Laserfiche WebLink
<br /> <br />1111\1 ( \\ lOt! I(c;()\1 .1 <br />11111.\\1) \1111" Wt' sn O'il"" <br /> <br />IlI'C;IIISe wetlands arc so var- <br />ied, decidin~ whether an area is a <br />wetland or not can somelimes be <br />Iricky. For I'xample, portioos or snme <br />wellands, such as marshes, may he <br />very dry hy .July. Other Iypes, such as <br />wet meadows and riparian wetlands, <br />olkn have beell altered by human <br />aclivities, from ~razin~ and hay <br />produclion 10 lIi1' buildin~ of tnwns <br />and roads. In addilion, an individ <br />uars idl'a of what a wetland should <br />look like may nol include all types <br />of wetlands. <br />Tlm'e crilt'ria arl' used to <br />dl'lermine w!",ther apiece of land is a <br /> <br />I <br />, . <br />~i/ <br />/ <br />,"3' <br />,~. . <br /> <br />:If/ (ll/gler UII tiN' .Yurill Fork uf tlie II hite kiter ift Colorado.... Flut Tops Il'ildcrl/e,\\ :llm, PIIO/{) /l.r AI ,HI/rtll/re. <br /> <br />wetland or nol~and they all involve <br />till' rool word hrdro- (from II", (;reek <br />word for watl'r). <br /> <br /> <br />I (fill/III/ill [(U/ill/I/I U/lI/J!n,/J/(1fI1!1 (fJ!IJmr!o- ,hI' ('llIIm.\' flOg or }I/TfWI . <br />f'll/J/o h\ 1.(111/'('11 I /.in)(lIId .~'II,/,(' lI'il((1\ <br /> <br />The crill' ria: <br />.:. a site 's hydrolo~ic re~ime~ <br />when and how il ~ets ils <br />water; <br />.:. whellll'r its soils arc <br />hydric-that is, conlain lil- <br />t11~ or no oxy~en; and <br />.:. whether hydrophytes (water <br />plants) are present. <br /> <br />In simplestlerms, wetlands are <br />places wlll're Ihe hydro/uNic reNime <br />ket'ps suils !londed or saturated lon~ <br />enou~h in many years Ihat mosl <br />plants would drown, because hydric <br />soils are oxy~en~poor. <br />Plants Ihal an' adapt I'd to ~row <br />in tlll'se wl'tland environml'nts are <br />called hrdrophrtes. Common <br />hydrophytl's inrlude cattails, bulrushes, <br /> <br />sed~es, salt~rass, willows and cotton. <br />woods, as well as plants with showy <br />!lowers like marsh marigolds and <br />frin~ed ~entian. These planls act like <br />snorkels-brin~in~ oxy~en from the <br />atnltlsphl're down their siems 10 their <br />root systems. Weiland plants are hy <br />nalure conservative: When a leaf <br />dies, the planl recycles the leal's <br />nutrients back to the rools and reuses <br />thelll in other leaves. <br />It is not only an abundance of <br />watt'r and the (ln~sencl' of cerlain <br />kinds of planls that mark an area as a <br />weiland. EVI'n the bal'leria Ihat runc <br />tion in wetland soils are differl'nl. <br />Wlll~n soils Inse their oxygen, anal'ro- <br />hic hal'leria IJI'come acliVl' and <br />chan~e the c111'mical characler of <br />the soil. <br /> <br />