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Classification of Wetlands and Deepwater Habitats of the United States

Classes, Subclasses, and Dominance Types

The CLASS is the highest taxonomic unit below the Subsystem level. It describes the general appearance of the habitat in terms of either the dominant life form of the vegetation or the physiography and composition of the substrate -- features that can be recognized without the aid of detailed environmental measurements. Vegetation is used at two different levels in the classification. The life forms -- trees, shrubs, emergents, emergent mosses, and lichens -- are used to define Classes because they are relatively easy to distinguish, do not change distribution rapidly, and have traditionally been used as criteria for classification of wetlands.4 Other forms of vegetation, such as submerged or floating-leaved rooted vascular plants, free-floating vascular plants, submergent mosses, and algae, though frequently more difficult to detect, are used to define the Class Aquatic Bed. Pioneer species that briefly invade wetlands when conditions are favorable are treated at the Subclass level because they are transient and often not true wetland species.

Use of life forms at the Class level has two major advantages: (1) extensive biological knowledge is not required to distinguish between various life forms, and (2) it has been established that various life forms are easily recognizable on a great variety of remote sensing products (e.g., Radforth 1962; Anderson et al. 1976). If vegetation (except pioneer species) covers 30% or more of the substrate, we distinguish Classes on the basis of the life form of the plants that constitute the uppermost layer of vegetation and that possess an areal coverage 30% or greater. For example, an area with 50% areal coverage of trees over a shrub layer with a 60% areal coverage would be classified as Forested Wetland; an area with 20% areal coverage of trees over the same (60%) shrub layer would be classified as Scrub-Shrub Wetland. When trees or shrubs alone cover less than 30% of an area but in combination cover 30% or more, the wetland is assigned to the Class Scrub-Shrub. When trees and shrubs cover less than 30% of the area but the total cover of vegetation (except pioneer species) is 30% or greater, the wetland is assigned to the appropriate Class for the predominant life form below the shrub layer. Finer differences in life forms are recognized at the SUBCLASS level. For example, Forested Wetland is divided into the Subclasses Broad-leaved Deciduous, Needle-leaved Deciduous, Broad-leaved Evergreen, Needle-leaved Evergreen, and Dead. Subclasses are named on the basis of the predominant life form.

If vegetation covers less than 30% of the substrate, the physiography and composition of the substrate are the principal characteristics used to distinguish Classes. The nature of the substrate reflects regional and local variations in geology and the influence of wind, waves, and currents on erosion and deposition of substrate materials. Bottoms, Shores, and Streambeds are separated on the basis of duration of inundation. In the Riverine, Lacustrine, and Palustrine Systems, Bottoms are submerged all or most of the time, whereas Streambeds and Shores are exposed all or most of the time. In the Marine and Estuarine Systems, Bottoms are Subtidal, whereas Streambeds and Shores are Intertidal. Bottoms, Shores, and Streambeds are further divided at the Class level on the basis of the important characteristic of rock versus unconsolidated substrate. Subclasses are based on finer distinctions in substrate material unless, as with Streambeds and Shores, the substrate is covered by, or shaded by, an areal coverage of pioneering vascular plants (often nonhydrophytes) of 30% or more; the Subclass is then simply "vegetated." Further detail as to the type of vegetation must be obtained at the level of Dominance Type. Reefs are a unique class in which the substrate itself is composed primarily of living and dead animals. Subclasses of Reefs are designated on the basis of the type of organism that formed the reef.

The DOMINANCE TYPE is the taxonomic category subordinate to Subclass. Dominance Types are determined on the basis of dominant plant species (e.g., Jeglum et al. 1974), dominant sedentary or sessile animal species (e.g., Thorson 1957), or dominant plant and animal species (e.g., Stephenson and Stephenson 1972). A dominant plant species has traditionally meant one that has control over the community (Weaver and Clements 1938:91), and this plant is also usually the predominant species (Cain and Castro 1959:29). When the Subclass is based on life form, we name the Dominance Type for the dominant species or combination of species (codominants) in the same layer of vegetation used to determine the Subclass.5 For example, a Needle-leaved Evergreen Forested Wetland with 70% areal cover of black spruce (Picea mariana) and 30% areal cover of tamarack (Larix laricina) would be designated as a Picea mariana Dominance Type. When the relative abundance of codominant species is nearly equal, the Dominance Type consists of a combination of species names. For example, an Emergent Wetland with about equal areal cover of common cattail (Typha latifolia) and hardstem bulrush (Scirious acutus) would be designated a Typha latifolia-Scirpus acutus Dominance Type.

When the Subclass is based on substrate material, the Dominance Type is named for the predominant plant or sedentary or sessile macroinvertebrate species, without regard for life form. In the Marine and Estuarine Systems, sponges, alcyonarians, mollusks, crustaceans, worms, ascidians, and echinoderms may all be part of the community represented by the Macoma balthica Dominance Type. Sometimes it is necessary to designate two or more codominant species as a Dominance Type. Thorson (1957) recommended guidelines and suggested definitions for establishing community types and dominants on level bottoms.

4Our initial attempts to use familiar terms such as marsh, swamp, bog, and meadow at the Class level were unsuccessful primarily because of wide discrepancies in the use of these terms in various regions of the United States. In an effort to resolve that difficulty, we based the Classes on the fundamental components (life form, water regime, substrate type, water chemistry) that give rise to such terms. We believe that this approach will greatly reduce the misunderstandings and confusion that result from the use of the familiar terms.
5Percent areal cover is seldom measured in the application of this system, but the term must be defined in terms of area. We suggest 2 m2 for herbaceous and moss layers, 16 m2 for shrub layers, and 100 m2 for tree layers (Mueller-Dombois and Ellenberg 1974:74). When percent areal cover is the key for establishing boundaries between units of the classification, it may occasionally be necessary to measure cover on plots, in order to maintain uniformity of ocular estimates made in the field or interpretations made from aerial photographs.
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