Table 1. Continued. 



System, Class, and Subclass 



Examples of Dominance Types 



Organic 



Vegetated 

 Emergent Wetland (Nonpersistent) 

 Palustrine 

 Rock Bottom 



Bedrock 



Rubble 

 Unconsolidated Bottom 



Cobble-Gravel 



Sand 



Mud 



Organic 

 Aquatic Bed 



Algal 



Aquatic Moss 



Rooted Vascular 



Floating 

 Unconsolidated Shore 



Cobble-Gravel 



Sand 



Mud 



Organic 



Vegetated 

 Moss- Lichen Wetland 



Moss 



Lichen 

 Emergent Wetland 



Persistent 



Nonpersistent 

 Scrub-Shrub Wetland 



Broad-leaved Deciduous 



Needle-leaved Deciduous 



Broad-leaved Evergreen 



Needle-leaved Evergreen 



Dead 

 Forested Wetland 



Broad-leaved Deciduous 



Needle-leaved Deciduous 



Broad-leaved Evergreen 



Needle-leaved Evergreen 



Dead 



Midge larvae (Chironomus spp.) 

 Goosefoot (Chenopodium rubrum) 

 Pickerel weed (Pontederia cordata) 



Horse sponge (Heteromeyenia latitenta) 

 Pond snail {Lymnaea stagnalis) 



Freshwater sponge {Eunapius fragilis) 

 Freshwater mollusk (Elliptio complanata) 

 Fingernail clam (Pisidium casertanum) 

 Oligochaete worm {Limnodrilus hoffmeisteri) 



Stonewort (Chara aspera) 



Moss (Fissidens julianus) 



White water lily {Nymphaea odorata) 



Water fern (Salvinia rotundifolia) 



Toad bug {Gelastocoris oculatus) 

 Freshwater mollusk (Elliptio dariensis) 

 Crayfish (Fallicambarus fodiens) 

 Back swimmer (Notonecta lunata) 

 Summer cypress (Kochia scoparia) 



Peat moss [Sphagnum fuscum) 

 Reindeer moss (Cladonia rangiferina) 



Common cattail (Typha latifolia) 

 Arrow-arum (Peltandra virginica) 



Speckled alder (Alnus rugosa) 



Tamarack (Larix laricina) 



Coastal sweetbells (Leucothoe axillaris) 



Atlantic white cedar (Chamaecyparis thyoides) 



None 



Red maple [Acer rubrum) 



Bald cypress (Taxodium distichum) 



Sweet bay (Magnolia virginiana) 



Black spruce (Picea mariana) 



None 



open ocean by evaporation. Along some low-energy 

 coastlines there is appreciable dilution of sea water. 

 Offshore areas with typical estuarine plants and 

 animals, such as red mangroves (Rhizophora mangle) 

 and eastern oysters (Crassostrea virginica), are also 

 included in the Estuarine System. 1 



4 The Coastal Zone Management Act of 1972 defines an 

 estuary as "that part of a river or stream or other body of 

 water having unimpaired connection with the open sea, 

 where the sea-water is measurably diluted with freshwater 

 derived from land drainage." The Act further states that 

 "the term includes estuary-type areas of the Great Lakes." 

 However, in the present system we do not consider areas of 

 the Great Lakes as estuarine. 



Limits. The Estuarine System extends (1) upstream 

 and landward to where ocean-derived salts measure 

 less than 0.5 °/oo during the period of average annual 

 low flow; (2) to an imaginary line closing the mouth of a 

 river, bay, or sound; and (3) to the seaward limit of 

 wetland emergents, shrubs, or trees where they are not 

 included in (2). The Estuarine System also includes off- 

 shore areas of continuously diluted sea water. 



Description. The Estuarine System includes both es- 

 tuaries and lagoons. It is more strongly influenced by 

 its association with land than is the Marine System. In 

 terms of wave action, estuaries are generally consid- 

 ered to be low-energy systems (Chapman 1977:2). 



Estuarine water regimes and water chemistry are 

 affected by one or more of the following forces: oceanic 



