Chapter 9 Aquatic Environments Flashcards
US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) developed this wetlands classification system in 1979 to inventory, evaluate, and manage wetlands. Divided into 5 major categories.
Cowardin Classification System
Open ocean overlying the continental shelf and associated high coastlines that are subject to waves and currents of the open ocean. Coral reefs, rocky shoreline cliffs, and sandy shorelines.
Marine
Tidal mouths of rivers, where rivers flow into oceans such as tidal salt marshes and mangrove swamps, adjacent to the open ocean but semi-closed to land. Saltwater is frequently diluted by freshwater runoff via coastal rivers.
Estuarine
Begins upstream where streams originate or where the channel departs from a freshwater lake or pond. ends downstream where freshwater enters a freshwater lake or mixes with saltwater. Rivers and streams.
Riverine
Dominated by vegetation and are bound by upland habitat or any of the other 4 aquatic systems. Majority of all wetlands. Bogs, fens, freshwater marshes, wet meadows, swamps, pocosins, small ponds.
Palustrine
Situated in a topographical depression as in the case of a lake or a pond or may be formed by damming a river, which then fills a valley to form a reservior. Lakes, reserviors, large ponds.
Lacustrine
Estuarine-formed near river mouths, bays, coastal plains, lagoons, or behind barrier islands.
Tidal Salt Marshes
Forested wetlands consisting of dense impenetrable stands of salt-tolerant trees, shrubs, and ferns. Commonly found along coasts of tropical and subtropical countries.
Mangrove swamps
Areas where the water covers the soil or is present either at or near the surface of the soil all year or for varying periods of time during the year, including the growing season.
Wetlands
federal land use policy in the United States enacted in 1988 that protects wetlands from conversion to other land uses by requiring developers to create or restore wetland area and in exchange for any wetland losses due to proposed development
No Net Loss policy
establishes a program to regulate the discharge of dredged or fill material into waters of the United States, including wetlands. Activities in waters of the United States regulated under this program include fill for development, water resource projects (such as dams and levees), infrastructure development (such as highways and airports) and mining projects. Section 404 requires a permit before dredged or fill material may be discharged into waters of the United States, unless the activity is exempt from Section 404 regulation (e.g., certain farming and forestry activities).
Section 404 of the Clean Water Act
WOTUS
Waters of the United States
What does WOTUS do?
states that it is in the national interest to ensure that the Nation’s navigable waters are kept free from pollution, while at the same time promoting economic growth, minimizing regulatory uncertainty, and showing due regard for the roles of Congress and the States under the Constitution. It also directs the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Department of the Army to review the existing Clean Water Rule for consistency with these priorities and publish for notice and comment a proposed rule rescinding or revising the rule, as appropriate and consistent with the law.
Streams fall into what 2 general categories?
Ephemeral and Perennial
Streams that flow only during one part of the year
ephemeral
