Wet meadow: Difference between revisions
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Revision as of 01:26, 2 March 2009
A wet meadow is a semi-wetland meadow which is saturated with water throughout much of the year. Wet meadows may occur because of poor drainage or the receipt of large amounts of water from rain or melted snow. They may also occur in riparian zones.
Unlike a marsh or swamp, a wet meadow does not have standing water present except for brief to moderate periods during the growing season. Instead, the ground in a wet meadow is typically damp and squishy, like a well-soaked sponge.
Wet meadows therefore do not usually support aquatic life such as fish. They are, however, a very fecund environment and typically attract large numbers of birds, small mammals and insects including butterflies.
Vegetation in a wet meadow usually includes a wide variety of herbaceous species including sedges, rushes, forbs and grasses. Woody plants if present, account for a minority of the total area cover.
Wet meadows were once common through American states such as Illinois and Michigan but their range has been dramatically reduced. In some areas, wet meadows are often partially drained and farmed and therefore lack the biodiversity described here.
The soils in wet meadows often consist of silty and clay-like materials in depressional areas. The major soils are dominantly wet phases, or undrained phases of Peotone silty clay loam, Rantoul silty clay, Booker clay, Edinburg silty clay loam, Brooklyn silt loam, and Denny silt loam. The pH reaction is typically neutral.
Due to the concern with damage that excessive stormwater runoff can cause to nearby lakes and streams, many people are creating wet meadows to capture stormwater. The idea is to capture and store rainwater onsite and use it as a resource to grow attractive native plants that thrive in such conditions. The Buhr Park Children's Wet Meadow is one such project. It is a group of wet meadow ecosystems in Ann Arbor, Michigan designed as an educational opportunity for school-age children.