols

some are wetland

Ultisols

many wetlands and non-wetlands

Histolosts

wettest wetland

Vertisol Profile

shrink and swell with changes in moistre content

Aridisols Profile

virtual absence of organic matter; Caliche layer = calcium carbonate minerals and salt left at the surface by evaporation or water

Mollisols Profile

Some of the most productive agricultural areas in the world

Utlisols Profile

O horizon

Where to look for wetlands and hydric soils

Depressions and floodplains

Two chemical stages of iron: FE

Oxidized & Reduced

Oxidized Iron

Fe3+, electrons removed, found where water is present for short duration

Reduced Iron

Fe2+, electrons added, found where water is present for long duration

What Qualified as a Hydric Soil?

All histosols

1 multiple choice option

Color

Hue, Value, Chroma

Identifying "color" of a soil: Hue

Is given on a page: ex. "10YR" is rather yellowy-reddish

Identifying "color" of a soil: Value

Given in each column: ex. "5" means it's half way between white and black

Identifying "color" of a soil: Chroma

Given in each row: ex. "6" means intensity

Mottling

Two or more colors at a depth; results from frequent rising and falling of the water table

Mottling cont.

Mottling is evidence of a wetland wetting and drying frequently

Global Distribution of Histosols

Occypy about 1% of the ice-free land surface, but contain 33-50% of the global soil carbon pool

Histosols (peatlands)

Soils that are composed mainly of organic materials. They contain at least 20-30% organic matter by weight and are more than 40cm thick

Wetland which has an extreme amount of organic matter

Histosols

What slows down the loss of organic matter in all wetlands?

Lack of oxygen which can result from being wet for more than 2 weeks in most growing seasons

What is the biological way that organic matter losses occur?

Decomposition by bacteria

What does the B horizon look like in non-histosol wetland soils?

Yellow or orange, but NOT gray. Chroma of 2 or less is how gray this layer must reach to qualify as a hydric soil

Impact of overenrichement of nutrients in water

Caused dead zones to form in the Bay and around the world

Solutions to overenrichement

Wetlands and wastewater treatment plants

Oxidized Rhizospheres (Rusty Roots)

Form where oxygen leaks from hydrophyte roots and causes soil iron to rust (oxidize)

What happens to plants that do not get oxygen?

They die; plant cells quickly die from the byproducts of anaerobic reations

Ethelyne

A gaseous hormone that promotes cell death; when it difuses through the parenchyma (stem cells), it kills cells creating holes

Hydrophyte Response to Anoxia

From the cell death caused by Ethelyne, life in wetlands is made possible b/c the holes allow atmospheric O2 to pass through the stem and down to the roots

Buttressing

Provide support and stability, especially in shallow or unstable soils

Fluting

Increase surface area

Hypertrophied Lenticels

large openings in trunk or some roots

Adventitious roots

Roots above soil surface

Stomata

Leaf openings for gas exchage, especially CO2 uptake.

Diffusion

Movement of a substance from where it is in high concentration to where it is in low concentration

Osmosis

Diffusion of water across a membrane

Cell Respiration Step 1: Glycosis

Occurs in cytosol, not much energy yielded, pryuvic acid results, which, when O2 is present, enters the mitochondria

Cell Respiration Step 2: Kreb's Cycle

Only 2 ATPs formed, but note all the H carriers being formed: NADH, FADH2

The Chemiosmotic Procress

Yields 36 of the 38 ATPs that you get from 1 molecule of sugar

In the absence of oxygen, ___ stage of cell respiration continues?

only glycosis

What concentration gradient is all important?

H ions in the intermembrane space HIGH concentration vs. H ions in the innermost compartment LOW concentration

What are 3 roles of membranes?

Creating the compartment

2 multiple choice options

What is the main purpose of your respiratory and circulatory system?

Respiratory = obtain oxygen from nature

1 multiple choice option

Hemoglobin in Red Blood Cells

Help to tranport oxygen

Shelford's Law

Abundance in populations can be predicted by an important environmental variable

Shelford's Law for Hydrophytes

Abundance in hydrophyte populations can be predicted by some aspect of water in wetlands

Categories of hydrophytes and non-hydrophytes

Obligate Wetland Species, Obligate Upland Species

3 multiple choice options

Obligate Wetland Species: Frequency of occurence in wetlands

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