Final review Flashcards
Types of coastal wetlands - adapted to tidal flow and variable salinity gradients?
- Salt marshes - grasses, sedges, rushes
2. mangroves - trees
Types of freshwater marshes - mineral soil, cattails, sedges, and rushes
- tidal marshes - near coast
- prairie potholes - glacial depression
- vernal pools - glacial depressions that are seasonally inundated
Types of forested wetlands - swamps - shrubs and trees
- bottomland swamps - cypress
2. riparian wetlands
What makes a wetland?
Hydrology - tidal, seasonally inundated, continually inundated
Soils - lack oxygen, high organic matter
Vegetation
What are 3 reasons wetlands are important?
- erosion buffer - along coast, rivers
- flood buffer - take up water then release
- sediment stabilization
What are 3 stresses for wetlands?
- climate change - sea level rise
- physical - filling, draining, flooding
- chemical - nutrient and toxic levels
- biological - grazing, invasives
What are three ways to restore wetlands?
- Reestablish hydrology - dredging, filling, removing dams, dechannelization, increase water flow
- reduction of contaminants/nutrients - source reduction, dredging removal
- Revegetation - seeding, inoculating soil, sods (germinate seeds in natural fiber mats
What are some major causes for wetland loss?
- barrier island degradation
- salt water intrusion
- canals
- levee system
- oil and gas development
- sea level rise
River restoration - what is a culvert?
drain or waterway below a road or embankment
River restoration - What is a levee?
embankment built along a river to prevent high water from flooding bodering land
River restoration - what is a riprap?
stones placed along streambanks to prevent erosion
River restoration - what is sinuosity?
stream channel length divided by valley length
River restoration - what is a checkdam?
low dam designed to back up or diver water - ex) logs used
What are 3 characteristics of rivers?
- openess
- dynamism - need to restore processes
- patchiness
What are 3 stresses on river/streams?
- Water diversion - domestic use, agriculture
- increased flow - due to paving, channelization and deforestation - cause bank to collapse
- Dams - altered water flows, altered water quality (temp &oxy), low sediment deposition, impede faunal movements
- reduced habitat quality - sunstrate habitat and quality, water depth, temp and light
What are 3 issues with dams?
- altered water flows
- altered water quality
- lower sediment deposition
- lowered deposition of small rocks for spawning habitat
- impede faunal movements
River restoration - List 3 strategy/reasons to restore natural flow rates
- less water withdrawal
- retention ponds or wetlands
- dam removal or controlled releases
River restoration - List 2 strategies for species centered restoration
- fish passageways and ladders
2. reintroduction of fish
River restoration - strategy for reestablishing connection with floodplain caused by stress of changes in channel morphology
- land acquisition, breaching levees, restoring riparian forest
River restoration - strategy to restore river morphology and habitat diversity
- Heavy machinery - Kissimmee river - see example
- instream structures - check dams, stream deflectors, logs, boulders, root wads - ex. Quesena creek (used culvert replacement)
River restoration - List 3 stresses for erosion and water quality and strategies for improvement
Stress : altered nutrients, pH acidity, oxygen levels
Strategy :reduce chemical, nutrient and sediment inputs
Strategy wetland or buffer strips: aid in uptake of nonpoint source pollution and flood control
River restoration - Strategy for improving land use practices
- grazing - fencing, remove cows from streambanks, reduce intensity
- logging - selective logging, minimize roads
River restoration - strategy for erosion control
- riprap - hard engineering
2. establish riparian vegetation - soft engineering (planting)