Please get out your objectives #8-13 for

a stamp and read the board!

CHALLENGE BY CHOICE: Front 3 rows: Happy with map quiz

yesterday, ready to learn about wetlands

Back 2 rows and lab tables: Would like to make corrections on map!

WETLANDS ARE WONDERFUL!

DIFFERENCES? “RIVER” VS. “WETLAND”

LEGAL DEFINITION OF A “WETLAND” Wet soils

Anaerobic – lack oxygen; grey in color Water loving plants

ChordgrassBladderwartSedges, rushes, reeds

HydrologyStanding water at least two weeks of the

year

DIFFERENCES? Wetlands vs.

rivers –Slower waterMore plant

lifeMore shallowMay be

seasonal/ephemeral

FLOATING WATER PLANTS

EMERGENT WATER PLANTS

WETLAND TYPES• bogs and fens of the northeastern and

north-central states and Alaska• wet meadows or wet prairies in the

Midwest• prairie potholes like the Katy Prairie• playa lakes of the southwest and Great

Plains• bottomland hardwood swamps of the

south• tundra wetlands of Alaska.• Coastal salt marshes or tidal marshes

ACIDIC ANAEROBIC CONDITIONS IN BOGS PRESERVE ORGANIC MATERIALS

GALVESTON – TIDAL MARSHES

ECOSYSTEM SERVICES OF

WETLANDS

NATURAL WATER QUALITY IMPROVEMENT, NEUTRALIZES ACIDS/BASESFILTERS OUT SEDIMENT (PLANT STEMS/STILL WATER)PROVIDES DECOMPOSITION OPPORTUNITIES (REMOVING PLANT NUTRIENTS, OXYGEN DEMANDING WASTES)

FLOOD PROTECTION – COHESION OF POLAR WATER IN WET SOILS

HABITAT AND BIODIVERSITY

REST STOPS FOR MIGRATORY WATERFOWL

EROSION PROTECTION DURING STORMS

NURSERY FOR YOUNG FISH, CRABS, SHRIMP Louisiana's

coastal marshes produce an annual commercial fish and shellfish harvest that amounted to 1.2 billion pounds worth $244 million in 1991.

WETLANDS HAVE RECREATIONAL, HISTORICAL, SCIENTIFIC, AND CULTURAL VALUES.

• More than half of all U.S. adults (98 million) hunt, fish, birdwatch or photograph wildlife. They spend a total of $59.5 billion annually. Painters and writers continue to capture the beauty of wetlands on canvas and paper, or through cameras, and video and sound recorders.

WETLAND FUNCTIONS – ECOSYSTEM SERVICES VS. NATURAL ROLES

THE KATY PRAIRIE The Katy Prairie