3. Name: The Canadian Wetland Qassification System. Provisional — this system is 

 currently being revised and should be released in 1990 (Clayton Rubec, pers. com,). 



Authors: National Wetlands Working Group, Canada Committee on Ecological Land 

 Qassification. 



Reference: National Weflands Working Group. 1987. The Canadian wetland classification 

 system (provisional edition). Lands Conservation Branch, Canadian Wildlife Service, Envi- 

 ronment Canada, Ecological Land Qassification Series No. 21. 18 pp. 



Objectives: Develop nationally applicable wetland classification system. 



Designed Users: Biologists, managers. 



Area of Applicability: Canada. 

 Classification Units, Description, and Data: 



Classification Units Description 



Class Five wetland classes are bog, fen, marsh, swamp, and 



shallow water. 



Form There are 70 wetland forms differentiated based on morphol- 



ogy, pattern, water type, and underlying soil. 



Type Wetland types are classified according to vegetation physi- 



ognomy. These include coniferous and hardwood trees; tall, 

 low, and mixed shrub; forb; graminoid (grass, reed, tall rush, 

 low rush, sedge); moss; lichen; floating and submerged 

 aquatic; and nonvegetated. 



Use, Testing, Validation: Procedure is provisional and in the testing processes. 



Ease of Application: Procedure is very straightforward. Keys are provided within each 

 class to help a user find the correct form. 



Use in Defining System Response and Potential: Form keys contain some physical infor- 

 mation that could be used in developing some system responses; however, the intention of the 

 procedure was to strictly classify without addressing response. 



Use in Determining State of System: Based on the form key, the descriptions given are 

 very close to what might be considered a system state. However, the concept of succession 

 and progression is not inherent to the procedure. 



Relation to Other Procedures: The procedure utilizes standard soil taxonomy. No refer- 

 ences to any United States standards could be found. 



Automated Data Processing: The data that is collected during the wetland inventory and/or 

 classification is entered into the Canadian Wetland Registry (Kroetsch et al. 1988). This 

 registry system is a computerized data base holding wetland information on location, climate, 

 chemistry, hydrology, soils, and vegetation community or composition. 



13 



