Unit Summary

Use the following table to review what you have learned in this unit.


Questions

Summary


  1. What is a wetland ecosystem?

      2. 1.1 What are various types of wetlands, and why do they matter?

      1.2 What plants and animals may be found in a wetland site?
  • Marsh: an area of soft, wet, low-lying land characterized by grassy vegetation and often forming a transition between water and land
  • Bog: a wet, spongy, acidic area containing sphagnum moss and peat
  • Fen: a low, flat swampy land similar to a bog or marsh
  • Swamp: a seasonally flooded lowland with woody plants (trees) and some drainage
  • Value to the environment: prevent flooding, moderate the effect of drought, clean the water, affect health of surrounding ecosystems, remove and store greenhouse gases
  • Value to people:  recreation and education
  • Value to plants and animals: Provide habitats, nesting places, release of vegetation that feeds fish and other wildlife
  • Plants: rushes, cattails, reeds, lily pads, grasses
  • Animals: insects; newts, toads, frogs and salamanders, lizards and snakes; ducks, hawks, geese, pelicans and herons; shrews, mice, beavers, muskrats, moose

  1. What are the roles of various organisms in a food web?

      2. 2.1 Who are the producers, consumers, and decomposers in a wetlands habitat?

      2.2 What are food chains and food webs?
  • Producers: those organisms that provide something for others to use as food (grasses, reeds, etc.)
  • Consumers: organisms that feed on other plants or animals (insects, small animals including microscopic)
  • Decomposers: organisms that break down the cells of dead plants and animals (mushrooms, mould, bacteria)
  • Shows who eats whom
  • Shows the relationships between organisms in an ecosystem and the direction of energy flow

  1. What human actions affect wetland ecosystems?

      2. 3.1  What human actions have positive effects or negative effects on wetland habitats?

  • If a change happens in one part of an environment, the whole ecosystem is affected.
  • What damage have humans caused?  filling in wetlands for farming, pollution
  • What can be done about it?  Conservation, attitudes, laws to protect wetlands