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Biology - Terrestrial, Freshwater, and Marine Ecosystems Program

Wetlands

(From NWRC) Wetlands are "transitional areas, sandwiched between permanently flooded deepwater environments and well-drained uplands. They include mangroves, marshes (salt, brackish, intermediate, and fresh), swamps, forested wetlands, bogs, wet prairies, prairie potholes, and vernal pools. They often contain more plants and animals and produce more organic material than either the adjacent water or land areas. Aquatic habitats include permanently flooded parts of estuaries and nearshore environments like seagrass beds, rivers, ponds, and lakes. Aquatic habitats are also critical to fish and wildlife as well as economically and recreationally valuable to humans."

The Ecosystems Program focuses on six types of wetlands:

   -Coastal Wetlands & Estuaries
  -Freshwater Wetlands
  -Prairie Potholes
  -Forested Wetlands
  -Great Lakes Wetlands
  -Rivers, Streams, & Lakes



General Wetlands Research

In the Spotlight


Wetlands Digital DataWetlands Mapper logo image

The development of the new Wetlands Mapper stems from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's (Service) need to expand and improve the availability of digital wetlands data. The Service's strategic plan for digital wetland data is focused on the development, revision, and dissemination of wetlands data and information to Service resource managers and the public. This service was designed to provide "current geospatially referenced information on the status, extent, characteristics and functions of wetlands, riparian, deepwater and related aquatic habitats in priority areas to promote the understanding and conservation of these resources."  Go to the Wetlands Geodatabase mapper web site.

Featured Links

Soceity of Wetland Scientist (SWS) logoUSGS scientists serve on the editorial board of Wetlands: The Journal of the Society of Wetland Scientists. Wetlands is an "international journal concerned with all aspects of wetlands biology, ecology, hydrology, water chemistry, soil and sediment characteristics, management, and laws and regulations."

FGDCThe Federal Geographic Data Committee (FGDC) Wetland Mapping Standard is the National standard for mapping wetland inventories. The standard enables wetland data to be incorporated into the National Spatial Data Infrastructure (NSDI).


White House logo The Council on Environmental Quality chronicles the Department of the Interior's major contributions in conserving the Nation's wetlands. Highlighted projects include U.S. Geological Survey work for the Prairie Pothole Region, Great Lakes, and gulf coast.

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Page Last Modified: Tuesday, 28-Oct-2008 11:31:12 MDT