Wetlands

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Wetlands
SHANNON R.
S.N.O.O.P.E.R
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Wetlands
Wetlands
BONUS HOW ARE ALASKAN BOGS DIFFERENT FROM A
MARSH?
Why are wetlands important?
What is a prairie pothole?
What is a riparian marsh?
Wetland Creatures
Wetland Plants
Bibliography
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Wetlands
A wetland is a shallow edge of a river, stream,
pond, lake or ocean, or a place where water meets
land. Other types of wetlands are swamp, bog,
fen, slough, bayou, lowland, quagmire or muskeg.
Wetlands provide animals with food, shelter,
protection and a place to raise their offspring.
Wetlands also purify the water by filtering out
pollutants and sediments. There are four main
wetlands marsh, bog, fen and swamp.
MARSH
BOG
FEN
SWAMP
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Marsh
Marshes are usually found along the shore of a
stream, river, and coastline or in a shallow
water of ponds or lakes. The plants that are
found in the marsh have soft stems. Some plants
that have soft stems are cattails or bulrushes.
If the water is deep, there may be floating
plants such as water lilies.
MARSH
BOG
FEN
SWAMP
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Bog
Bogs are often found in northern wooded areas.
The land is made of peat, which are layers of
dead plants and mosses and it is covered with
sphagnum moss. Usually, the water in a bog is
cold and still.
MARSH
BOG
FEN
SWAMP
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Fen
Fens are also found in low northern areas. Like
bogs, fens are made from layers of peat. Fens
have grasses and small shrubs growing on top. The
water of a fen is slow moving.
MARSH
BOG
FEN
SWAMP
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Swamp
Swamps are often found in wooded or forested
area. In a swamp, there is wet, spongy land and
may border on a river, stream or lake. On swamps,
trees, shrubs and other woody plants grow there.
MARSH
BOG
FEN
SWAMP
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Why are wetlands important?
Here are three reasons why wetlands are
important WETLANDS ROLL IN AN ECOSYSTEM Wetlands
prevent flood by holding water. This also helps
keep the river levels normal, and the surface
water is filtered and purified. Whenever water
levels are high, wetlands take in water during
storms. Wetlands slowly release water when water
levels are low. Wetlands release vegetative
matter into rivers. Doing this helps feed fish.
Wetlands are also used for migration or
reproduction by animals that live in other
habitats
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WETLAND'S ROLE IN EROSION CONTROL Rivers deposit
a lot of sediment into the ocean. Seditment is
from top soil that has been eroded and washed
away. Emergents are plants that are rooted in the
muddy bottom but emerges high above water
surface. Emergents are able to slow the flow of
water. Consequently, they counter the erosive
forces of moving water along lakes and rivers.
Erosion control labors in water or aquatic areas
usually include the planting of wetland plants.

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WETLAND'S ROLE IN WATER PURFICATION By filtering
out sedimentation, decomposing vegetative matter
and converting chemicals into useable form,
wetlands clean the water. Since wetlands are
capable of recycling nutrients, wetlands become
critical and the overall functioning of earth.
Wetlands do a very good job in purifying water.
Hence, artificial wetlands are made in some
places, with the intention to purify water.
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What is prairie pothole?
A prairie pothole is a wetland area found in the
northern Great Plains. Prairie potholes are
shallow or bowl-like and have wetness that
usually varies. Birds often use prairie potholes
for breeding. Prairie potholes are not wet all
year.
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What is a riparian marsh?
Marshes are found along rivers called riparian
marshes. These marshes shave two important
ecological roles to absorb excess water when
river levels are high and to release water when
river levels are low. These forces help prevent
floods and droughts.
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Wetland Creatures
DRAGONFLY Dragonflies are commonly seen around
water in warmer months. Dragonflies eat
mosquitoes. Dragonflies are eaten by a various
birds, amphibians, spiders and other insects and
even bats. DAMSELFLY The damselfly looks
similar to a dragonfly, except for the way it
positions its wings when at rest. The dragonfly
positions its wings outwards to the sides, when
the damselfly holds its wings together just above
the body. MAYFLY Mayflies are delicate
looking insects with wings so fine that they are
almost transparent. Two or three tail filaments
stick out from their abdomen. Mayflies are often
seen when they swarm for mating or come to lights
at nights. Usually, adults don't eat, and live
for about only three days.
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Wetland Creatures
STONEFLY When stoneflies are young and small,
they feed on dead plant material and one celled
organisms (protozoans). As they grow older and
larger, they become predators. Stoneflies are
important food for fish. Adult stoneflies have
transparent wings with visible veins and is gray
and brown. DOBSONFLIES Dobsonflies are big,
dark flying insects. Most of the dobsonfly
specieces are nucturnal. Males of certain spieces
have mandibles which are like tusks of an
elefant, except different shape. Dobsonflies can
also bite. CADDISFLIES Caddisfly larva usually
lives in the flowing waters on the bottom surface
of the habitat. Most spieces are in tubes or
cases that are constructed from sand, pebbles
pieces of leaves and wood. Caddisflies eat algae,
decaying plant matter and microorganisms.
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Wetland Creatures
CRANEFLY Craneflies are often mistaken for
large mosquitoes. Craneflies, though, are
harmless. They are long and thin with long legs.
Because the cranefly looks like a mosquito except
a lot bigger, craneflies are sometimes called
"mosquito hawk" WATER SCORPIAN Water
scorpians are found in ponds and are still
waters. They can be found hanging in the
begetation near the surface. Water scorpians are
predators with front legs. The front legs are
designed especially for catching prey. Water
scorpians eat insect larvae. Water scorpians have
two long filaments that look similar to a tail,
but are really long tubes that they breath
through. WATER STRIDERS Water striders are
usually found on the surface if still or slow
moving waters. Using their long, spiderlike legs
with waxy hairs on the tip, they glide over the
water. The waxy hairs are used to stay on top of
the water. Water striders eat aquatic insects.
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Wetland Creatures
WATERBOATMEN Water boatmen are the most common
of the aquatic bugs. They are recognized by their
oarlike hind legs, which are used to travel
through the water. Water boatmen are found in the
vegetatiand on the bottom of ponds where they eat
small water organisims, algae, plankton and
detritus. Water boatmen can also fly.
BACKSWIMMER The backswimmer looks a lot like
the water boatman, but are identified by the fact
that they swim on their back. Backswimmers eat
other aquatic insects and can bite. SCUD Scuds
are small, ligh-colored crustaceans of the
amphipod group. Scuds are flattened from side to
side and are found on the bottom of a variety of
aquatic ecosystems or in the vegetation. Scuds
swim on their sides and eat dead plant and animal
matter. This makes them scavengers.
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Wetland Creatures
SNAIL Snails are part of a group of animals
called mollusks, which also includes clams and
mussels. Mollusks have soft bodies and are often
enclosed in a sturdy shell. Snails are found in
almost any freshwater ecosystem and are
particularly common in areas with hard water,
which may be rich in calcium. Snails use calcium
to form their shells. LEECHES Leeches are a
member of the annelid or segmented worms ground,
which also includes earthworms. Some spieces of
leeches are bloodsuchers, but most are carnivores
which feed on other aquatic organisims. A few
other spieces of leeches are scavengers. Leeches
are very good swimmers and are generally found in
vegetation and bottom areas of warm shallow
water. Leeches are nucturnal and try to find dark
areas during the daylight. SMALLMOUTH BASS The
smallmouth bass generally live in clear, cool
streams. Usually, thy stay in one pool year
round, never going more than half a mile from
that pool. Smallmouth basses do not like, and
they will not tolerate silty or turbid water.
They are predators and eating minnows, insects,
and small crayfish.
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Wetland Creatures
SPOTTED BASS The spotted bass is found in TURBID
and WARM waters, unlike the smallmouth bass. We
have read earlier that smallmouth bass will not
tolerate TURBID water, and that they are found in
COOL waters. Spotted bass move from small streams
with high water in the spring to larger streams
and rivers in the fall. They eat larbal stages of
aquatic insects, small crustaceans and fish.
CATFISH Channal catfish are usually in large
streams. During the day, adults are found in deep
water, submerged under logs or other covering
objects. At night they eat in shallow pools.
Catfish are recognized by their whisker barbels
that are used to taste and touch its food.
Catfish eat insects, fish, crayfish, mollusks and
occasionaly, plant material. SCULPIN Sculpin
are long fish, generally found in streams that
are kept cold by spring water. Sculpin are found
in both stility, rock riffles and pools. They
stay motionless in one spot and move rapidly.
Sculpin are capable of camouflaging with their
surroudnings, which becomes helpful when trying
to hide or escape from enemies and in capturing
their prey.
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Wetland Creatures
MINNOW The minnow family is the larges of all
fish families. They can sometimes be small fish,
but also reach up to 14 inches in length. Minnows
are usually found in unpolluted streams. Some are
carnivorous while other eat only plant material.
Minnows are important food for other fish.
SNAKES Snakes are reptiles, but are legless.
Some spieces of water snakes may be seen relaxing
under sun, branches or stone at the waters edge.
If they are alerted of soemthing, they were
rapidly glide into the water. Water snakes feed
on frogs, salamanders, small turtles and
invertebrates. TURTLES Turtles are another
type of reptile and are usually found along the
water's edge, relaxing in the sun, on logs or on
stones. If they are interrupted, they will
quickly hide in the water. Turtles eat algae and
other aquatic plants, carrion (dead animals) and
alive animals such as crayfish, fish, snails and
insects.
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Wetland Creatures
FROGS Frogs are aphibians. Once they are full
grown, they eat insects that they capture with
their quick, long, sticky tongue. A type of frog
is a bullfrog, which are large and can eat
crayfish, small frogs, birds, snakes and small
mammals.
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Wetland Plants
EMERGENTS Emergents are plants that grow OUT of
the water, but their roots are under the water.
They are probably called emergents because they
EMERGE FROM the water. Several emergents are
Broadleaf arrowhead (named for the shape of
it's leaf) Soft rush
Broadleaf Arrowhead
Softrush
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Wetland Plants
FLOATING PLANTS Floating plants are, of course,
plants that float on the surface o the water.
These type of plants tend to be in the backwaters
of streams and rivers where there is little or no
current. Some floating plants are spatter
dock floating pondweeds duckweed
Pondweed
Spatterdock
Duckweed
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Wetland Plants
SUBMERGENTS Submergents grow completely
submerged under the surface of water. Two types
of submerjents are milfoil and coontail. Coontail
is also a submerged plant, but unique in a way
that it is often not rooted to the ground.
Coontail
Water milfoil
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Bonus How are Alaskan bogs different from
marshes?
Alaskan bogs are always submerged under water. In
the picture to the right, grass and the earthly
matter that made a wetland are under water.
Marshes are not submerged under water. At least
not always. In the picture to the left, earthly
matter can be seen above water. Emergents and
floating plants are visible too.
Alaskan bog
Marsh
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Bibliography
  A Snoops Site Virtual Wetland_Why are
Wetlands Important Information included roles
wetlands play to make them important Where
information is applied in presentation from
Slides 8-10
A Snoops Site Virtual Wetland_find out what a
prairie pothole and a riparian marsh
is   Information included what a prairie pothole
and riparian marsh are Where information is
applied in presentation Slides 11 and 12
A Snoops Site Learn About Wetlands  Information
included what are wetlands, what are a marsh,
bog, fen and swamp Where information was applied
in presentation Slide 3 wetlands Slide
7 swamp Slide 4 marsh Slide 5 bog Slide 6
fen  
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Bibliography
A Snoops Site Virtual Wetland_Wetland
Plants   Information included types of wetland
plants and their names Where information was
applied in presentation Slides 22, 23, 24
wetland plants
A Snoops Site Biomes of the World_Introduction  
Information included difference between an
Alaskan bog and a marsh Where information was
applied in presentation Slide 25 Bonus How
are Alaskan Bogs different from Marshes?
A Snoops Site Virtual Wetland_Aquatic Critters
Slide Show   Information Included types of
insects and bugs that live in water and in
wetlands Where information was applied from
Slides 13-21
See an extra note from author
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Shannon Riz
I had much fun doing this presentation. I would
have to say that the most interesting thing I
learned about would be some of the creatures that
live in wetlands. I have never learned about so
many before! I will give a special thanks to the
SNOOPS sites, for they provided me with all the
information on this activity Please note that in
the beginning of the presentation there was a
movie. It takes a little while to play and to
proceed to the next picture in the movie. If you
thought that it was just a picture, click the
button below to view the movie. Then click on the
steady picture for the movie to play
See movie