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95 tMfll(;lNf1 ....oc. "..." .......IGIHfI l I - - - - - -. - - - -- - - J~ I1pn lb ...subfonnl 04 wetlud ~ata, "'aa~ plaaa .... _t.up... Pigure. J and )b adapted froa f1l1uTu 1 and 2 in C:J.ull1f!cation of Freshwuer wetlands 1n the ghC:laeed northeast, by Y. C. (;olet and J. 5. Lar.on. 1971o, U.S. Fhh and Wildlife San11:.. ~.ource PubHc:atloD 116. S6 pg. temperature environment) and produce a flow of energy t.hat leads to clearly defined trophic structure, biotic diversity and material cycling, "etlands are true ecological systems or ecosystems. Collectively, the l1Vi12g component of the ecosystem is termed the cODdDun1ty and may consist of a few ecologically related individuals or a vast assemblage. Many wetland ecosystems are recognized as major communities that are essentially self-sufficient and generally independent of other majo'r communities. Within the major communities are found varying numbers of minor cOlmunities. Each individual group of organisms occupying the wetland at a particular moment in time is called a population. A population may consist of a single species and thus constitute a species population, or it may be composed of a number of species exhibiting similar ecological traits (food requirements, breeding si tes, etc.) and be regarded as a !!'}xed population. Trophically (fr. trophe = nourishing) wetland ecosystems, like others, contain an autotrophic component (self-nourishing) primllrily characterized by plant life or F :)ducers and a heterotrophic compOIll!nt (other-nourishing) characterized by animal life or consumers. The wetland provides the habitat where each organism lives and each organism fulfills an ecological niche or functional role within thE' community. The niche is a term that includes not only the physical space occupied by an organism, but its position in environmental gradients of water, temperature, soil, pH and other conditions of existence. n,erefore, an organism's niche depends not only on where it lives but also on what it does and how it is constrained by other specl.es. Plants fill the role of primary producer, converting water and carbon dioxide into carbohydrates through the process of photolsynthesis. A few we tland plants are carnivorous, but their morphology su,ggests that trapped animals fill only part of their trophic requIrements. 'Plants also create a