-Type 3 normally contained water in the spring but often 
dried up in late summer in all but the wettest vears (Fig. 
5), Whitetop was the dominant plant species, followed by 
sedges. Other species included spikerush and occasionally 
mannagrass, western waterplantain, waterparsnip. and 
rushes. Common cattail and hardstem bulrush occurred 
occasionally but only in small clumps or narrow bands. 
*Type 4 usually contained water throughout the sum- 
mer but occasionally dried up during hot, dry seasons (Fig. 
6). Emergent vegetation included pure stands of cattail or 
hardstem bulrush or a mixture of these with whitetop, 
spikerush, and sedges. 
* Type 5 included the deepest and most permanent of the 
wetlands (Fig. 7), which usually contained stands of emer- 
gent vegetation that ringed the pond, and sometimes had 
definite shorelines, Wetlands of this type were larger than 
those of other types and contained aquatic vegetation such 
as common watermilfoil, star duckweed, common duck- 
Table 1. Mean yearly number and area of May wetlands on 
transects, by types, in the Minnedosa study area, 
1962-72. 



Wetland Number Area (ha) 
tvpes* Mean Per km? Mean Per km? 
| 220 4,3 21.5 0.4 
3 478 9.3 77.0 1.5 
4 264 5.0 104.9 2.0 
5 393 7.7 403.0 7.8 
Total 1.355 26.3 606.7 11.7 

‘Wetland type 2 was not represented. 
weed, common bladderwort, and sago pondweed. Musk- 
grass sometimes carpeted and shaded the pond bottoms. 
Wetlands were also categorized by size and depth. Water 
fluctuations were monitored annually for six Type 5 wet- 

Fig. 4, Type | wetland (Shaw and Fredine 1956) in the Minnedosa study area. 
