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What are some natural features of watersheds?

watershedintroNE Ohio Watershed Map
Riparian habitat Headwater streams Wetlands
Flowing water Standing water  

Standing water:

Vernal pools are ephemeral or short-lived wetland that usually fills with water in the rainy seasons (vernal means spring) and dries up in the summer. This wet-dry cycle prevents fish from surviving in them and as a result allows for a great, temporary habitat for aquatic invertebrates and amphibians.

Bogs are a type of wetland. Bogs have shallow standing water with plentiful Sphagnum mosses. The water in bogs is acidic and lacking in nutrients. Peat is formed at the bottom of bogs from decaying vegetative matter.

Another type of wetland is a marsh. Marshes are deeper and have more open water than bogs. Emergent vegetation like rushes, reeds and sedges line the edges and are nutrient rich.

Swamps are similar to marshes although they are deeper and have more open water. Vegetation differs, too. Swamps have more trees and shrubs than marshes.



 

Ponds and Lakes are similar. They are open water bodies contained in a basin. Vegetation usually defines the differences in the two. Ponds are shallow enough to have vegetation growing on the bottom where lakes are too deep for rooted vegetation at the bottom.

Reservoirs are impounded flowing waters collected and stored for later use.

  

   


Addtional Information on standing water:

The Nature Conservancy – Vernal Pools -Information on vernal pools in Ohio

Cedar Bog -Information, pictures, and links about bogs in Ohio.

Swamps -from "Nature Works" - New Hampshire Public Television; great information on different types of swamps.

Marshes -US EPA’s information on marshes as a type of wetland

    

 
   
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