Introduction
Wetlands are an important part of our ecosystem and perform diverse roles in the environment. The characteristics of a wetland begin with saturated ground for a significant part of the year, but does not need to completely saturated year round. A wetland can be seasonally flooded (Tiner). The wetlands in Indiana perform a vital role in water purification and some general flood protection. A part for these roles a diverse plant group is adapted and more prevalent among wetlands. Wetlands are a complicated part of the ecosystem and come in a multitude of different forms. Swamps for example are dominated by woody species, and have two more specific classifications, shrub or forested. Other wetland types include bogs which are characterized by the spongy soil and low nutrient levels or fens which are similar to bogs but less acidic and more nutrient rich (Wetlands). These wetlands add to …show more content…
In order determine the quality of the wetlands the Indiana Wetland Rapid Assessment Protocol (IN- WRAP) was our main tool. This tool asses the quality of the wetlands and then allows a table summary to be completed to give an overall rating to the wetland. We hypothesize since the location of these wetlands is significantly close to one another that each wetland would be very similar in quality.
Results
From this lab we are able to determine that both the miller wetland and the MOCC wetland is valuable in size and connectivity, but the Beta wetland is not. The MOCC surrounding area provides a favorable habitat to animals, while both the miller and beta wetlands provide valuable area to animal habitat. Both the Mocc Wetland and the beta wetland had an exotic species rating of medium, while the miller wetland was good. Overall the miller wetland was rated as a good polygon while both the MOCC and Beta were rated as medium (Figure
Wetlands are an important part of our ecosystem and perform diverse roles in the environment. The characteristics of a wetland begin with saturated ground for a significant part of the year, but does not need to completely saturated year round. A wetland can be seasonally flooded (Tiner). The wetlands in Indiana perform a vital role in water purification and some general flood protection. A part for these roles a diverse plant group is adapted and more prevalent among wetlands. Wetlands are a complicated part of the ecosystem and come in a multitude of different forms. Swamps for example are dominated by woody species, and have two more specific classifications, shrub or forested. Other wetland types include bogs which are characterized by the spongy soil and low nutrient levels or fens which are similar to bogs but less acidic and more nutrient rich (Wetlands). These wetlands add to …show more content…
In order determine the quality of the wetlands the Indiana Wetland Rapid Assessment Protocol (IN- WRAP) was our main tool. This tool asses the quality of the wetlands and then allows a table summary to be completed to give an overall rating to the wetland. We hypothesize since the location of these wetlands is significantly close to one another that each wetland would be very similar in quality.
Results
From this lab we are able to determine that both the miller wetland and the MOCC wetland is valuable in size and connectivity, but the Beta wetland is not. The MOCC surrounding area provides a favorable habitat to animals, while both the miller and beta wetlands provide valuable area to animal habitat. Both the Mocc Wetland and the beta wetland had an exotic species rating of medium, while the miller wetland was good. Overall the miller wetland was rated as a good polygon while both the MOCC and Beta were rated as medium (Figure