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Classification of Wetlands and Deepwater Habitats of the United States

Table 4

Table 4. Comparison of wetland types described in U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Circular 39 with some of the major components of this classification system.
Circular 39 type and references for examples of typical vegetation
Classification of wetlands and deepwater habitats
Classes
Water regimes
Water chemistry
Type 1--Seasonally flooded basins or flats
  
Wet meadow (Dix and Smeins 1967; Stewart and Kantrud 1972)
Bottomland hardwoods (Braun 1950)
Shallow-freshwater swamps (Penfound 1952) 		Emergent Wetland
Forested Wetland		 Temporarilay Flooded
Intermittently Flooded		 Fresh
Mixosaline
Type 2--Inland fresh meadows
  
Fen (Heinselman 1963)
Fen, northern sedge meadow (Curtis 1959)		 Emergent Wetland Saturated Fresh
Mixosaline
Type 3--Inland shallow fresh marshes
  
Shallow marsh (Stewart and Kantrud 1972; Golet and Larson 1974) Emergent Wetland Semipermanently Flooded
Seasonally Flooded		 Fresh
Mixosaline
Type 4--Inland deep fresh marshes
  
Deep marsh (Stewart and Kantrud 1972; Golet and Larson 1974) Emergent Wetland
Aquatic Bed		 Permanently Flooded
Intermittently Exposed
Semipermanently Flooded		 Fresh
Mixosaline
Type 5--Inland open fresh water
  
Open Water (Golet and Larson 1974)
Submerged aquatic (Curtis 1959)		 Aquatic Bed
Unconsolidated Bottom		 Permanently Flooded
Intermittently Exposed 		Fresh
Mixosaline
Type 6--Shrub swamps
  
Shrub Swamp (Golet and Larson 1974)
Shrub-carr, alder thicket (Curtis 1959)		 Scrub-Shrub Wetland All nontidal regimes except Permanently Flooded Fresh
Type 7--Wooded swamps
  
Wooded Swamp (Golet and Larson 1974)
Swamps (Penfound 1952; Heinselman 1963)		 Forested Wetland All nontidal regimes except Permanently Flooded Fresh
Type 8--Bogs
  
Bog (Dansereau and Segadas-vianna 1952; Heinselman 1963)
Pocosin (Penfound 1952; Kologiski 1977)		 Scrub-shrub Wetland
Forested Wetland
Moss-Lichen Wetland		 Saturated Fresh (acid only)
Type 9--Inland saline flats
  
Intermittent alkali zone (Stewart and Kantrud 1972) Unconsolidated Shore Seasonally Flooded
Temporarily Flooded
Intermittently Flooded		 Eusaline
Hypersaline
Type 10--Inland saline marshes
  
Inland salt marshes (Ungar 1974) Emergent Wetland Semipermanently Flooded
Seasonally Flooded 		Eusaline
Type 11--Inland open saline water
  
Inland saline lake community (Ungar 1974) Unconsolidated Bottom Permanently Flooded
Intermittently Exposed 		Eusaline
Type 12--Coastal shallow fresh marshes
  
Marsh (Anderson et al. 1968)
Estuarine bay marshes, estuarine river marshes (Stewart 1962)
Fresh and intermediate marshes (Chabreck 1972)		 Emergent Wetland Regularly Flooded
Irregularly Flooded
Semipermanently Flooded-Tidal		 Mixohaline
Fresh
Type 13--Coastal deep fresh marshes
  
Marsh (Anderson et al. 1968)
Estuarine bay marshes, estuarine river marshes (Stewart 1962)
Fresh and intermediate marshes (Chabreck 1972)		 Emergent Wetland Regularly Flooded
Semipermanently Flooded-Tidal		 Mixohaline
Fresh
Type 14--Coastal open fresh water
  
Estuarine bays (Stewart 1962) Aquatic Bed
Unconsolidated Bottom		 Subtidal
Permanently Flooded-Tidal		 Mixohaline
Fresh
Type 15--Coastal salt flats
  
Panne, slough marsh (Redfield 1972)
Marsh pans (Pestrong 1965)		 Unconsolidated Shore Regularly Flooded
Irregularly Flooded		 Hyperhaline
Euhaline
Type 16--Coastal salt meadows
  
Salt marsh (Redfield 1972; Chapman 1974) Emergent Wetland Irregularly Flooded Euhaline
Mixohaline
Type 17--Irregularly flooded salt marshes
  
Salt marsh (Chapman 1974)
Saline, brackish, and intermediate marsh (Eleuterius 1972)		 Emergent Wetland Irregularly Flooded Euhaline
Mixohaline
Type 18--Regularly flooded salt marshes
  
Salt marsh (Chapman 1974) Emergent Wetland Regularly Flooded Euhaline
Mixohaline
Type 19--Sounds and bays
  
Kelp beds, temperate grass flats (Phillips 1974)
Tripical marine meadows (Odum 1974)
Eelgrass beds (Akins and Jefferson 1973; Eleuterius 1973)		 Unconsolidated Bottom
Aquatic Bed
Unconsolidated Shore		 Subtidal
Irregularly Exposed
Regularly Flooded
Irregularly Flooded		 Euhaline
Mixohaline
Type 20--Mangrove swamps
  
Mangrove swamps (Walsh 1974)
Mangrove swamp systems (Kuenzler 1974)
Mangrove (Chapman 1976)		 Scrub-Shrub Wetland
Forested Wetland		 Irregularly Exposed
Regularly Flooded
Irregularly Flooded		 Hyperhaline
Euhaline
Mixohaline
Fresh

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