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Wetlands of the World

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Wetlands of the World • Wetland Ecology • Wetlands of the World • Extent of the world’s wetlands • 7 – 10 million km2 ~ 5 to 8 percent of land surface • North America 43.6 million ha. (lower 48) – 71 million ha. in Alaska – 127 million ha. in Canada – 30 % of world’s wetlands • All are impacted by humans but remain functional • Wetlands include: • Swamps • Bogs • Marshes • Mires • Fens Every continent except Antarctica (from tropics – tundra) • Definitions • Swamp – Tree/shrub dominated wetland • Bog – peat accumulating wetland, no significant in/outflow, supports bryophytes • Marsh – Frequently/permanently flooded, supports emergent vegetation • Mire – Synonymous with any peat accumulating wetland (Europe) • Fen – Peat accumulating wetland, receives drainage from mineral soil, marsh-like vegetation • Peatland – Wetlands that accumulate organic matter • Slough – A swamp/shallow lake system in north/Midwest (slowly flowing shallow swamp/marsh in southeast U.S.) • Worldwide Wetland Losses • North America Wetland Changes • 53% have been lost since 1780’s – 1980’s • States with > 80% loss – Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Missouri, Ohio + California – Collectively a loss of 14.1 million ha in 200 yrs – What caused this loss? • States with highest densities of wetlands – Minnesota, Illinois, Louisiana, and Florida had greatest rate of loss of total area. – 2.6, 2.8, 3.0, & 3.8 million ha respectively – Canadian Wetland Changes • Less population density • 65 – 80 % loss near Atlantic & Pacific regions • 71% loss in the lower Great Lakes • 71% loss in the prairie pothole region • North America • Florida Everglades from Lake Okeechobee – Florida Bay has 3 major types of wetlands – 34,000km2 area • The Everglades • Big Cypress Swamp • Coastal Mangroves • Everglades • Dominated by Cladium jamaicense (sawgrass) • Can be flooded >1m in summer • Common tree islands (hammocks) • Hardwoods, palms, orchids, and other air plants common • Big Cypress Swamp • Expansive area • Dominated by Taxodium spp. interspersed with pine flatwoods & wet prairie • 125 cm of rainfall/yr. • Coastal Mangrove • Forms impenetrable thickets where sawgrass and cypress swamps meet saline waters of the Atlantic • Everglades is the site of the largest wetland restoration project ever conducted • ½ lost to agriculture • 8 billion dollar effort • Okefenokee Swamp • Means “Land of Trembling Earth” • Atlantic Coastal Plain of southeastern GA. • 1,750km2 • Headwaters of two rivers: – Suwanee River – St. Mary’s River • Six major wetland communities comprise the Okefenokee • Pond Cypress Forest • Emergent & Aquatic bed prairie • Broad-Leaved Evergreen forest • Broad-leaved shrub wetland • Mixed cypress forest • Black gum forest – Taxodium distichum, Nyssa sylvatica, Magnolia virginiana are the dominant trees – Panicum, Carex, & Nymphaea are dominant herbaceous plants • Carolina Pocosins • Mean “swamp on a hill” • Evergreen shrub-bogs found on Atlantic Coastal Plain: Virginia – northern Florida • Typically nutrient poor; were once categorized as bogs in 1954 survey • Pinus serotina is dominant pine • Said to “grow on waterlogged, acid, nutrient poor, sandy or peaty soils located on flat topographic plateaus, usually removed from large streams • Great Dismal Swamp • Northern most ‘southern swamp’ • Once primarily bald-cypress gum swamp that contained extensive stands of Chamaecyparis thyoides (white cedar) • Lake Drummond found in center of swamp • George Washington built a canal to establish farms on the basin – Failed miserably • Swamp Rivers of the South Atlantic Coast • Cut by large rivers that drain the Piedmont – Roanoke, Chowan, Little Pee Dee, Great Pee Dee, Lynches, Black, Santee, Congaree, Altamaha, Cooper, Edisto, Combahee, Coosawhatchie, & Savannah • Made up of several lake-wetland systems – > 500,000 of these – Suggested to be made from meteor showers, wind or groundwater flow • Congaree Swamp in S.C. includes the world’s largest virgin cypress-tupelo swamp • Prairie Potholes • North Dakota, South Dakota, & Minnesota – Manitoba, Saskatchewan, & Alberta • Only 10% of original wetlands remain • Formed by glacial action • Know for waterfowl habitat and ties nicely with the Mississippi River as major summer breeding area – Migratory waterfowl fly by us to reach wintering grounds – 50 – 75% of waterfowl come from this region • Nebraska Sandhills & Great Plains Playas • Largest stabilized dune field in the Western Hemisphere • Much has been lost to agriculture • 25,000 playas (Spanish for beach) • The Great Black Swamp • Northwestern Ohio • Named for the rich, black muck in poorly-drained areas • Louisiana Delta • One of the most wetland-rich regions of the world • Atchafalaya River is characteristic of the riverine portion • Has long history of human intervention • Freshwater & Saltwater wetlands are decreasing at a rapid rate ~ 60 – 100 km2 /yr – What is the cause of this? • Plan 2050 will sink billions of dollars into rebuilding barrier islands lost due to dredging and levee control – i.e. sediment losses • San Francisco Bay • One of the most impacted wetlands in the U.S. • 95% of marshes have been destroyed • Dominated by Spartina foliosa and Salicornia virginica • Demise began after the gold rush • Great Lakes Wetlands/St. Lawrence Lowlands • Important habitat for waterfowl • Snow geese leading to decline of marshes • Mexico Wetlands • Underrepresented in # and area of Ramsar wetlands – Only 7 sites designated in 2001 – Now 65 Ramsar sites covering 5.3 million ha • Cuatro Ciénegas is one of driest areas in Chihuhuan Desert but contains 200 springs – Pozas (small springs) – Lagunaas (larger spring-fed lakes) – Playa Lakes (lakes without outlets) – Ciénegas (shallow swamps) – Manmade channels • Central & South America • Orinoco River Delta • The Llanos • The Pantanal • The Amazon • Oronoco River Delta • Economy based on cattle farming, cacao and palm heart canning. • Grazing & illegal hunting have decimated area’s flora & fauna • The Llanos • Sedimentary basin • Winter wet season and summer dry season – Wetland dominated by savanna grasslands & scattered palms rather than floodplain forests • Pantanal • One of the largest wetlands of the world • Geographic center of South America • 4x size of the Everglades • Bird richest wetland in the world – 463 species of birds – 13 species of herons & egrets – 3 stork species – 6 ibis species – 6 duck species – 11 rail species – 5 kingfisher species • Jabiru found here (largest bird in the western hemisphere • Largest rodent found here • Amazon • Wetlands cover 25% of the 7million km2 Amazon basin • Flooding reaches 15m in some areas • Europe • Mediterranean Sea Deltas – Rhone River Delta – The Camargue one of the world’s 25 major flamingo nesting sites – Rhine River in the Netherlands is the most hydraulically controlled locations on Earth • Inland Deltas – Volga River (on edge of Caspian Sea) forms one of the largest inland deltas • Large percentage of the world’s sturgeon comes from the Caspian Sea • Peatlands in Ireland, Scandinavia, Finland, & northern Russia – ~20% of Europe – Endla & Berezinski Bog are best examples • Okavango Delta is divided into 3 hydrologic zones – Permanent swamp – Seasonally flooded floodplains – Occasional floodplains • 71 species of fish found here • Congolian Swamp Forests • Largest / least studied swamp forest in world • Congo River has 2nd highest flow of any river • Forests remain because of isolation – Lowland gorilla – Forest elephants – Forest buffalo • Middle East • Mesopotamian Marshlands of southern Iraq & Iran – Tigris & Euphrates rivers • Dams & drainage systems have eliminated flood-pulses essential for wetland maintenance • Australia / New Zealand • Billabongs – Not permanent (intermittent & seasonal) • Asia • Western Siberian Lowlands – Peatlands important for carbon sequestration • Indian Freshwater Marshes – Many natural disasters due to anthropogenic manipulation • Asian River Deltas – Mud flats, swamp forests, arctic tundra & mangrove forests • China – Many are artificial (rice paddies) & fish ponds .
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