a.     Tectonic processes- faulting, subsidence

b.     Glacial processes-Moraine dams, Kettle depressions, Compact glacial till , Stratified drift

c.     Eolian processes - Winds may erode, transport, and deposit materials in regions with sparse vegetation, a lack of soil moisture.

d.     Marine processes-Long shore deposits isolate embayments, inlets and estuaries.

e.     Fluvial processes- Rivers meander to displace energy, results in uneven deposition of sediments that change the landscape and course of the river over time.

f.      Lacustrine deposits-pingo scars

g.     Subsurface dissolution- Rain is naturally acidic because of CO2 content (carbonic acid) which dissolves certain sediments over time making caves and sink holes.

Precipitation,

Surface runoff,

Groundwater,

Tides,

Flood waters (rivers, lakes),

Evaporation/Transpiration

Water depth

Flow patterns

Duration of flooding

Frequency of flooding

Physiochemical conditions -Biota

-Nutrient availability

• Degree of substrate anoxia

• Soil salinity

• Sediment properties

• pH

*Water inputs are a major source of nutrients to wetlands

*Water outflows remove biotic & abiotic material from wetlands

hydroperiod=seasonal pattern of the water level fluctuation

*The integration of all inflows & outflows of water, but influenced by physical features of terrain & proximity to other water bodies.

Flood duration‐amount of time water is standing in a wetland

Flood frequency‐avg.number of times a wetland is flooded in a given period.

Hydroperiod affected by:

Surface contours of the landscape

Subsurface soils & geology

Groundwater conditions

Balance between inputs and outputs (water budget)

Capacity to store water

“Spring tide”= When the tide is at its highest possible extreme range due to the alignment of the gravity of the earth, sun, and moon.

“Neap tide”= When the tide changes by the smallest degree because the sun and moon are inflicting opposing gravitational forces due to their positions around earth.

Stresses-

• Flooding

• Anaerobic soil conditions

• Salinity

Benefits-

• Flushing of salts

• Re-establishment of aerobic conditions

• Source of nutrients

• Peat & sediment accumulation

• Effects frequency & depth of flooding

• Paludification

• Shading → evaporation

• Transpiration → evaporation

• Sediment binding → erosion

• Interruption of water flow (plants, beavers) • Undermining banks (muskrats, beavers)

• Excavation (alligators)

a.     The A-horizon and the O-horizon- The O horizon is the organic material layer, The A horizon is the topsoil layer that has a lot of organic material, but is a mineral layer

b.     The B-horizon and the A-horizon- The A horizon is the topsoil, the B horizon is the subsoil, it is the zone of illuviation (deposition and weathering)

c.     The C-horizon and the B-horizon?- The B-horizon has a lot of weathering, The C-horizon has little weathering, and it consists of mostly parent material (decomposition of bedrock)

• peats(fibrist)

• Mucky peats & peaty mucks (hemists)

• Mucks (saprists)

Redox potential is the potential for a chemical to gain electrons and get reduced.

• Under prolonged anaerobic condition, iron becomes soluble and is stripped from the soil grains.

• When dissolved iron encounters oxygen in the soil, it becomes oxidized and precipitates out as rusty mottles

• Nutrient pump

• Diffusion

• Turbulent mixing

• Sediment inhabiting animals

• Decomposition, Processing-Plants to organic N (SON, POM)

• Nitrogen fixation-atmospheric N_2_ to Organic N

• Storage/accumulation-organic N to Peat/Muck

• Mineralization-organic N to NH_4_+

• Immobilization-NH_4_+ to sediments

• Nitrification (oxidation)- NH_4_+ to NO_3_-

• Reduction- NO_3_- to NH_4_+

• Denitrification- NO_3_- to N_2_(gas) or N_2_O (gas)

• Uptake-NH_4_+ or NO_3_- to Plants & Microorganisms

Leaves: • Aerial leaves • Floating leaves • Submersed leaves • Heterophylly (always submerged plants)

Stems and Roots: • Aerenchyma (air pockets within stems/leaves)  • Lenticels • Adventitious roots • Pneumatophores (Root projections sticking up out of the water)

Growth of most of theses special structures stimulated by the hormone ethylene.

• Round shape

• Tough and leathery

• Waxy upper surface or dense hairs

• Stomates on top

Leaf is shaped to increase surface area

• Long, thin leaves

• Compound leaves

• Disected leaves

• Thin & pliable texture

• Lacks supportive tissue

more than one leaf type, uses ethylene, found in emergent/submergent plants

root projections sticking up out of the water, abundant lenticels, cypress and black mangrove

• Aerial flowers

• Floating flowers

• Submerged flowers

• Floating seeds

• Vivipary-seeds germinate before they fall

• Vegetative reproduction (fragmentation)

Barriers to salt entry:  • Endodermis (specialized cells that physically block salt, especially in the roots)

Salt excretion: • Specialized cells called Spartina excrete salt that has been taken up. Salt crystals will form outside of plant.

the replacement of plant species in an orderly sequence of development

an intermediate stage found in ecological succession

a stable community that represents the final stage of ecological succession

Autogenic processes- vegetation community changes are caused by the biota (i.e. succession)

Allogenic processes-distribution of plant species caused by its response to its environment

Classical Model of Succession-

• Vegetation occurs in recognizable and characteristic communities

• Community change through time is brought about by biota (autogenic)

• Changes are linear and directed toward a climax ecosystem

Continuum Concept of vegetation community change-

• Distribution of a species is governed by its response to its environment (allogenic succession)

• Each species responds differently to its environment

• Replacement sequence is influenced by chance occurrence of propagules

• Results in a continuum of overlapping sets of species, each responding to subtly different environmental cues.  

• Integument gas exchange

• Gills

• Lungs (pulminate snails)

• Siphons

• Physical gill

• Air chambers (diving spiders)

• Oxygen-binding pigments

• ventilation

• Seasonal life cycles (e.g. fairy shrimp)

• Drought-resistant life stages (eggs, cysts)

• Bio-magnification (cladocerans)

• Anti-desiccation adaptations

• Highly sclerotized gills

• Behavioral adaptations (e.g. burrowing)

• Internal biological rhythms

• mobility

water surface mobility

water column mobility

surface sediments

• Gleaners

• Scrapers

• Shredders

• Filter feeders

• predators

• Life cycles tied to annual cycles of flooding

• Flood control results in loss of floodplain habitat

• Disruption of natural hydrology can desynchronize breeding cycle and hydrological coditions

• 80% of commercially harvested fisheries are dependent on coastal wetlands

• Spawning habitat

• Nursery habitat

• Foraging habitat

• Food chain support

• Movers: avoid stressing conditions

• Euryhaline species: tolerate stressful conditions

• Able to tolerate rapid changes in blood chemistry

• Physiological shifts

• Anadromous fish undergo major changes in kidney and gill function and internal chemistry

• Salamanders and newts (Urodela)

• Caecillians (Apoda)

• Frogs & toads (Anura)

• Behavior

• Largely nocturnal

• Burrowers

• Posture- to reduce surface area available for water loss

• Cocoon-like structures
• Waxy coatings
• Aestivation- summer dormancy

• Tail fins

• Webbed feet

• Eel-like bodies

• Flattened body shape

• “claws”

• External fertilization

• Spermatophores

• Intromittent organs (phallodeum)

• wide use of ephemeral wetlands (vernal pools, bromeliads)

• eggs deposited out of water positioned to allow larvae to drop or wriggle into water

• brooding

• direct development

• ovovivipary

• vivipary

• Used to be on the brink of extinction, but it’s super common now. Fish rely on periodical flooding to ensure their eggs stay wet. Alligators create huge compost pile nests that they build to a specific height so that their eggs don’t get inundated by water.

• And they create “gator holes” that are excavated low spots to trap water for themselves during the dry season which is a refuge for fish, birds, and other things that require water.

• Turtles move long distances over land to mate, lay eggs, and just get to new habitat. They have slow reproduction and long lives (60-100 yrs) so they dont reach sexual maturity for many years and have low reproductive capacity. So one loss to the population results in huge loss to next generation. Nearly all turtle populations are threatened because of this.

• Because the rest of the year their diet if exclusively browse (twigs and buds) which have high potassium levels as a defense mechanism which the liver needs to dispose off but loses sodium as a byproduct. Wetlands are first to get green vegetation with low sodium allowing their sodium levels to recover.

• They lay eggs

• The males are venomous

• They sense electromagnetic signals from the muscle movement of their prey

• Create ponds by damming up rivers/streams. Ponds are habitat for other species of fish, otter, and birds (king fishers).

• Flooded area can also create dead snags which many birds nest in.

• Can fill with rich substrate over time and become a marsh or fill completely (or drain after dam breach) and become critical meadow land habitat. (Mostly lost to developement now).

• Essentially, they create a dynamic landscape of changing habitat type availabilities whic makes the area more diverse.

• Webbed (palmate) ex. Blue-footed boody

• Lobed (lobate)-grebe

• Elongated toes-for lily pads, ex. Jacana-lives in the tropics, have long toes for lilypad walking

• Roughened feet-osprey

• Long legs-black-winged stilt

• Sieve-like (lemellate) ex. Northern shoveler, flamingo,

• Saw-toothed (serrate) elongated bills-red-breasted merganer

• Pouched-white pelican,

• Spear-like-anhinga

• Hooked-snail kite for eating snails out of their shells

• -american avocet, yellowlegs, whimbrel-curved shape reflects their foraging styles

• Skimmers-black skimmer-different sized upper and lower bills for skimming along water surface

• Grazers-feeds on herbaceous vegetation- canada goose, snow goose

• Surface foragers- dabbling ducks(don’t dive)-black duck, trumpeter swans, coots, white pelicans, fulvous whistling duck

• Diving foragers-diving ducks- completely underwater- red head, ruddy duck, canvasbacks

• Diving piscivores-eating fish, not invertebrates- mergansers (common merganser, hooder merganser), cormorants, grebes, loons, anhinga

• Aerial piscivores-dive from air to hunt fish- herring gull, belted kingfisher, least terns, brown pelicans, northern gannet, osprey(uses its feet, not beak)

• Wading piscivores-snowy egret, great blue heron, wood stork

• Tall wading

• Virginia rail, small water bird in dense vegetation, walks among dense vegetation, compresses its body size to avoid wiggling the vegetation as it walks through