Wetland

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Wetland (湿原)

Mount Usu / Sarobetsu post-mined peatland
From left: Crater basin in 1986 and 2006. Cottongrass / Daylily

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Definitions (various):

land where an excess of water (i.e. waterlogging) is the dominant factor determining the nature of the soil development and the types of plants and animals living at the soil surface.
lands that are sometimes or always covered by shallow water or have saturated soils, and where plants adapted for life in wet conditions usually grow.

[wetlands defined by Ramsar Convention]

Five major types of wetlands (湿原型)

Estuarine (estuary): salt and blackish water of coastal rivers and bays
Riverine (riparian): areas influenced by rivers and streams (not always categorized into wetlands)
including bottomland hardwood forest, floodplain forest, bosque, riparian buffer, and stream side vegetation strip
Ex. well-drained soil deposits
Lacustrine: lakes, reservoirs, and large ponds
Palustrine: marshes, bogs, swamps, and small shallow ponds (mire = bog + marsh + swamp)
Marine: open ocean shore line

(Leck 1989)

Vegetation classification

Obligate (OBL)
Facultative wetland (FACW) 2/3 +
Facultative (FAC)
Facultative upland (FACU)__1/3 -
Upland (UPL)

Soil: a) muck or peat, b) very dark color (=black), c) not so dark, but molted → meeting one of these requirements
Hydrology: continued saturation > 1 wk during the growing season

Environmental gradient

Four types of gradients

fen-bog gradient
hummock-follow gradient
marginal gradient
fen-carr gradient

Environmental factor: pH, DO, conductivity (important factor) + temperature, ignition loss
fen: groundwater – on the ground surface (Tokisatamappu mire)
floodplain: maintaining water system (Utonaito marsh)
production (dum, peat fuel etc.)

Delta (デルタ): a wetland–river–upland complex located where a river forms distributaries as it merges with the sea; there are also examples of inland deltas such as the Peace–Athabasca Delta in Canada and the Okavango Delta in Botswana

Bog (高層湿原)

Very acid conditions with limited woody growth, dominated by Sphagnum; conditions may be dry to plants because the peat mat prevents roots from reaching water; they root in the peat and get nutrients from rainwater. Typical associations in Washington State: Sphagnum/Vaccinium oxycoccos; Ledum groenlandicum/Sphagnum; Sphagnum-Carex spp.
Types of Bogs
• Open bogs are comprised mostly of sphagnum moss and sparse sedges
• Shrubby bogs support low-lying shrubs, bog cranberry, and blueberries
• Treed bogs are identified by stunted black spruce with a moss and shrub understory
Benefits and Functions
• Peatlands store carbon and reduce the effects of global warming
• Help prevent downstream flooding by absorbing precipitation
• Support plants commonly used by people, including cranberries,blueberries, and Labrador tea

Topographical classification

raised bog, basin, string, continental, island, palsa, maritime, bowl, shinkhole, floating, shore, flat, polygonal, peat plateau, peat mound

Raised bog (隆起高層湿原, Regenmoore or Hochmoore in German)

≈ ombrotrophic bog
acidic, wet habitats with poor mineral salts Plants represented by peat moss +

Woody vegetation
northwestern Europe: Betula pubescens, Pinus sylvestris
sub-Alpine: Pinus mugo
northern North America: Picea mariana

threatened by peat cutting and pollution by mineral salts from the surrounding land (due to agriculture and industry)
Muskeg (マスケグ): large expanse of peatlands or bogs (used in Canada and Alaska)
Pakihi (パキヒ): peatland in southwestern New Zealand dominated by sedges, rushes, ferns, and scattered shrubs. Most pakihi form on terraces or plains of glacial or fluvial outwash origin and are acid and exceedingly infertile

Utasai bog (歌才湿原)

Sphagnum-dominated bog in Kuromatsunai Town
Thelypteris confluens establishes in disturbed area (Tsuyuzaki & Zhang 2020)
☛ flora

Fen (低層湿原)

A fen is a peatland influenced by flowing surface water and/or discharged groundwater. The water moving through fens comes in contact with mineral soil creating a more nutrient rich environment than bogs. Fens vary in wetness and species diversity, with wetter fens being richer.
Types of Fens
• Gramnoid fens are dominated by sedges and are usually the wettest
• Shrubby fens contain stunted shrubs such as bog birch and willows interspersed with sedges and buckbean
• Treed fens are much drier and contain stunted trees, especially tamarack and sometimes black spruce
Benefits and Functions
• Fens move water and nutrients through the landscape
• Sustain water levels and connectivity of wetlands across the landscape

• As peatlands, fens store carbon and reduce the effects of global warming
• Help prevent downstream flooding by absorbing precipitation, and excess water from adjacent uplands

Topographical classification

string (ストリング), seepage (浸透水性), net (網状), floating (浮島) → floating fen (根無し湿原), draw (谷地), horizontal (平坦), pond (池溏), collapse (崩落), palsa (パルサ), spring (湧水), slope (斜面) → sloping fen (斜面/傾斜地湿地)

Heath (ヒース)

shrubland dominated by ericaceous species, such as Andromeda, Bruckenthalia, Calluna, Erica, Daboecia

often developed on free-draining infertile, acidic soils
open, low-growing woody vegetation

Slough: an elongated swamp or shallow lake system, often adjacent to a riveror stream. A slowly flowing shallow swamp or marsh in the southeastern US (e.g., cypress slough). From the Old English word 'sloh' meaning a water course running in a hollow

Makunbetsu fen or swamp (マクンベツ湿原)

adjacent to Ishikari River in Bannaguro, Ishikari City (closed in winter)
Large Lysichiton camtschatcensis communities in early spring

Marsh (湿地)

Marshes are often a transition zone between open water and shorelines of lakes and river systems. They are shallow wetlands with water levels that fluctuate seasonally. Marshes receive water from precipitation, groundwater, and stream inflow.
Types of Marshes
• Freshwater marshes are very productive and a variety of plants thrive on the high nutrient levels

Tidal freshwater marsh: marsh along rivers and estuaries close enough to the coastline to experience significant tides by nonsaline water. Vegetation is often similar to nontidal freshwater marshes
Reed swamp: marsh dominated by Phragmites (used in Europe)

• Salt marsh (saltwater marsh) (塩湿地) are normally associated with coastlines and fewer plants can tolerate the saline conditions
Benefits and Functions
• Plants filter and trap pollutants from the water
• Great place for wildlife viewing • Provides food and shelter for many different species of birds and mammals
• Moderates flooding and erosion by slowing down water flow
• Provide habitat for wildlife species important for trapping, such as muskrat
Pothole (ポットホール): shallow marsh like pond, particularly as found in the Dakota sand central Canadian provinces, the so-called prairie pothole region
Playa (プラヤ): an arid-to semiarid-region wetland that has distinct wet and dry seasons (southwest US for marsh like ponds similar to potholes, but with a different geologic origin)
Raupo swamp: cattail (Typha) marsh in New Zealand
Reedmace swamp: Typha marsh in UK

Swamp (沼沢地)

Swamps are often a transition between upland forest and other wetland types. They are normally associated with river floodplains, lakes, and ponds. Swamps are typically dominated by tall trees and shrubs, with densities greater than 60%. They can occur in either mineral or organic soil.

Types of Swamps

• Thicket swamps are characterized by tall shrubs, like willow
• Coniferous swamps are dominated by white or black spruce
• Hardwood swamps feature balsam poplar and white birch

Benefits and Functions

• Moderate floods by slowing water flow
• Fertile soils support a diversity of trees, shrubs, and other plants
• Snags, standing dead trees, provide homes for cavity-nesting species like goldeneye, American kestrel, and northern flicker
• Recycle nutrients from decaying plant matter
• Vegetation protects shoreline areas from erosion and sedimentation
Carr (カール): forested wetlands characterized by Alnus and Salix (Europe)

Riparian forest (河畔林)

≈ riparian woodland
Areas that are affected by rivers (+ various water bodies, such as stream, pond and lake), often subjected to inundation

transition zones between an upland terrestrial environment and an aquatic environment

Gallery forest

= fringing forest
a corridor along rivers or wetlands, projecting into landscapes that are otherwise only sparsely treed such as savannas, grasslands or deserts

Ex. Llanos ecoregion (Venezuela and Colombia), Cerrado Region (tropical savanna in Brazil), Madagascar and Konza Prairie (Kansas)

Oxbow: abandoned river channel, often developing into a swamp or marsh
Pocosin (ポコシン): peat-accumulating, non riparian freshwater wetland, generally dominated by evergreen shrubs and trees and found on the southeastern Coastal Plain of the US. The term comes from the Algonquin for "swamp on a hill"

Shallow open water (浅瀬)

Shallow water is distinct wetlands that represent a transition from marshes to deeper aquatic ecosystems such as lakes or rivers. They include shallow lakes and ponds, as well as wetlands found beside rivers, coastlines and shorelines.

Benefits and Functions
• Provides conditions for dense submergent vegetation
• Habitat for a variety of aquatic insects and fish
• Provides food for many different birds
• Can recharge groundwater supplies
Lagoon (ラグーン): a deep water enclosed or partially opened aquatic system, especially in coastal delta regions (frequenctly used in Eurrope)
Dambo (ダンボ): a shallow tree-less wetland in which water collects in the rainy season (used in southern Africa)

World wetland

Distribution of mires. Extent and location of global mires and peatlands (Lappalainen 1996)

Region	Area	Type/location
A. North America	1. Canada and Alaska	Tundra Boreal forest Hudson Bay lowlands Complex montane, riverine, coastal systems in Alaska Prairie potholes in Canada
	2. USA	East coast estuaries Florida sawgrass marsh Mississippi River delta Potholes and playas California internally drained systems Western riparian systems Pacific coast estuaries
B. Mexico, Central America, Caribbean	1. Mexico	Main wetlands on coast
	2. Caribbean	Most extensive wetlands on larger islands Islands with +1000 m mountains create rivers Much converted to rice farming
	3. Central America	Complex systems on Caribbean side (70% of precip) Mangroves on Pacific side (30% of precip) Much conversion to shrimp mariculture
C. South America	1. Northern South America	Amazon basin Maranhao and rivers in east Brasil Llanos of Orinoco drainage
	2. Southern South America	Flooded Pantanal feeds Paraguay River Parana River runs south to join Paraguay River Puna: Andean altiplano above 10,000
D. Europe	1. Fennoscandia, UK, N. Russia	Ice and precipitation dominated systems Palsa-, blanket-, aapa-, raised-, polygon bogs (mires)
	2. Coastal shallows	Wadden Sea
	3. Floodplain systems	Loire, Rhine, Vistula, Danube, Dnieper, Dniester, Volga
	4. Mediterranean basin	Mostly deltas: Rhone, Po, Nile
E. Middle East	1. Tigris and Euphrates	Fed by rivers from mountains of Turkey, Iran, Afghanistan
	2. Inland drainage systems like Dead Sea
	3. Mangroves on coasts of Red Sea, Indian Ocean, Persian Gulf
F. Africa	1. East Africa and the Nile Basin	Great Rift Valley Lake Victoria Valley of the Nile Sudd floodplain
	2. West and Central Africa	Floodplains of the Senegal, Nile, Lake Chad; in arid Sahel Zaire River system Zaire and Congo Rivers; year-round flooding
	3. Southern Africa	Zambesi River system Okavanga Delta (N. of the Kalahari Desert) Etosha Pan in Angola
G. Asia	1. Northern Asia	Ob-Irtysh basin High mountains of N. Central Asia (Lake Baikal) Tundra in the North Internally drained seas: Caspian, Aral (eco-disaster)
	2. Central and South Asia	Himalayan range dominates; generates water for: Indus, Ganges, Brahmaputra, Irrawaddy, Mekong, Yangtze, Yellow Rivers Extensive floodplain and delta cultures Monsoon wetlands of Bangladesh (Ganges delta) Sundarbans (mangroves, Bengal tigers)
	3. East Asia	High altitude lake and bog systems, Tibetan and Mongolian plateaus Yangtze and Yellow River floodplains Estuarine and mangrove systems on China coast Korea: western and southern estuaries Japan: most remaining wetlands on Hokkaido
H. Southeast Asia	1. Equatorial	Very wet, naturally forested, high diversity forests Mangrove, swamp forest
	2. Long coastline, shallow lagoons, coral reefs
I. Australia	1. Mostly flat and arid
	2. Great Dividing Range along east coast	Generates much hydrology; monsoons approach from east Well-watered river valleys and estuaries to the east Darling and Murray floodplains to the interior
	3. Ephemeral internally-drained systems in interior	Dry climate with widely spaced wet episodes Salt lakes
	4. Estuaries and floodplains in the tropical north
J. New Zealand & Pacific Islands	1. New Zealand: maritime climate and much rain	South Island has diverse wetland landscape Bogs, floodplains, podocarp swamp forests North Island has estuaries
	2. Pacific islands Mostly small islands with salt or brackish systems	Lagoons, mangroves, brackish lakes Larger islands with mountains create river systems Freshwater lakes form in volcanic calderas

China

Fig. 1. Peat distribution in China (中国の泥炭分布)
I: Peat distribution region of north-eastern mountain land, hills and depressions
II: Peat distribution region of the mountain plateaus and valley basins in Omg-zang plateau
III: Peat distribution region of north-western lofty mountains and peadmonts
IV: Buried peat distribution region of eastern deposit plateau
V: The buried peat distribution region of low mountains, hills and coast in the middle and southern parts of China
VI: The buried peat distribution region of south-western mountain plateaus and basins
Table 2. The area of peatlands and amount of peat deposit in the respective regions I to VI. The values are determined by references and field measurements. The area is defined as peat > 0.3 m in depth. The amount is expressed by dry weight.

Region Area (× 10M⁴ ha)            Amount (× 10⁹ ton)
       -------------------------- -------------------------
       Suface-  Deposited- Total  Surface- Deposited- Total
       peatland peatland           peatland peatland

  I      214.0     3.1     217.1   153.2      2.5     155.7
  II      94.0     -        94.0    51.0      -        51.0
  III     36.0     1.5      37.5    11.3      0.5      11.8
  IV       0.9    38.0      38.9     0.5     29.8      30.3
  V        0.7     9.2       9.9     0.3      6.5       6.8
  VI       2.1    16.4      18.5     1.2     13.4      14.6
  Total  347.7    68.2     415.9   217.5     52.7     270.2

• wetland research in China (中国での湿原研究)

Table 3. Main ecological properties of mires in China.

Ecological properties	Microtopography (grassy marshland)			Hydrologic condition		Plant community	Peat layer
Types of peatmire	Form	Height (m)	Desnity (%)	Phreatic surface (m)	Water-logged depth (m)		Thickness (m)	Water content (%)	pH
Permanently water- logged peatmire in depression	Floating blanket	-	-	-	0.1-0.4	Carex lasiocarpa Menyanthes triflora Glyceria aquatica Utricularia vulgaris	3-6	> 90	7.0-7.5
Seasonally water- logged peatmire in scattered hills	Ridge	0.3-0.6	5-15	0.0.-0.05	0.05-0.1	Carex muliensis Equisetum heleocharis Helecharis sp.	2-4	80	7.0-7.8
Seasonally water- logged peatmire on hills	Network	0.3-0.5 0.2-0.7	30-50 > 50	< 0.1	0.05-0.15	Carex spp. Kobresia tibetica Kobresia spp.	1-3	70-80	7.0-8.0
Temporarily water- logged peatmire in scattered hills	Lump	0.2-0.3	10-30	0.1-0.4	0.0-0.1	Kobresia spp. Carex spp.	0.3-1	< 70	7.0

Table 1. Analysis of the physical and chemical properties of partial samples of peat in China
Type	Types of peat	Decompo- sition (%)	Total C (%)	Organic matter (%)	Raw ash (%)	HCl-soluble matter (%)	Total N (%)	P2O5 (%)	K2O (%)	CaO (%)	Fe2O3 (%)	Total humic acid (%)	ph (H2O)
Low-moor peat	Carex	25.8	42.3	72.9	21.1	7.9	2.1	0.24	0.25	1.21	1.86	36.0	5.3
	Carex-reed	30.1	40.1	69.2	30.8	9.1	2.2	0.26	0.23	1.54	2.65	36.8	6.4
	Carex	28.7	35.3	60.9	39.1	8.8	2.0	0.05	0.21	5.12	7.51	33.6	7.8
	Aniphyllum fortunei-Carex	24.2	42,0	72.5	27.6	8.9	1.6	0.26	0.24	0.90	2.47	26.8	5.9
	Carex	48.7	35.1	60.7	39.3	7.5	0.9	0.13	0.09	1.00	1.69	35.7	6.2
	Ligneous	50.1	41.4	71.3	28.7	7.1	0.6	0.06	0.07	0.20	0.56	50.5	5.6
	Carex	51.3	17.5	30.1	69.2	10.2	1.7	0.23	0.34	1.40	2.08	11.6	5.8
High-moor peat	Ledum palustre-moss peat	17.5	51.4	88.7	11.4	4.4	1.4	0.15	0.14	0.78	1.24	23.1	4.3
	Moss peat	16.1	50.8	87.5	12.5	3.7	0.9	0.21	0.15	0.61	1.03	19.7	4,2
	Carex moss peat	19.2	40.7	70.2	29.9	7.7	1.5	0.20	0.22	1.01	2.70	32.8	5.0
Medium-moor peat	Larix-Carex moss peat	18.3	35.7	71.2	38.9	6.5	1.4	0.29	0.20	0.77	1.85	30.0	4.7

→ Chinese wetland vegetation

Washington State, USA

Wetland vegetation

The US Fish & Wildlife Service has a comprehensive classification system useful for wetlands.

Coastal vegetation

The environment of coastal estuaries (Estuarine system), including river deltas, and bays is dominated by tidal fluctuations. This factor and its correlates, such as fluctuating salinity,poor aeration, wave action, and twice daily cycles of submergence and exposure, produce vegetation types characterized by relatively few species. Coastal marshes are highly productive.

Mudflats:

Low intertidal to subtidal muds, dominated by Zostera marina. Typical association: Zostera marina

Low salt marsh:

Higher intertidal, usually with some fresh water influence, especially in river deltas. Inundated nearly every day. Typical associations: Scirpus maritimum; Carex lyngbey; Calydistichlis spicata; Jaumea carnosa-Disp; Disp-Salicornia virginica; Savi.

High salt marsh:

Upper marshes, where daily inundation is less than a daily occurrence. Typical associations: Agrostis alba-Festuca rubra; Agal-Carex lyngbyei; Caly-Distichlis spicata; Disp-Salicornia virginica; Potentilla pacifica-graminoids.

Table. Common species in a vertical gradient.

    Species               Eelgrass   Low marsh   High marsh

    Zostera marina            X
    Salicornia virginica      t          X            x
    Triglochin maritimum      t          X            x
    Carex lyngbeyi                       X            x
    Jaumea carnosa                       X            x
    Spergularia marina                   X            x
    Scirpus americanus                   X            x
    Cotula coronopifolia                 X            x
    Cuscuta salina                       X            t
    Spartina alterniflora                X            t
    Atriplex patula                      x            X
    Plantago maritima                    x            X
    Distichlis spicata                   x            X
    Scirpus maritimum                    t            X
    Deschampsia caespitosa                            X
    Hordeum brachyanthermum                           X
    Grindelia integrifolia                            X
    Potentilla pacifica                               X
    Trifolium wormskjoldii                            X
    Agrostis alba                                     X
    Festuca rubura                                    X

Inland wetland vegetation is generally associated with rivers (riparian), lakes (lacustrine), or other wetlands not directly influenced by lakes or rivers (palustrine). Riverine vegetation is usually unstable and dominated by elements of the forested wetlands described below.

Freshwater marsh

Usually associated with lakes (lacustine), or areas of limited drainage (palustrine).
Typical Lacustrine Associations: Deep: Nuphar-Nymphaea; Scirpus acutus; Shallow: Typha latifolia; Phalaris arundinacea; Phragmites communis; Tyla-Lythrum salicaria; Carex obnupta (plus various graminoids-dominated associations); Phar-Iris pseudacorus; Tyla-Scirpus microcarpus.

(Deep marsh, Emergent wetland)

Eleocharis spp. = emergent
Epilobium angustifolium = emergent
Iris pseudacorus = emergent
Lemma minor = floating
Lythrum salicaria = emergent (intro)
Myriophyllum spicatum = submerged (intro)
Nuphar polysepalum = floating fixed (intro)
Nymphaea odorata = floating fixed (intro)
Oenanthe sarmentosum = emergent
Phalaris arundinacea = emergent
Phragmites communis = emergent
Polygonum spp. = submerged, submerged-emergent
Scirpus microcarpus = emergent
Typha latifolia = emergent

Palustrine systems are nontidal wetlands dominated by woody vegetation or persistent emergents. They include marshes, swamps, ponds (not lakes) and bogs. They can be located shoreward of lakes and rivers, on flood plains, or in isolated catchment basins.

Foster's Island

The trail starts behind the MOHAI and traverses through several wetland associations. Characterize each association, based on the US Fish and Wildlife system (e.g., palustrine forested wetland).
Species (common name), description Carex aquatilis (water sedge), leaves w/3-ranked sheaths
Eleocharis spp. (spike-rush), solitary, term. spike; emergent
Equisetum spp. (horsetail)
Iris pseudocorus (yellow marsh iris), yellow flowers; emergent
Juncus balticus (baltic rush), diffuse inflorescence
Juncus effusus (common rush), stem round; many flowers, lateral, dense inflorescence
Lemna minor (duckweed), floating aquatic
Lythrum salicaria (purple loosestrife), red flowers, leaves like fireweed; emergent
Myriophyllum spicatum (watermilfoil), feathery leaves; submerged aquatic
Nuphar polysepalum (Indian pondlily), sepals = 9; flowers yellows
Nymphaea odorata (American waterlily), sepals = 4; flowers white/pink
Oenanthe sarmentosa (water parsley), dissected leaves
Phalaris arundinacea (reed canarygrass), congested panicle; large ligules; emergent

Potentilla pacifica (Pacific silverweed), pinnately compound leaf
Rumex crispus (curly dock weed)
Scripus microcarpus (small-fruited bulrush), many large, terminal spikelets; emergent
Scripus pallidus (pale bulrush), few large, lateral spikelets
Typha latifolia (cattail), emergent
Alnus rubra (red alder), leaves with revolute margins
Betula sp. (birch), white bark
Cornus stolonifera (red-osier dogwood), red stem; cottony veins when pulled apart
Populus trichocarpa (black cottonwood), large deltoid leaves
Rhamnus purshiana (cascara), rhomboid leaf; thick veins
Salix lasiandra (Pacific willow), narrow leaf, large round stipules, glands
Salix hookeriana (Hooker's willow), broad, rounded leaf
Salix scouleriana (Scouler's willow), butterfly stipules, broadleaf, leaves reddish beneath
Spiraea douglasii (steeplebush), hardback cylindric rose-colored inflorescence

Bog

Wet meadow

Associated with lakes (lacustine) or wet depressions and bogs (palustrine). Several species from shallow marsh, plus various grasses, sedges, and rushes. Often border on persistent emergent wetlands

Sedge meadow: very shallow wet land dominated by several species of sedges (e.g., Carex, Scirpus and Cyperus)
Vernal pool: shallow, intermittently flooded wet meadow, generally typical of Mediterranean climate with dry season for most of the summer and fall (commonly used in US)

Scrub-shrub palustrine wetlands

Associated with seasonally or permanently flooded low-lying terrain, usually part of a stream drainage or swamp system. It differs from forested wetlands in being dominated by shrub species or by young tree species, especially alder. Typical associations in Washington State: Spiraea douglasii; Acer circinatum/Athyrium filix-femina; Cornus stolonifera-Acci; Alnus rubra-Salix spp.; Rhamnus purshiana-Salix spp.; Salix spp.; Rubus spectabilis (seral); Rubus discolor (seral).

Forested wetland

Associated with seasonally or permanently flooded terrain, sometimes riparian or lacustrine, but often simply in poorly drained areas. Typical associations in Washington State: Fraxinus oregana/Athyrium filix-femina; Thujaplicata/ Lysichitum americanum; Alnus rubra/Acer circinatum; Populus trichocarpa-Acer macrophyllum; Populus tremuloides/Salix spp.

Table. Representative species on bog: Species [wet meadow, scrub-shurb, forested wetland, bog]

Juncus effusus
Lysichitum americanum
Scirpus microcarpus
Eleocharis spp.
Equisetum spp.
Phalaris arundinacea
Ranunculus repens
Spiraea densiflora
Salix spp.
Malus fusca
Acer circinatum
Cornus stolonifera
Rhamnus purshiana
Oenanthe sarmentosa
Veronica scutellata
Populus trichocarpa
Alnus rubra [+ - - -]
[+ + - +]
[+ - - -]
[+ - - -]
[+ + - -]
[+ + - -]
[+ - - -]
[- + + -]
[- + + -]
[- + - -]
[- + + -]
[- + - -]
[- + - -]
[- + - -]
[- + - -]
[- + + -]
[- + + -] Acer macrophyllum
Fraxinus oregana
Thuja plicata
Rubus spectabilis
Sambucus racemosa
Oplopanax horridum
Ledum groenlandicum
Kalmia occidentalis
Sphagnum spp.
Athyrium filix-femina
Drosera rotundifolia
Vaccinium oxycoccos
Nuphar polysepalum
Carex spp.
Juncus spp.
Menyanthes trifoliata
[- - + -]
[- - + -]
[- - + +]
[- + + -]
[- - + -]
[- - - +]
[- + - +]
[- + - +]
[- - - +]
[- - + +]
[- - - +]
[- - - +]
[- - - +]
[- + + +]
[- - - +]
[- - - +]

Mangrove (マングローブ)

Mangrove (= mangal) is one of the saltwater (s.l.) biomes (バイオーム) with rich fauna. Mangrove forests replace salt marsh in tropical and subtropical regions, well-known as "marine forest".

T/R ratio ≈ 1.0 (T/R in most forests = 3-4)

Function

• accumulation of pollutants (e.g., heavy meatals, such as Cu, Hg, Cd, Zn and Pb) derived from rivers and tidal habitats

→ developing urban mangroves

• reduction of flooding, including tsunami
• food resources, e.g., shellfish

Area

15,500,000 ha in the world (1980)

Asia 6,300,000 ha, Africa 3,400,000 ha, America 5,780,000 ha

land use change (mostly due to human activities)

In Bunbury, Western Australia,
on February 7 2004.

Australia

total area = ca 1500 km²
mangals (mangrove swamp and/or forest) mainly distributed on the northern and eastern coast → Western Australia (西オーストラリア)

China

37 mangrove species in 25 genera and 20 families
mostly distributed in six provinces (Zhejiang, Taiwan, Fujian, Hainan, Guangxi, and Guangdong), and two special administrative regions (Hong Kong and Macao)

Aquatic plant (水生植物)

Aquatic organism (水生生物)

Aquatic plant

= hydrophytes and macrophytes
plants adapted in aquatic environments, including saltwater and/or freshwater

submerged (沈水植物): rooted hydrophyte (固着性植物)
free-floating (浮遊)
amphibious (両生)

Morphological classification

Amphiphytes: adapt to live either submerged or on land
Elodeids: stemmed, complete their lifecycle submerged, or with only their flowers above the water surface
Isoetids: rosette-forming, complete their lifecycle submerged
Helophytes (沼沢植物): rooted in the bottom with leaves above the water surface
Nymphaeids: rooted in the bottom with leaves floating on the water surface
Pleuston (浮表生物): vascular and floated freely in the water

Tussock (谷地坊主)

Tussock (谷地坊主) called in plant ecology

A clump or tuft, as of growing grass or sedge

→ earth hummock (十勝坊主)

Tussocks seen in the world

New Zealand

On the mountainside of Mount Ruapehu, New Zealand, on December 17, 1996. In Tongariro National Park, a few types of tussocks were classified: Chionochloa rubra Zotov [Poaceae] = red tussock, Festuca novae-zelandiae [Syn. Festuca ovina var. novae-zelandiae] (and Festuca matthewsii) = hard tussock (and silver tussock), and Rytidosperma setifolium = bristle tussock.

[Left] Close-up showing a single tussock in decayed stage. [Right] A conony of tussocks. You may be able to see 'facititative effects' of tussocks on cohabitants.

Japan

[Left] Carex oxyandra on Mount Usu. [Right] Carex middendorffii on a post-mined Sarobtetsu mire (Koyama & Tsuyuzaki 2010). The tussocks facilitate the establishment of seedling by altering microhabitats (Koyama & Tsuyuzaki 2012). However, the facilitative effects were eliminated when the climate was unusual (Koyama & Tsuyuzaki 2013).

Tussock formed by Festuca rubra. Basically this species establishes on dry sites.

Alaska

1
[1] a Eriophorum vaginatum tussock on Poker Flat after the 2004 wildfire. The tussock suvivied through the fire and vegetatively reproduced (Tsuyuzaki et al. 2013).

China

Carex meyeriana tussock increased species richness on the top (Tsuyuzaki & Tsujii 1992).