Original Post by Laurel Golden:

Biochemical Characteristics

Soil -mineral

Salinity -33-37 ppt

pH -neutral

Nutrient cycling -high

Pulse -stable

Biogeochemically -open

Plant Adaptations

Halophytes like spartina

Hydrophytes like cordgrass

Perennial-dominated system

Ecosystem-level Processes

P:R ratio –<1 Food chain- large, detritus Species density -high My Comment: Hi Laurel, I am identifying the wetland as a Salt Water Marsh. A crucial piece of information is that the soil is characterized as mineral. From there, I looked deeper into a bog, tidal salt marsh and salt water marsh because they all have inorganic soil (Flanagan 2016). However, a bog has a minimal food chain which does not match up with the large, detritus one described here (Flanagan 2016). Further, it cannot be a tidal salt marsh that has a high P:R ratio while the wetland described here has a P:R ratio less than 1 (Flanagan 2016). Great work illustrating the interesting plant adaptations such as halophytes and hydrophytes! Since a halophyte is a salt-tolerant plant that grows in high salinity, it makes sense that it grows in the salt water marsh (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 2013). Also, cordgrass is a common plant in a salt water marsh. Moreover, currents make it hard for annual, as opposed to perennial, plants to establish from seed (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 2013). So, it makes sense that a salt water march would have a perennial-dominated system. Reference: Flanagan, Kathryn. 2016. Power Point Presentation. https://canvas.du.edu/courses/128480/files?preview=8582554 U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. 2013. "Salt Marsh: Influenced by tides, salinity and sun". https://www.fws.gov/refuge/willapa/wildlife_and_habitat/saltmarsh.html Comment by Laurel Golden: Thanks Mary, you're correct. Thanks for the analysis.