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

• Integrated Science to Understand Lake and Wetland Ecosystems of the Northern Rocky Mountains (NRMSC) (also related to Montane; Rivers, Streams, & Lakes)

• Western Great Basin Wetlands Biodiversity Initiative (FRESC) (also related to Arid Lands)

• Wetland and Aquatic Ecosystem Studies at the Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center (Western Great Basin) (NPWRC)

• Wetlands and Other Communities Research at the Patuxent Wildlife Research Center (PWRC)