Ch. 2— Wetland Types • 31 



Photo credit: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 



Bottom lands occur throughout the riverine flood plains of the Southeastern United States. They vary from being 

 permanently inundated at the river's edge to being inundated for only short periods at a frequency of 1 to 10 years 



per 100 years at higher elevations 



Riparian habitats in the arid West are scattered 

 widely along ephemeral, intermittent, and perma- 

 nent streams that commonly flow through arid or 

 semiarid terrain. Woody vegetation associated with 

 these wedands includes willows and alders at higher 

 elevations; cottonwoods, willows, and salt cedar at 

 intermediate vegetations; and salt cedar, mesquite, 

 cottonwoods, and willows at lower elevations (5). 



Coastal Salt Marshes 



Salt marshes alternately are inundated and 

 drained by the rise and fall of the tide. Because the 

 plants and animals of the marsh must be able to 

 adjust to the rapid changes in water level, salinity, 

 and temperature caused by tides, only a relatively 



small number of plants and animals are able to 

 tolerate these conditions. Thus, there is a high 

 degree of similarity in the kinds of species present. 

 Plants of the genus Spartina and the species J^un- 

 ctis and Salicornia are edmost universal in their 

 occurrence in U.S. salt marshes (12). 



Mangrove Swamps 



Mangrove is a term denoting any salt-tolerant, 

 intertidal tree species. In the United States, man- 

 groves are limited primarily to Florida coastal areas. 

 Large mangrove-swamp forests are found only in 

 south Florida and are especially extensive along the 

 protected southwestern coast (2). On the northwest 

 Florida coast, black mangrove occurs mostly as scat- 



