North Dakota Wetlands
Wetlands
AKA: pothole, slough, swamp
 Are basins or low areas
that hold water.

Can be for days, weeks,
months, or all year
 Are fed by watersheds –
areas of land that drain
water from the highest
point to the lowest point
 A wetland is a low point of
a watershed.
Wetland Formation
 Glaciers formed most of the ND wetlands.
 The last glacier entered ND from Canada 40,000 years
ago

It covered all but the southwest corner of ND (the Badlands)
 As it moved, it scraped the land flat to form prairies,
deposited sediments to create hills, and scooped out
areas to make lakes and sloughs (potholes)
 This is what created the “Prairie Pothole Region”.
Prairie Pothole Region
 Made of prairies, rolling
hills, and potholes
 Covers 30,000 square
miles including parts of
Alberta, Saskatchewan,
Manitoba, Montana, North
Dakota, South Dakota,
Minnesota, and Iowa
 Is the greatest area of
waterfowl production in
the world!
3 Common Characteristics of
Wetlands
 Water-have water present
at times
 Hydric soil – soil that was
formed in anaerobic
conditions (without
oxygen) because it was
saturated with water
 Plants that can live in
water—”hydrophyic”
Types of hydrophytic vegetation
- Emergent (cattails, rushes, sedges, grasses, trees, shrubs)
- Floating (duckweed)
- Submergent (coontail, sego)
Wetland Vegetation
• Dominated by hydrophytes
• Prolonged wetness of land area excludes most plants from
growing
• Hydrophytes have special adaptations to withstand the stressful
conditions characteristic of a wetland (little oxygen, fluctuating
water levels)
Wetland Zones
Open Water
Shallow Marsh
Wet meadow
Low prairie
Upland prairie
Wetland Zones
Low Prairie Zone
Shallow Marsh Zone
Deep Marsh Zone
Wetlands can be thought of as transition zones between land and
water.
Wetland Zones
Low prairie
Shallow marsh
Deep marsh
Permanent
open water
Wet meadow
Wetlands Need Changing Water
► Diversity
of wetland types and depths
► Plant diversity in each zone decreases as
water permanence increases
Wetland Soils
- Soil / substrate saturation at or near the surface
- Anaerobic reducing conditions that effect plants growth and inhibit t
of microorganisms (“sulphur” smell from bacteria)
- Certain types of soils are present in wetlands= hydric soils
- As water fills the air spaces between soil particles, the rate at which
Can diffuse through the soil decreases significantly
Hydric Soil classification
- Organic or mineral
- Organic wetland soils contain lots of partially decayed plant and anim
matter. Water saturated and oxygen poor conditions inhibit the growth
Microorganisms that decompose organic material. This creates a thick
or dark brown layer at the soil surface. (peat or muck)
- Mineral wetland soils contain less organic material and more sand, s
They are generally lighter in color than organic soils
Munsell Color Book
-used to identify soils types by soil scientists
4 Major Types of Wetlands
Categorized by how much water they contain
and when they contain water
 Temporary Wetlands
 Seasonal Wetlands
 Semi-Permanent Wetlands
 Permanent Wetlands
Temporary Wetlands
 Shallow depressions that
hold water from melting
snow or heavy rain
 Last only a couple weeks,
then dry up
 Important to migratory
birds because they warm
up quickly in the spring
providing a place for them
to stop and feed
Nesting waterfowl rely on the protein-rich
invertebrates that occur in temporary wetlands to
meet the high nutritional demands of egg laying.
Seasonal Wetlands
 Depressions that
usually contain water
from snow melt to
mid-July
 Usually are not planted
for crops but may be
used for pasture or hay.
Seasonal Wetlands continued  Have two vegetation zones


Wet Meadow – outer zone –
contains fine-textured grasses,
sedges, and rushes
Shallow Marsh – central zone consists of an area of low,
soggy land with a large variety
of aquatic vegetation
 Provide nesting habitat,
brood cover, and food for
many birds
Wet Meadow
Shallow
Marsh
Temporary and Seasonal
Wetlands
Studies indicate that temporary and seasonal wetlands
comprise about 35 percent of the wetland area in North
Dakota, but support 57 percent of the breeding waterfowl
population.
Semi-Permanent Wetlands
 Basins that hold water
all year except in very
dry years
 Hydrophytic “water
loving” plants such as
cattails
Semi-Permanent Wetlands
continued  Have three vegetation zones

Wet Meadow – outermost zone


Shallow Marsh – between the
other two zones


Contains fine-textured grasses,
sedges, and rushes
Consists of an area of low, soggy
land with a large variety of aquatic
vegetation
Deep Marsh – central zone

Contains fully submerged aquatic
vegetation
Wet Meadow
Shallow Marsh
Deep Marsh
Permanent Wetlands
 Hold water all year and
only go dry after many
years of drought
 Most are large and
deep – Lakes
 Less important to
migratory birds and
wildlife but do usually
contain fish
 Water is often alkaline
Permanent Wetlands continued
 Have four vegetation zones


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Central deep water - has no
vegetation
Deep marsh – contains fully
submerged aquatic vegetation
Shallow marsh – consists of
an area of low, soggy land
with a large variety of aquatic
vegetation
Wet meadow – contains finetextured grasses, sedges, and
rushes
Wet Meadow
Shallow Marsh
Deep Marsh
Central
Deep
Water
Other Types of Wetlands
 Saline Wetlands – salty


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Have no vegetation zones
Have muddy, sandy, rocky and pebble lined
shores that are often salt-covered
Provide nesting areas for the threatened piping
plover and rest stops for migratory waterfowl
like sandhill cranes
Other Types of Wetlands
continued  Fens – areas found on sloping river valleys
and in the Turtle Mountains

Are fed by year-round seepage from
groundwater
Other Types of Wetlands
continued  Bogs – similar to fens but have a lot of dead
plant material
3 Major Natural
North Dakota Regions
 Increase in elevation as move from east to
west
 Red River Valley
 Drift Prairie
 Missouri Plateau
Red River Valley
 The floor of ancient Lake Agassiz which formed
when glaciers in Canada blocked the flow of water
 Area is extremely flat
which causes it to
have fewer wetlands
 Oxbow lakes are
common
Drift Prairie
 Glaciated plains
 Contains the largest number of wetlands and
the most temporary and seasonal wetlands
Missouri Plateau
 Highest land in the state
 West of the Drift Prairie to the Montana border
 Eastern part is called the Missouri Couteau
 Contains larger,
deeper, and more
permanent wetlands
than Drift Prairies and
has more semipermanent wetlands
than the rest of the state
Wetland Wildlife
 Aquatic Macroinvertebrates – essential to the food chain

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
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Includes aquatic insects and other invertebrates which hatch or
live in water
Provide food to many wetlands animals
Help keep wetlands clean by eating dead plant and animal
matter in the water
Filter particles out of water so it is clean and sunlight can reach
the plants on the wetland floor
Wetland Wildlife continued  Birds – ND wetlands are one of the most
important areas for waterfowl breeding in
North America

Includes: Ducks, Mergansers, Geese, Swans,
Pelicans, Wading Birds, Grebes, Shorebirds,
Cranes, Gulls and Terns, and Songbirds
Wetland Wildlife continued  Amphibians – lay eggs in or near water and use
wetlands for their larval tadpole and for food

Are sensitive to environmental pollutants because
their skin absorbs the poisons
 Reptiles – often use
wetlands as habitat
Wetland Wildlife continued  Mammals – include many fur-bearing
mammals like beaver, muskrats, mink, and
raccoons

Use area for food, to build homes with, and
cover
Wetland Wildlife continued  Fish – found in permanent wetlands

Include Northern Pike, Walleye, Yellow Perch,
Sunfish, Catfish, Paddlefish, Trout, Sturgeon,
etc.
Importance of Wetlands
1. Home to a large variety of plants, animals,
and invertebrates
2. Natural Flood Control – store water when
snow melts and after heavy rainfall
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Slowly releases this stored water by evaporation
or drainage
Increases soil moisture for crops
Reduces the amount of water that quickly flows
into rivers and lakes which can cause flooding
Importance of Wetlands
continued 3. Improves Water Quality – helps remove
pollutants from water


Pollution comes from sewage, manufacturing
plants, fertilizers, pesticides, herbicides, etc.
As water is stored in a wetland, the plants absorb
and filter pollutants from the water
Importance of Wetlands
continued 4. Recharges Groundwater – water seeps into
the ground to refill aquifers
5. Public Use – hunting, fishing, trapping,
swimming, boating, birdwatching, etc.
Threats to Wetlands
 Draining – In the past,
ND’s landscape was 11%
wetlands = 5 million acres


In the last century, almost
half have been lost
People drain wetlands for
construction of homes,
highways, dams, dikes,
farming, and other human
activities
Threats to Wetlands continued  Sedimentation – soil erosion by runoff
carries the soil to wetlands and deposits it

Causes buildup of soil that can make lakes
shallow and harm habitat
Threats to Wetlands continued  Nutrification – when nutrients are carried to rivers and lakes
causing algae blooms
• Uncontrolled algae blocks sunlight so
plants and algae in lower levels die.
• Bacteria break these down and use up
oxygen in this process causing death
to both aquatic plants and animals –
eutrophication
• Nutrients often come from runoff
from farm fertilizers, cattle manure,
and soil
Aquatic Nuisance Species
 plants or animals that have
been introduced to a
wetland and are harmful to
it
 Examples – curly leaf
pondweed, purple
loosestrife, zebra mussel,
carp, Eurasian water
milfoil, salt cedar, spiney
water flea
Preserving Wetlands
 Important because wetland habitats are one
of the most productive ecosystems in the
world
 They play an important role in our economy