Midterm - Wetlands

Question 1

What are the Ramsar wetland criteria? (Name 2 of 9)

Answer 1

1. Contains a rare, or representative example of wetland type found in area
2. Supports vulnerable, threatened or endangered ecological communities
3. Supports plant/animal species at critical life stages, provides refugia
4. Supports plant/animal species important for maintaining biodiversity of the region
5. Regularly supports >20,000 waterbirds
6. Regularly supports 1% of individuals in a population of one species of waterbird
7. Supports significant proportion of indigenous fish species
8. Important source of food for fishes, spawning grounds, nursery, migration path for fish stocks
9. Regularly supports 1% of individuals in a population of one species of wetland dependent non-avian animal species

Question 2

How much of the world’s wetlands does Canada contain?

Answer 2

1/4

Question 3

How many wetland regions are there in Canada? Which one is the largest?

Answer 3

There are 7 wetland regions [arctic, subarctic, boreal, prairie, temperate, oceanic, mountain]. Boreal is the largest wetland region.

Question 4

Define Absorb and Adsorb

Answer 4

Absorb(tion): When particles soaks into/is taken up by the bulk material

Adsorb(tion): When individual atoms, molecules, or ions gather on surfaces.

Question 5

What is soil fertility linked to?
What does it depend on?

Answer 5

The chemical properties of its mineral component
The biological properties of the organic component

Soil fertility depends on the CEC and soil pH

Question 6

Why is a wetland an ecotone?

Answer 6

Because wetlands are a region of transition between different habitats, with characteristics of both aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems.
An ecotone is a transitional zone between two ecological communities. It has its own unique characteristics while also sharing certain characteristics of the two communities.

Question 7

Define Wetland

Answer 7

Wetlands are areas containing shallow water on or near the surface during all or part of the year, plants that are adapted to living in water or on wet ground, and soil that is saturated or poorly drained.

Question 8

List the adaptations of hydrophytic plants.

Answer 8

• xylem are reduced or absent
• roots are reduced and primarily used for anchorage (rather than water transport)
• root hairs reduced or absent
• little to no mechanical strengthening tissue in stems
• lack the external protective tissues required by land plants to limit water loss
• stomata are found only on the upper surface of the leaf
• upper cuticle very waxy to repel water for stomata
• chloroplast restricted to the upper portion of the plant

Question 9

List the characteristics of a hydric soil.

Answer 9

Formed under saturated, anaerobic conditions
Peaty, organic horizons
Blue-grey “gleying” within 30cm of the surface (grey colour is reduced iron, as opposed to oxidized iron that is red)
Hydrogen sulfide (rotten egg) smell in upper 30cm (produced from anaerobic pathways)

Question 10

Sedimentation is the process of particles settling. Suspended solids can be removed by what two types of settling?

Answer 10

Discrete settling: particles settle independently at constant velocity

Flocculant settling: particles interact with another, changing size and characteristics before settling.
Flocculation: a physical process where suspended solid particles of different sizes and characteristics clump together to form loose aggregations or flakes (‘flocs’).

Question 11

Which are they two heavy metals of concern in stormwater systems? How does their proportion change as water moves away from the source?

Answer 11

Copper and Zinc. The proportion of Copper and Zinc in the dissolved phase decreases but the particulate fraction increases as these metals are adsorbed to suspended particles.