Wetlands of Connecticut

              WETLANDSO F
CONNECTICUT
StateG eologlcaal nd NaturaHl istoryS urveyo f Connecticut
in Cooperatiowni tht he U.S.F isha ndW ildlifeS ervice
NationaWl etlandsIn ventory
by KennethJ. Metzle&r RalphW . Tiner
State Geological and Natural History Survey
of Connecticut
Department of Environmental Protection
in cooperationw ith
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
NationalW etlandsIn ventory
WETLANDS OF CONNECTICUT
KennetJh. Metzler
StateG eologica6l Natural HistoryS urveyo f Connecticut
De pa rt mento f Envir onmentaPl r o t ec t ion
Hartt'ordC, onnecticut
&
Ralph W. Tiner
U.5. Fish & Wildl{e Seryice
Na tionalW e tlandsIn ve ntory
Newfon Corner, Massachusetts
t9L)2
Report of lnvestigations No. 13
IqPN'I n O/tnat n? v
by
State Geological and Natural History Survey
of Connecticut
Department of Environmental Protection
HonorableL owellP . Weicker,J r.
Gov ernor of Connecticut
Timothy R.E. Keeney
Commissionoefr t heD epartmenotf EnttironmentParl otection
State Geologist
Director, Natural Resources Center
Richard C. Hyde
Hartford, Connecticut
Additionalc opiesm ay be purchasedfr om:
DEP Maps and Publicatrons
165C api toAl r -enueR. oom5 55
Hartford,C onnecticu0t 61 0 6
(203) 566-7719
CopyrightI 991 by the StateG eologicaal nd NaturalH istoryS urveyo f Connecticut
A11ri shtsr esen'ed.
Acknowledgments
Many indivrduals and organlzalions have contributed to the completion of the lvetlands inventory in Conne cticut
and ro the preparation of this report. The U.S Fish and Wildlife Sen'ice (USFWS) Region 5 Off icc proviclccl funds .rn.l
equipment for rhe aerial photo interpretation phase of the rnventorl'and the USFWS National Wetlands Inve nti'r11'(iror-r1.r
i n St. Pe t e r s b u r gF. l o r i d a p r o r i d e d t e c h n i c a ls u p p o r t f o r p r o d u , i n g l h e r , r e t l a n dr n r p s r n d l t r r r o n s t r u L l i nAt h r '
Connecticut Wetland data base; the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection, Natural Resources Ce nte r
provrded funds lor the preparation of this re port, space and staff support for the photo interpretation, and draft ancl final
map review; and the University of MassachusettsD. epartment of Frrrestrya nd Wildirfe Managemen t conducted areal
measurementsa nd prepared acreegcs ummaries for the wetlands and deepwaterh abitats incLucledi n this report.
Special attention and appreciation is given to Nels Barrett of the Unive rsitl' of Conne cticLlt \\'ho pe rformed ne arll'
all the photo lnrerpretation, his dedication and hard work sen.es as the basis for this report. \\'c also thankJohn Organ
whose work as acting USFWS Region 5 National Wetlands Inventor)'Coordinator facilitated the photo interpretation.
provided technicala ssistancea nd quahty control, and reviervedb oth draft end final rnaps. His cnthusiasmw as es sen tial
for the quality and detail reflcctedb 1't he maps. The perseverancea nd support ol'Richard Hyclea nd Dr. Hugo Thomas.
Director and former Director of the Natural Resources Center respcctiveh . rre grcall) rpprceratcd. wilhout which the
completion oI this report never could have occurred.
Sincere gratitude is extended to the fbllou'ing pe rsons for reviewing \ anous steges r,f thc drult manuscript and for
providing additional information: Dr. William Niering, Connecticut Collegc; Douglrs Cr)opcr. Connecticut DEP; Davicl
Emerson, City of Sramford, Connecticut; and Dr. Michael Lefor, Unn'ersitl' of Connecticut. Aciditional revieu' ancl
information was provided by the follou'rng: Ralph Lelvis, Connecticut DEP andJanet Stone, U.S. Geologrcal Sun'ey'
(Chapter 4); Edward Sautter and Kip Kolesinskas, USDA Soil Consen'ation Sen'irc (Chrptcr i); Ron Rozsa and Leslie
Mehrhoff, Connecticut DEP (Chapter 6); George Brys, Dawn McKay, Par-rMl erola, and Paul Rego, Connecticut DEP
(Chapter 7);Joanne Gookin, USFWS and Janice Stone, Unilersity of Massachusetts (u'etland acreage); Paul Fusco,
Richard Hyde, LeslieM ehrhoff, and AllanWilliams, Connec ticut DEP, Kip Kolesinskasa nclA l Rober ts, Soil Consen 'ation
Service (photographs), andJonathan Scull, Connecticut DEP (computcr assistance). Credit [or the cover phr)tographs
should be given to LeslieM ehrhoff (bea r,er pond), Ster,enD . Faccio,B ethel,C T (wood duck), anciK ennet h N'Ietz ler (a11
others). We also rhankJoanne Gookin (USFWS) for earcfull;-preparrng the enclosed map shou,ing the distribution of
wetlands and deepwater habitats throughout lhe state.
The work of Carol Iozzo and other indir,iduals who t1.ped portrons ol thrs reprrrt rncl rts earlie r dralis rs alscr
a e k n o u l e d g e dW. e g i r e p a r t i c u h rt h a n k s t oDi a n e T l l e rr i h o t l p e d t h c [ i n a lt c x t . i n : c r t c d t h c l i g t r r e ' r t n d t r h l tr:n. t l
formattedthecamera-readydraft. AllanWilliamsofthe ConnecticutDEPsawthemanuscriptthroughpublication, lv1ary
Crombie provlded graphic design assistancea, nd the final draft r,vase dited by'Selbourne Brou'n
a
Table of Contents
A ek n o u l"c "db u" ' 'm e n t s . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . i
Neecflo ra Wet landIsn ventoriyn Connec t i cut . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1
( - ) r o r n r - r l i , r n , r f t his RepOrt
Chapter 2.. U.S.
lntroduction
The U.S. Fish
The U.S. Frsh
Reference. .s.
Fish and Wildlife Service's Wetland Definition and Classification System
""a wttJtit.s ""ji.. t b.rtnirionil w.Lt"nJt
and Wildlife Sen'ice'sW etlandsC lassificationS ystem
Soils of Connecticut
. 4
4
. 4
. 5
1 1
t 2
T2
t 2
T2
16
l 6
18
2 I
2 l
22
Chapter 3. National Wetlands Inventory Techniques and Results
Int roduet i t rn
Wetlands lnventory Techniques
Rc ri ew o f Ex i s t i n gW e t l a n d sl n v e n l o r i e s
Mapping Photography
Field lnvestigations
Photo Interpretation and Collateral Data
Draft Map Production
Draft Map Review.....
Final Map Production . ..16
Wetland Acreage Compllation . . . . . . . . . . 1 6
Na t i o n a lW e t l a n d sI n v e n t o r yM a p s . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .L. 6
Wetland and Deepwater Habitel Acreage Summaries . lB
StateT . r t r ls
County Totals
Ref er en ccs
Chapter 4. Wetland Formation and HydroIogy............... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 3
Wetland Formation
Inland Wetland Formation
Coastal Wetland Formatron
Tidal Wctland H; drology
Nonti dalW et landH ydrology
References
I 2
t 2
Chapter 5. Hydric
lntroduction...
\ r . : . , - . , . - ^ - i . . t H y d r i c s o i l s . . . . .
County
Chapter 6. Vegetation and Plant Communities of Connecticut's Wetlands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 4
H, .v -d /r ,"r n, h" vPrf.p) .p-f i/n.i t.r 1nan- n . d. C ' o' n. c. e. n' t. . . ' ' . . . ' ' . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 4
ConnecticuHt ydrophytes
Factors Influencing Wet land Vegetation
Wetland Plant Communities
EstuarineW etlands
EstuarineA quatic Beds
34
34
26
27
28
29
32
++
1 )
46
.to
,io
Estuar ineI nter t idalB eachesa nd RockyS hores .to
Esut a r i n eI n t e r l i d aFlI a t.s. . . . . . . . . . . .
Estuarine Emergent Wetlands
Salt Marshes
Brackish Tidal Marshes
Rir e rine Wetlands
Riverine Tidal Wetlands .. . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Rlverine Nontrdal Wetlands
Pr lust r ineW et lands
Palusr itn eA quat i cB eds. . . . . . . .
47
+7
4B
49
50
5 1
52
) 1
55
55
56
57
63
63
63
63
\ ] T
B I
82
82
B3
83
84
86
87
88
8B
88
92
92
92
93
94
PalustrineE mersentW etlands
PaLust r inTeid alE mersenWt et lands. . . . .
PalustrineN ontidal EmereentW etlands
Palus tnnSec rub-ShruWbl t lands. . . . . . . . .
Palustrine Forested Wetlands
Lacust r inWe et lands
Lacust r inAeq uat icB eds. . . , ; NonpersistenEtm ergenWt et lands
Endansereda nd ThreatenedW etland Plants
Summary
References
Introduction 67
Fi sha ndS hel l f i sHha bi tat . . . . . . . . . . . . . .67
Water fowal ndO therB i rdH abr tat . . . . . .. . . . . . . .68
Furbearearn dO therW i ldl i feH abi tat . . . . . . . . . . ...... 70
Endangered and Threatened Animals
Environmental Quality Values . . . . . . . . . .
Wrter Qualily I mprovement
Soc io-economViacl ues . . . . . . . . . ........ . .7+
Flooda ndS tormD amagPe rotec t ion . . . . . . . . . . .... . . .7+
Har vesot f NaturaPl roduc t s . . . . . . . . . . .76
Re c r e a t iaond A e s t h e t i c s . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . 7 7
70
70
70
Chapter 8. Connecticut Wetland Trends
Forces Changlng Wetlands
Natural Processes
Human Actions
Wet landT rends
Quantitative Changes
Qualitative Changes.
Coas taWl et landL os se.s. . . . . . . . .
StatewidWe et landL os se.s. . . . . . . . .
Future Outlook .
References
Chapter 9. Wetland Protection...
Introduction
Wetland Acqursition
FutureA ct rons
Government Options
Private Options
References. ... . . .
Appendix: List of Connecticut Hydrophytes
8 1
8 1
8 1
8 1
Enclosure:G eneraDl istributiono f Connecticut'Ws etlands
List of Figures
No.
L Ph y s i , r g r . r pr lLtgi ti o no: l 'Co n n t . 1 i c u t . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
2 Schematicd iagrams hovn'inwge tlandsd, eepwatehr abitatsa, nd uplandso n
the landscape
Clrssiliuatirrn hie raruhy of rvetlands and deepu'ater habitats showing systems,
subsl ,stme s, and cl i rsses . . . . . .. . . . .. . . . . . . 8
Page
. i
3
4
5 .
6 .
7 .
L
9 .
10
l 1
t 2
t 3
1 4
I B
. 2 2
. 2 2
. 2 3
26
. 2 7
28
29
. 9
l 3
35
4B
4B
50
50
5 1
Dragrarn shor.r'ing major welland and deepwater habitat s)'stems
lndex of aerial photographv used for the National Wetlands Inventory ln Conneclicut
Example of a National Wetlands lnventory' map
Relative abunciance of Connecticut's wetlands ..
Rel:rtived istributrono f esluarinew etlandsin Connecticut
Relatived istributrono f palustrinen 'etlandsrn Connecticut
Extento f recengt laciat ioinn southernN ew England. . . . . . . .
Marsha nd bog successionapla tterns .25
1 1
Ex t c n t, r I n r r j , r rg l e ei a l l r k e s i n Co n n e t t i eu t
Recent changes in the Connecticut River ftood plain south of Hartford
Hy.drology oI coastal wetlands showing different zones of flooding
15. H1'drolog1o,f surfacer' vatewr etlands
16. H1'drologyo [ groundr,vatervre llands ... .... 30
17 . Recurrence inten'aL of annual and summer fioodine on lhe Conneclicut River 30
18 Water table fluctuation in a nontidal rvetland ? l
l9 Schematic cross sectlon of a hydrosequence showing sorl morphological change in
25 Freshwatert idal marsh on the lower Connect icutR iver . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . .51
landscapep osi t ion.
20. Exan. rpleosl e stuar ineem ergenrt' vel landosn theC onnect icusth orel in.e. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
2l Generalizezdo n:rtiono f vegetationt) 'pesin southernN eu'Englands altm arshes.. ..
22. Brackrshtr dalm arsho n the lower ConnecticuRt iver.N arrow-leavecda ttail
predominates
23 Map of the QuinnipracR iverb rackrshti dal marshes
2+. Distributron oI the major tidal r,'e Llands on the Connecticul River
26 Generalizepdl ant zonalioni n a freshrvaletrid al wetland
27 Aqur t icV cgct r t loni ' presenrtn m: rn;C onnect icuplo ndtr nd st resms
28 Annualb eachv egetationrs formeda longr iverc hannelsth ath avel argef luctuationsin
u'ater ler.'el
Exampleosf pi r lust r ineem ergennto nt idawl et landsin Connect icu.t. . . . . . . . . . . . .
Leatherleabf ogsa re an uncommon scrub-shrubw etland type in Connecticut
Highbushb lueberryi s abundanti n Connecticust crubs hrubw etlands.. ......
Exampleosf palust r inefo restewd et landsin Connect icu.t. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Patterno f vegetationo n the ConnecticuRt iverf lood plain
34. N4igratorb;'i rdsd ependo n wetlands
35. Major r.vaterforvoi r,envinteringa reasa long the Connecticut coasl ............
36. The river otter is a secretive residenl of freshwaler marshes
37 Relativep roductivity oI rvetland ecosystemsi n relation lo other ecosys[ems
38 Simplilied food parhn'a1,s from estuarine wetland \.egetation to commercial and
recreational frshes of imporlance to humans
39. Wetlandv aluei n reducingf loodc restsa nd flow ratesa lters torms
40. Cranber ryp roduct ronw aso ncea r . ' iab1ined ust ryi n Connect icut ...... . . . . . . . ...... . . . . . .
+I. lncreasedu rband evelopmenot f wetlandsh erghtenedfl ood damagese, specialliyn
south central Connecticut
+2. Priort o the 1970's,m anl.estuarinwe erlandsw eref illedf or resrdentiaaln d commercial
6lssl l l rpnrcnt
43. N4anyfr eshr.vatwere tlandsr emainv ulnerableto developmenpt ressures
4+. PachaugG reatM eadolri,s one of the largesat nd mostd iverse1 vg1lrnreln mnlere<
29
30
3 l
32
33
52
. 5 3
.5+
. 5 5
. 5 8
. 5 9
. 6 0
. 6 2
. 6 8
. 6 9
70
. 7 3
. 7 3
.74
. 7 6
B3
85
B6
rn Ct rnnccLicut . 9 3
No.
1 .
2 .
3 .
+.
5
6 .
7 .
8
9 .
l 0
List of Tables
Definrtrons o[ "wetlands' accordrng to sclected federal agencies and state statutes .... ...
Classesa nd subclasseso f wetlands and deepwaterh abitats
Water regime modifiers, both tida] and nontidal groups
Sal ini t ; modi fcrsf or coastala n. l inlan. la reas . . . . . .
WeLlandi nventor icsc onducledi n Conncr l . i r 'u.t
We t l r n d a c r e a g eo [ Co n n e t t r c u !t o u n t i e s
Deeprvatehr abi tata creageo I Conncet icutc ount ics
Summary of National Wetlands lnventory wetland t)'pe acreage for each Connectrcul
eounty
Ranges of spring and mean tides at selected locations in Connecticut . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Examples of plant indlcators of the predomlnant tidal waLer regimes {or Connecticut's
esluanne wetlands
l1 Examples of plant indicators of nontidal water regimes for Connecticut's palustrine
wetlands
Page
. . . . 6
. . . . . . 7
. . .I 0
. . 1. l
. . I 4
. . 1 9
I 9
20
28
29
3 l
I 2 . 3 6
1 3
Li s to f hydr i cs oi l sa ndq ual i l y inlgr nc lt ypesm appcdin Conneut i c.u .t. . .. . . . . . .
Rankingo f countiesa ccordingto totala creageo f hydrics oilsa nd percentagoef each
count yr epre' cntebdy theses oi l s. . . . . . . . . . . . .
I 4 . Ac r e a g ea n d p e r c en t o f a r e ao l ' h y d r i cs o i l sw i t h i n e a c h( o u n t y i n Co n n e t l i c u t
I.5. Examples of wetland plant types occurring in Connecticut
16 Representrtivees tuarinew etlandp lantc ommunitiesin Connecticut
17 Majorf reshwatet ird alw et landc ommuni t ieosn thel owerC onnect rcuRti ver . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
18. Exampleso I hydrophyte-water egimer elatronshipsin Connecticut'sn ontida] wetlands
19. Commond omrnancety pesf or Connecticut'psa lustrinee mergenwt etlands
20 Exampleosf palust r insec rub-shruwb et landc ommuni l ieisn Connect icu.t. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
21. Exampleosf palustnnefo restewd et landc ommuni t ieisn Connect icut . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..... . . . . .
22. List of Connecticupt lantsu nder reviewl or federalli stinga se ndangereodr threatened
specres
r ) | : . , . r * . , . , . . ^ , r a n dV a l U e S L ) . L r ) L Ur r r r 4 J V r W C L r
24. Proposed Endangered, Threatened, and Special Concern animal species in Connecticut
dependent on wetlands
25 Majorc auseosf wet landlo ssa ndd egradat ioinn Connect icu.t. . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
)6. Estimateso f tidalw etlandl ossi n Connecticuftr om 1884t o 1980 . .. . .... 84
27. Losseos[ vegetatewde t landsin cent raCl onnect icubte [ween1 980a nd I985/86 . . . . . .. . . .. . . . .8 5
28 Summaq'o f pnmaryf ederaal nd state1 ar'vrse latingt o wetlandp rotectionin Connecticut. ....90
List of Plates (platesli e betweenp ages5 4 and 55)
1-6 Exampleso f fiveh ydrics oilsa nd onen onhydncs oiir egulateda sw etlandsin Connecticul.
1. Carlislem uck.
2. Whitman line sandy loam.
j Rrdgeburlyin es andll oam.
4. Pawcatuckm ucky peat.
5. Saco silt loam.
6. Suncookl oamys and.
lntertidalb eacha longt he easternC onnecticust hore.
Inter t idarlo ekys horc/aquiacl b ed in Myst ie.
Intertldal flat in a cove in eastern Connecticut.
Saltm arsho n the centralC onnecticust hore.
Overview oI the Connectlcut River floodplain in Portland
Silver maple floodplarn forested wetland in Wrndsor.
Freshwatetri dal emergenwt etlandi n a smal1c ovea longt he ConnecticuRt iver.;ussLo utho f Hartford
Red maple forested wetland in Canaan
Northernw hite cedarf orestedw etlandi n Canaan.
A scrub-shrubw etlandl n Mansfreld.
nA Lu ll d^ .l .Kl ) l , r u l t .) .l .r" u, ,uL- ). lL lrrr r h h n o i n R r r r l i n o r n n
A beaver impounded wetland in Salisbury.
A non-per s i s t renml ergen\ \l et land. rna ponds horein Clas tonbur y
A cattail emergent wetland in Griswold dunng a drought year.
37
38
a )
+7
53
54
56
5B
6 l
o'+
7 \
7 .
8 .
9 .
l 0
l l
I 2
r3
l 4
t 5
l 6
t 7
1 8
19
20
ffi;i %#
CHAPTER 1.
Introduction
Since the i950s, there has been parlicular concern
aboutw etlandI ossesa nd their impacto n fisha nd wildlife
populations.ln 1954,t he U.S. Frsh& Wildhfe Sen'ice
conducted the first nationwide wetlands inventory. This
inventory..r'apsu blishedi n a well-known report entitled,
Wetlandso .f the lJnitedS tctes,c ommonly referredt o as
"Circular 39" (Shaw' and Fredine, 1956). Since the
publicationo f Circular3 9, wetlandsh ar.'ec onlinuedt o
changed ue to both natural processeas nd human activi-ties,
such as the conversion of wetlands for agriculture,
residentiaal nd industnald evelopmentasn d otheru ses.
Dunng the 1960s,t he generapl ublic in manys tates
became more aware of wetland values and more con-cerneda
boulw etlandl ossesP. eopleb egant o realizelh at
wetlands not only provide significant fish and u'ildlife
habitat, but that they also provide public benefits such as
flood protection and water quality maintenance. Wet-lands
had been regarded by most people as wastelands
whose best use could only be attained by drainrng for
agnculture, dredging and lilling {br industrial and hous-ing
developmentso,r for usea ss anitaryla ndfilis. How-ever,
s cientifics tudiesd emonstratin$g' etlandv aluesw ere
rnstrumentali n increaslngp ublic awarenesso f wetland
benefitga nd stimulatin5cl oncernf or wetland protectiLrn.
Consequentlyi,n the 1960sa nd 1970s,s everals tales
passedla ws to protectc oastawl ellands:M assachuselts
(1963) ,R hodel sland( 1965) ,C onnecl icu(t1 969) 'N ew
Jersey( 1970) ,M aryland( 1970) ,G eorgia( 1970) ,N ew
York (1972) and Delain'ar(e1 973). Shortlyt hereafter,
severaol f theses tatesa doptedin landw etlandp rotcction
legislationM: assachusettRs,h ode lslancl,C onnectLcut'
and New York. Most others [alesw ilh coastawl etlands
subsequently followed the lead of these northeastern
statesa, nd in the mid to late 1980s,o ther northeastern
statesa doptedf reshwatewr etlandp rotectionl aws:V er-mont,
NewJerseyM, aine,a nd Maryland.
Duringt he 1970s,r heU .S.A rmy Corpso f Engineers
assumed limited reguiatory responsibllity for wetland
protectiont hroughS ectionl 0 of the Rrversa nd Harbors
Act and Section 404 of the Federal Water Pollution
Control Act (later amended as the Clean Water Act o[
Ig77). Federal permirs from the U.S Arml'Corps of
Engineersa re now required for many typeso f construc-tion
in wetlands, although normal agricultural and for-eslryp
racticesa ree xempt.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has the primery
responsibilitfyo r the protecliona nd managemenot f the
nation's frsh and wildlife and their habitats. Conse-quently,
a ne e d for ecoiogical information was recognized
for use in making knowledgeable decisions regarding
pohcy, planning, and the management of the country's
wetland resources. The Naticlnal Wetlands lnventory
Project was established in 1974 to generate and dissemt-nate
scientific information on the charactenstics and
extent of the nation's wetlands. The purpose of this
information is to foster approprtate use of wetlands and ttr
prol'rde data for making accurate resource decisions. Two
different kinds of information are gene rated by this pro1cct:
(l) detailed maps; and, (2) status and trends reports.
Detailed$ 'etlandm aps ser\rea Purposes imilar to thaL
of the National Cooperative Soil Surveys, the National
Oceanic and Atmospheric Adminrstration's coastal geo-detic
sun'ey maps, and the Gecllogical Surve,v's lopo-graphic
maps. Detailed wetland maps are used for many
purposes including watershed management plans, envi-ronmental
impact assessment5p.e rmr t revicus. feci l i t l
and corridor siting, otl spill contingency plans, natural
resource inventortes, wildlife surveys, and others. Tcl
date, over 10,000 maps have been produced, cor-ering 6l
percent of the lower 48 States, l8 percent ofAlaska, and
all of Hawaii. Presenl plans are to complete wetland
mapping for the conterminous U.S by 1998 and to
acceleratet he mapping of Alaska'sw etlands therealter'
By classifying wetland types and measuring acreages,
it has also been possrble to provide national estimates ot
the status and recent losses and gains oIwetlands Hence,
the National Wetlands Inventory (NWI) prol'ides infor-mation
for revlewing the effectiveness of existing federal
programs and policies and for increasing publie aware-ness.
Technical and popular reports about these trends
have recently been published (Frayer, et al., 1983; Tiner,
1984).
Need for a Wetlands Inventory in
Connecticut
Although the state of Conneclicut prepared coastal
wetland maps in the early 1970's for regulatory purposes,
no statewide acreage summaries oI the extent of these
wetlandsw erep reparedS. imilarlyC, onnecticupt repared
maps for inland wetlands based upon soil types from the
NatronalC ooperativeS oil Surveysf or identificationp ur-poseso
nly. Neithers eto f mapss eparatews etlandsin to
vegetationty pes. Moreovers, rgnificantti me hase lapsed
since the coaslal and inland wetland maps were preprred
and changesh aveu ndoubtedlyo ccurred.
Consequently, the U.S. Fish and Wildhfe Service and
the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection
loined togcther in 1980 to conduct a wetlands inventory
for Connecticut. This inventory was a part of the Se n'ice's
National Wetlands lnvenlory Pro1ect,a nd produced de-tailed
wetland maps that identify the status oI Conneclicut's
wetlands and sen'e as a base for determinins ltrture
changes.
Description of the Study Area
Connecticul's landscape is primarily htll;' wlth a
broad central lowland btsecting the state (Figure l).
Elevations range from sea level along the coast to o\rer
2,000 feet in the northwest uplands. Most o[ lhe state is
underlain b1 acidic schistsa nd gneissesw ith sandstones,
shales, and basalts in the Central Vallel'. Along the
western border, a few narrow hmestone valleys occur
tRodgers.l q85I . A generald cscr ipt ion. . , ft he gcolog; oI
Connecticut can be found in Tht Facc oJ Connecttcut:
People, Geologr'a, nd theL and (Bell, 1985)
Connecticut has a temperate humid climate that is
modified b;' its proxrmitl' to the Atlantic Ocean. In
general, there is a large range in both diurnal and annual
remperaLurcs, ample precrpitation evenly distributed
throughout the year, great variation between lhe same
season rn different years, and considerable diversit;' from
place to place (Brumbach, 1965). Annual precipitation is
44-48 inches, u'ith an a\reraEles nor'vfal1a ccumulation
ranging from 7 rnches along the coast to 20 inches in the
norLhwesternu plan. ls.A \ 'er lget empcraturesr angel rom
a mean maximum of 82.5oF inJuly to a mean mrnimum
of 18.4oF in January. Thc length of the irost free season
averages from I 80 days along the coasl to I 50 day's in the
north\\,est corner oI the state , n'ith the ftrst freeze occur-ring
in late September or early October and the last in mid-
April or early Ma;'
Organization of this Report
This reporti ncludesd iscussronos[ wetlandc oncept
and classiflcatio(nC hapter2 ), NatronaWl etlandsl nven-tory
techniquesa nd results( Chapter3 ), *'etlandf orma-tion
and hydrologl'(Chapte4r) , hydnc soils( Chapter5 ),
wetlandv egetationa nd plant communities( Chapter6 ).
wetlandv alues( Chapter7 ), u'etlandt rends( Chapter8 ),
and wetland protection (Chapter 9). The Appendix
containsa hsto fh ydrophyticp lantsf oundi n Conneclicut's
wetlands.S cientificn ameso f plantsf ollow theP reli nrinarl
Chechlisot .f the VascularF lora oJ Connecticu(tD owhan,
I 9 79) wirh synonymyt o the NdtiondlL isto f ScientifiPc lant
Names( U.S.DA Soi l Consen'at ioSn ervice1, 982) A
figures howingt he generadl istributiono f Connecticul's
wetlandsa nd deepwatehr abitatsrs p rovideda sa n enclo-sure
at the back o[ this report
References
8e11M, . 1985 TheF a ceo .Cf onnecttcuPt:e opleG, eo logXa,n d
theL and. ConnecticuGt eologicaal nd NaturalH is-toryS
uney,B ul let inN o. 110. Har t ford.2 28 p.
BrumbachJ, J 1965. TheC hmateo f ConnecticutC. on-nectlcutG
eologicaaln dN aturalH istoryS urv'eyB, ul-let
inN o. 99. Har t ford.2 15 p.
Dowhan,J .J. 1979. PrehminarCy hecLelisthoeJV ascular
Flora of Connecticut. Connecticut Geological and
NaturalH rstoryS urveyR, eporto f lnvestigationNso .
S Hartf.rrd lTo p.
Frayer, W.E , T.J Monahan, D.C. Bowden, and F.A
Graybrll 1983. Statusa nd Trendso f Wetlandsa nd
DrcpwaterH abitatsin theC onterminouUs nitedS tates,
1950'sto 1970's. Departmento f Foresta nd Wood
SciencesC,o loradoS tateU niver sity Ft Collins.3 2 p.
RodgersJ, . 1985. BedroclGt eologicM ap of Connecticut.
ConnecticuGt eologicaal nd NaturalH istoryS un'e1',
At lasS er ieNs o. 6. Har t ford.S calel : 125,000.
SharvS, .P.a ndC G.F redrne.1 956.W etlandsothf eUnited
StatesT. heir Extenta nd ThetrV aluet o Watert'owal nd
Other Wildlile. U S. Frsh and Wildllfe Sen'ice, Circu-
1ar3 9. Washington,D C. 67 p
Tiner, R.W , Jr. 1984. Wetlandso f the UnitedS tates:
Current Status and Recent Trend-s. U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Sen'iceN, ationalWetlandsIn r,'enloryW. ash-ington,
DC. 59 p.
U.S.D.AS oilC onservatioSn en'rce.1 982.N alrona l Listo J
Sc ienttfc P la ntN cmesV. o L1. . Listo JP lantN amesS. CS-TP-
159.W ashingtonD, C 416 p.
.{ -?
!
' ? ' 4
'
/'a
o\
.:
Ea
&
-
t
U
c
':
d
'Ga )
o-
+.
qi
E
E=goE
E6
-
6
I
It
Ec
rf
?ri
t Y
r:h . ----- :
!aj- {r?'s 1 L:t Ft:r4
.'-.---- ii;,1, :.-J l. : --j'
Gffe+'. '*
a- t ' : . t t ' ! " i ! . ' . t
CHAPTER 2.
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service'sW etland Definition and ClassificationS ystem
Introduction along rivers, lakes and coastal waters where they are
sub1ectto perlodicf loodrngo r surfacew ater ponding.
Somew etlandsh, owevero, ccuro n slopesw herer heya re
associatewdi th groundw aters ee ps. To accurateliyn ven-tory
this resource,r he point along rhe continuum of
natural wetness where wetland ends and upland begins
hadt o bed eterminedW. hile manywetlandsliein distrnct
depressionso r basinst hat are readily obsenable,t he
wetland-uplandb oundaryi s not alwayse asyt o identrfy.
This is especialltyr ue alongm any flood plarnsi,n glacial
till depositso, n gentlys lopingt errain,a nd in areasw ith
significanht ydrologicm odificationT o helpe nsurea ccu-ratea
nd consistenut 'etlandd eterminationa, multi-disci-plinary
and ecologlcally-basedw etland definitron was
construcled.
TheU .S.F isha ndW ildhfeS ervlceli rsta cknowledged
"there is no srngle.c orrect,i ndisputable, ecoiogically
sound delinition for wetlands, primarily because of the
drverslty of wetlands and because the demarcation be-tweend
ry andw et envrronmentlsie sa longa continuum"
(Cowardine, to I..1 979) Secondlyn, o attemprw asm ade
to legally define "wetland," since each state or federal
regulatory agency has defined wetland somewhat differ-ently
tr) suit rts administratirrpeu rposes( Table l) A
wetland is whatever the 1aw says it rs. For example,
Connecticut'Tsi dalW etlandP rotectionA ct (Section2 2a-
28 through 35, inclusive of the Connectrcut General
Statutesd) efinest idal wetlandsb y a combinationo f hy-drologlc
and vegetativec haracteristics.l n contrast,
Connecticut'sIn land Wetlandsa nd WatercoursesA ct
(Sections2 2a-36t hrough2 2a-45,i nclusivet rf rhe Con-necticutG
eneraSl tatutesd) efinesi nland wetlandsp rima-rily
by certain soil types ("poorly drained, very poorly
drained,a llur.iala, nd flo od plaina sd efinedb y theU S.D .A.
NationalC ooperativeS oil Sun'ey"). Watercourseasr e
definedd rfferently'a"s. . . rir,'erss,t reamsb, rooks,w ater-ways,
l akes,p onds,m arshess,w ampsb, ogs,a nda ll other
bodieso f water,n aturalo r artificialw, hich arec ontained
withrn,f low through,o r borderuponr heS rare.W" ith this
variarion in the legal definitions of wetlands within Con-necticut
as well as differenceso n the federala nd state
levelsa, wetlandd efinitionw asn eededt hat would stan-dardize
the identlfication of wetlands throushout the
United States.
TheU .S.F isha ndW ildlife Serviced efinesw etlandsa s
follows: Wetlands are "lands transitional between rerres-trial
and aquatics ystemsw here the water tablei s usually
at or near the surface or the land is covered by shallow
water. For the purposeso f this classrficationw, etlands
InJanuary 1975, the U.S. Fish and Wrldhfe Sen'ice
brought together l4 authors of regional u,'erlandc lassifi-cations
and other prominent wetland scientists ro he lp
decide if anv exisrinp classilication could be used or
modified for a national inventory, or if a new system was
nceded. They rectrmmended that the Sen'ice attempt to
develop a new national we tland classification. ln Jul;'
1975 rhc Sen' ices n, rnsoredth e Nat ionalW et landsC las-sification
and Inventory Workshop, where more than I 50
wct land >eicnt i>tse nd mrpping ( 'xPer tsm ct to reviewa
preliminary draft of the new wetland classificatrons ;.stem.
The consensus was thal the system should be hie rarchical
rn nature and built around the concept of ecosl'stems
( S a t h e r , 1 9 7 6 ) .
Four key objectives for the ne\\' system r.vere estab-lished:
(1) to develop e cologically similar habitat unit; (2)
to arrange these units in a system that r.vould facihtate
resource management decisions; (3) to furnish unrts lbr
rnr.entory and mapping; and, (4) to pror-ide unrformitf in
eonucpt rnd tcrminolog;' throughout the countr)'
(C. rwr rdin, ( ' tL ' t.l loTa)
The U.S. Fish and Wildlile Sen'ice wetland classifica-tion
system u'as developed by' Ler,vrsM . Cowardin, U.S.
Fish and Wildlife Se n'ice; Virginra Carrer. U. S. Geological
Sun'ey; Francis C Golet, University of Rhode Island; and
Edrvard T. LaRoe, Naticlnal Oceanic and Atmospherie
Administration, n'ith assistancel iom numerous federal
and state agencies, universitl'scientists, and o[her inter-estedi
ndir,'idua1sT. he classrfications ystemw ent thrr-rugh
three major dralis and extensive field testing prior ro its
publication as Classi.ficationo .[ Wetlands and Dtepwater
Habi tatsoft heU ni tedSlate(sC owardin,e tal . ,1 979) . Since
its publication, this classifications ystemh as been r,videly
used by federal,s tatea nd local agencies,u nir.'ersitl'seien-tists,
prirate indusLry. and nonprofit organizations for
rdentifying and classifying wetlands.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's
Definition of Wetlands
Wetlandsg enerall;l'i e betweent he betterd rained,
rarelyf loodedu plandsa ndt hep ermanentlyfl oodedd eep
waterso f lakesn, versa ndc oastael mbayment(sF igure2 ).
Wetlandsi ncludet he varietyo f marshesb, ogs,s wamps,
shallowp onds,a ndb ottomlandl oreststh ato ccur through-out
the country. Theyu suallyl le in uplandd epressionos r
U pland
Upland
- - -
WaterTable
Groundwater
D ischarge
High Water
Low Watel
L__l
DepressionalWetland Overflow Deepwater Overflow
Wetland Habitat Wetland
S eepage on Slope
Figure 2. Schen-ratdicia grams howingw 'ellanda nd cleepwatehra brtatsa, nd uplandso n the landscap.e N otec liflerenceisn
wetlands due to hi'drologv and topographic posrtion.
I I t l +
Wetland
must have one or more of the fo11o..n'intgh ree attributes:
( I) at least periodically, the land supports predominantly
hydrophytes,( 2) the substrateis p redominantlyu ndrarned
htdr ic soi l rnd ( l ) rhe subst ratei s nonsoi l and is satu
rated with waler or covered by shallow water at some time
during the growing season oI each;'ear.
" (Cowardin, e t al.,
I979, see Tiner, I989 for clanfication).
In defining uetlands from an ecological standpoint
three key attributes of wetlands are emphasized: (1)
hydrology - the degree of flooding or soll saturation; (2)
wetland vegetation (hydrophytes), and, (3) h;'drlc solis.
A1l areas considered wetland must have enough water at
some time during the growing season to stress piants and
animals not adapted lor lile in u,'ater or saturated soi1s.
Most wetlands have hydrophytes and hydric soils pre se nt.
Natronal and regronal lists of wetland plants have been
prepared by thc U.S Fish and Wrldlife Sen'ice (Reed,
1988a; 1988b) and the Soil Consenation Sen'ice has
developed a hst of hydric soils (U S.D.A. Soil Conscn'ation
Service, 1987) to help identifl'wetland
Particular attentron must be given to llooding or s,ril
saturation during the growing season. When soils are
covered by rvater or saturated to the surlace, free oxygen
is not available to plant roots. During the grorving season,
mosl plant ro()ls must have access to frce ox;gen [ , r r
resprration and growth; flor.ding at thrs timc ean har,e
serious implications {or the growth and survir,al of mosl
plants. In wetlands, plants must be adapLedt o cope lvith
lhese stress[ul conditions.
Using this dcfinrtron, wetlands typically fall within
one of the following four categ..nes: ( I ) are as rvith both
h1'drophyteasn dh ydrics oils( e.g.m, arshess,w ampsa. nd
hogs ) :( 2) r reas\ \ i th, rul[ ;6r , rOht1e s .h t r tw i th h;dr r . '
solls (e.g., tidal flats); (3) areas rvithout soils but wirh
hydroph;'tes(e . g.,s eawede- Ctrvererdr )ck)-s hores)a; nd,
(4) periodicallyf,lo odeda reasw ithout soil and withoul
h;dr . 'ph;t c: (c.g. .g ravehl e; rchcs) .
Completelyd' rainedh ydric soilst hat are no longer
capableo f supportingh ;'drophytesd ue to a chengci n
waterr egimea ren ot consideredw etlandsu ndert he U.S.
Fish and Wildlife classifications ystem Areasw ith effec-tivell'drainedh
;'drics oilsa re, hower.erg,o odi ndrcatorosf
historic wetlands rvhich may be suitable for restoration
through mitigation prolects.
TheU .S.F isha ndW rldlifeS cni ceg cncrallyc lassifies
shallow waters as wetlands. Deeper water bodies are
delineda sd eepwatre h abitrts,s incew rtcr ist hc principal
medium in which organismsl it,e. ln Ltdala reas,t he
deepwatehr abitatb eginsa t thc cxtrcmcs pringl or,vt ide
ler,el. In nontidal freshr,vatearr eas,h or,ver,etrh, is habitat
b;, definition starts at a depth of 6 6 feet (2 m) since
shalloww ater areasa re often vegetatedrv ith emergenl
wetlandp lants.B oth" u'etlandsa"n d" deep $'aterh abitars"
arer egulatedb y statea nd fcden l hr,r'sr. ,p rorccrw etland
' - . 1 . * ' " r o . . ' , , " 1 i r .
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's
Wetlands Classification System
The U S. Fish and Wildlife Sen'ice wetlands classifi,
cation syslem is hierarchical, proceeding fronr general to
specific (Figure 3). In thrs apprtrrluh, \\'crhnds are first
Table l. Definitionso f "wetland"a ccordingt o selectedf ederala genciesa nd states tatutes
Organization (Reference)
U.S. Fish and Wildhfe Service
(Cowardrne, t aL, I979)
U S. Army Corps of Engineers
(FederaRl egrster,Jul1y9 , 1977;
July 22, I 982 ; November 13, 1986)
U.S.D.A. Soil Conservation Sen'tce
(National Food Security Act
Manual. 19BB)
Stateo f Connecticut
(CT General Statutes,
Sections2 2a-36t o 45, inclusive,
1972, t987)
Stateo f Connecticut
(CT General Statutes,
Sections2 2a-28t o 35, inclusive
1969)
Wetland Definition
"Wetlands are lands transitional between terrestrial
and aquatics )'stemsw here the water tablei s usually
at or near the surface or the land is covered by shallow
water. For the purposeso f this classificationu 'etlands
must have one or more of the following three attributes
(1) at leastp eriodicallyt,h e land supports
predominantlyh ydrophytes;( 2) the substrateis
predominantly undrained hydrlc soil; and (3) the
substrateis nonsorla nd is saturatedw ith water or
c. r re redb 1 shal louw atera l qomet rmed ur ingr he
growings easono f eachy ear."
"Wetlandsa re thosea reast hat are inundatedo r
saturatedb y surfaceo r groundwatera t a frequency
andd urai iuns ul f i r ienltu suppor ta. ndt hetu n, . ler
n. r rmacl t rcum>lan(cL-. l (sru ppor te. preralencuef
vegetationt ypicallya daptedf or lile in saturateds oil
condi t ronsW. ct landsg eneral ltln clude> wamps.
marshesb, ogs,a nd similara reas."
"Wetlands are defined as areas that have a
predominance o[ hydric soils and that are
inundatedo r saturatedb y surfaceo r ground
water at a frequency and duration sufficient
to support, and under normal circumstances
do support, a prevalenceo f hydrophytic
vegetationt ypicallya daptedf or life in
saturateds oiLc onditjonse, xceptl andsi n
Alaska identrfied as having high potential
ior agncultural development and a
predominanceo f permafrosst oils."
' 'Wet landms eanl and.i ncludrng'u bmergedl . rnd.
whrch consistso f any of the sorl typesd esignated
as poorly drained, very poorLy drained, alluvial, and
floodplainb y the NationalC ooperativeS oilsS un'ey,
as may be amended from trme to time, o[ the Soil
ConservationS erviceo f the United StatesD epartment
of Agriculture. Watercoursesa re defineda s rivers,
st reamsb.r ook' .w aterwa)sla. ke' .p ond: .m arshes.
swamps, bogs, and a1l other bodies of water, natural
, - . , , , f r . . . l " . . , L l i . . - ^ * , . l t e . '
u r J r L L r r L L d rP, U U L L ! u L P l r \ I
"Wetlands are those areas which border on or lie
beneatht idal r'"'aterss,u ch as,b ut not limited to
banks,b ogs,s altm arshess, wampsm, eadowsf,l atso r
other low lands subject to trdal action, including those
areas now or formerly connected to trdal waters, and
whoses ur{hcer s at or below an elevationo f one foot
above local extreme high water."
6
Comments
This is the offlcial U.S. Fish ancr
Wildlife Sen'ice definition and is
used for conducting an inventory of
the wetlands in the United States.
Thrsd e[ rnr t ioenm phasizefslo odrng
and,/ors oil saturation,h ydric soil
saturationh, ydric soils,a nd
hydrophytic vegetation Shallou' lakes
and ponds are also included as
wetlands.C omprehensrvleis tso f
wetland plants and hydnc soils are
availablet o further clarify this
definition.
Fedemrle guiatordl el ini t ionr n
re\nonsPL\ qecrlo n4 04 of theC Ican
water Act ol 19 / /. t r \ L luoe> s l m i l J r
areas lacking vegetation, such as tidal
f lat ta ndd oesn otd c[ rnela ke' .p onds.
and nvers as wetlands.
This is the Soil ConservationS en,ice's
definrtion for implementing the
"Swampbuster"p rovision of the Food
SecurityA ct of 1985. Any areat hat
meetsh ; dr ics or lc r i ter i ri .
consrdereldo hr r e r predominance
,-rfh 1d ric >oil>.\ ote the geographical
exclusionfo r certainl andsi n AIaska.
This is the State regulatory definition
of inland wetlands and watercourses
in ConnetLi r u l. Thed ef inr t ron
emphasizes oil drainage
character ist tacnsd hydr , ,1ogr1n d
allowsa ccurated eterminationo f
mostw el landb oundar ieosn ->i te
by a certified soil scientist.
Th i si . r h e\ r a r er e p n l n r ( )drev l r n r t r o n
[or t idalw et land:r n ConnetLi t ul .
This definition includes a general list
oI planrsc apableo l growingi n thcse
wetlands and the boundaries of such
are plotted on ofllcial tidal wetland
boundary maps based on detarled
ground surveys.
defined at a rather broad level - the SYSTEM. The term
systemr epresents"a complexo f wetlandsa nd deepwater
habitats that share the influence o[ simtlar hydrologic,
geomorphologicc,h emical,o r biologicalf actors." Five
s y s t emsa r e d e i i n e d :M a r i n e .E s t u a r i n eR. r v e r i n e .
Lacustrinea,n dP alustrine(F igure4 ) TheM arineS ysrem
generallyc onsistso f the open oceana nd rts associated
coastlinew, hile the EstuarineS ysteme ncompassessa lt
andb rackishm arshesa ndb rackishw aterso f coastarli vers
and embayments. Freshwater wetlands and deepwater
habitatsf all into one of the other threes ystemsR: ir.erine
(riversa nd streams)L, acustrine(,l akes,r esen-oirsa,n d
largep onds) or Palus[rine( marshesb, ogs,s wamps,a nd
small shallow ponds)
Eachs ystemw, ith rhee xceptiono I the Palusrrineis,
furthers ubdividedi nto SUBSYSTEMST.h e Marinea nd
EstuarineS ystemsb oth havet he samet wo subsystems:
(1) Subtidal- continuouslys ubmergeda reas;a nd, (2)
lntertidal- areasa lternatelfyl oodedb y tidesa nde xposed
to air. Similarly,t he LacusrrineS ysremis separatedin to
two subsystemsb,u t the dilferencesa re basedo n water
depth: (1) Llttoral- extendingf rom the lake shorer o a
depth of 6.6 feet (2 m) below low warer, or ro [he exrenl
of nonpersistenet mergents(e g , arrowheadsp, ickerel-weed,
or spatterdock)a; nd, (2) Lrmnetic- deepwarer
habitats beyond the 6.6 feet (2 m) at lon' water. The
RiverineS ystemh as four subsl'srems(:l ) Trdal- water
levelss ubjectt o tidal fluctuations(;2 ) LowerP erennia-l
permanents, low-flowingw atersw ith a well-developed
floodplain(, 3) UpperP er ennial- permanenrf,a sr-flowing
wa[ersw rthV eryl ittleo r no floodplaind er.'elopmenatn; d,
(4) lntermittent- channelsc ontainingn onridalf lowing
waters for only part of the year.
WetlandC LASSd escribetsh e generaal ppearancoef
theu 'etlando r deepwatehr abrtati,t s domrnantv egetarlve
hfe form, or the compositiono [ the substrateu 'here
vegetativceo ler is Lestsh an 30% (Table2 ) Therea re 1l
classes{,l veo f which refert o areasw herev egetatic.crno vers
Table2. Classesandsubclassersvoeft landsanddeepwaterhabi tats(Cowardin,1e9r7a9l .),
Class
Rock Bottom
UnconsohdatedB ottom
Aquatic Bed
Reef
Streambecl
Rocky Shore
UnconsohdatedS hore
Moss-LrchenW etland
Emergent Wetland
Scrub-ShrubW etland
Brief Description
Generally permanently flooded areas with bottom subsrrates
c_. -( )" -n' " .s' is"tbintsr fa t least7 5ors. tonesa nd bouldersa nd lesst han 30%
vegetatir,ceo ver.
Generally permanently flooded areas with bortom substrates
consistrngo I rt least2 59.'p articless mallert han stonea nd less
than l09o\ egelal i \ec u\er .
Generall;p' ermanentlyf loodeda reasv egetatedb 1'p lantsg rowing
principally on or below the u'aters urfacel ine.
Rrdge-likeo r mound-like structuresf ormed by rhe colonizarion
and growth of sedentaryin vertebrates.
Channel whose bottom is completely dewatered at low water
periods.
Wetlandsc haracterizedb y bedrock,s tones,o r bouldersw ith areal
coverageo f 75oloo r more and with lesst han 30% covera€lbe1 'r.egetatron
Wetlandsh avingu nconsolidateds ubsrrarews rth lesst han 75%
coveragbey stone,b ouldersa, nd bedrocka nd lesst han 30%
vegetativceo ver,e xceptb y pioneerp lants.
(NOTE. This classc ombinestw o classeosf the 1977o perarional
draft system- Beach/Baar nd FIat.)
Wetlandsd omrnatedb y mosseso r lichensw hereo the.n le.r. h,'.'o
lesst han 30o/oc overage.
Wetlandsd omrnatedb 1'e rect,r ooted,h erbaceoush ydrophyres.
Wetlandsd ominatedb y woodyv egerariolne ss than 20 feet( 6 m) tall.
Subclasses
BedrockR, ubble
Cobble-grar,eSl;a nd,M ud;
Organrc
ALgal,A cluaticM oss;R ooted
VascularF; loatingV ascuLar
Coral; Mollusk; Worm
BedrockR; ubble,C obble
grar,elS. and;M ud; Organic;
Vegetated
BedrockR; ubbie
Cobhl r ' -graveSla. nd:\ 4ud.
OrganrcV, egetated
Moss; Lichen
PersistenNt; onpersistent
Broad-leaveDde crduous,
Needle-leaveDde ciduous;
Broad-lear.edE vergreen,
Needle-leaveEdv ergreen;
Dead
Broad-leaveDde cidr"rous;
Needle-leaveDde ciduous;
Broad-leavedE vergreen;
Needle-leaveEdv ergreen,
Dead
ForestedW etland \ \ ' e t l a n d 'd ( l r n i n r l e db ; u o t r d y \ c g e l a t l o n2 0 I c e Lr o m' u r t J l l c r
tt
F
tr
E
'T
ar'
a
F
p-tll
q
!
cZ
CZ
-.1
F
Sr'<rem
Rrve rine
Class
Rock Bottom
Unconsohdated Bottom
Aquatrc Bed
Rcef
Aquatic Becl
Reel
Rockl' Shore
Unconsolidated Shore
Rock Bottom
Unconsoliclated Bottom
Aquatic Bed
Rcef
Aquatic Bed
Reef
Strearnbed
Rocky Shore
Unconsolidated Shore
Emergent Wetland
Scrub-Shrub Wetland
Forested Wetland
Rock Bottom
Unconsolidated Bottom
Aquatic Bed
Rocky Shore
Unconsolidated Shore
Emergent Wetland
Rock Bottom
Unconsolidated Bottom
Aquatic Bed
Rocky Shore
Unconsolidated Shore
Emergent Wetland
Rock Bottom
Unconsolidated Bottom
Aquatic Bed
Rocky Shore
Unconsolidated Shore
Strcambed
Rock Bottom
Unconsolidated Bottonr
Acluatic Bed
Rock Bottom
Unconsolidated Bottom
Aquatic Bed
Rocky Shore
Unconsolidated Shore
Emergent Wetland
Rock Bottom
Unconsolidated Bottom
AquatLc Bed
Unconsolidated Shore
Moss-Lichen Wetland
Emergent WetLand
Scurb-Shrub Wetland
Forested Wetland
L i m n e t i c :
Littoral
8
lntertrdal
:ubtrd.+rl r
lntertrdai
Lorver Perennial
Upper PerenniaJ
In termi t ten t
LLrusrrn'I
Palustrine
Figure3 . Clirssificatrohnie rarchlo { rietlands
Svstemd oesn ot included eeprvater
and deepr.vathear bitatss howrngs ystems
habitats( Corvardint,t al., I979).
s"l*lh"<- /\ '"s.l ,-..m. (.a "n'r l r l r s se, The Palus t r int
RIVERINE
WATER
PALUSTRINE
WETLAND
ACUSTRINE
WETLAND
LACUSTRINE
WATER
UPSTREAML IMIT
OF SALTWATER------
UPLAND
LACUSTRINE
WATER
PALUSTRINE
WETLAND
ESTUARINE
ESTUARINE
WATER
LEGEND
....S ystemBo undary
WETLANDC LASSES
WETLAND [Ft-| Int..ttdulB each
Tidal Flat
Aquatic Bed
Emergent Wetland
Forested Wetland
UPLAND
MARINE WATER
(ocEAN)
MARINE
WETLAN
Figure 4. Diagrams howingm alor wetland and deepwaterh abitats 1'stemsP. redomrnantw etland classesfo r eachs ystema re also
designated.( Note: Tidal flat and beachc lassesa re now consideredu nconsolidateds hore.)
I
ffi
tr
ffi
Nonticlai Inlancllreshr,r'atcr
ancl saline areas
Regularll' floodecl
SeasonaLlyf'l oocled tidal
Ten-rporanll fl oodecl-tidal
Permanentlr' floodecl
lnternittentll flooded
Semrpermanentll' Ilttocled
Seasonallr'llooclecl
Saturatecl
I cntpLrf,lrll\ I lL)(rLlccl
Inierrrittentll' lloodecl
Table 3. water regrnrem odiliers,b oth ridal ancln ontidal gror-rp(sC o\r'ardin
Group Type of Water Water Regime
rjdal
::l:ll'.,.'
:rrrd brackish Subtrdal
lrregularl; e.xPtrsecl
Regularll' flooded
lrregularl;' 1'loocled
Freshu'ater Pcrmanentlfl looded-tidal
Setnipermanentflllo ocled-tidal
t'r al , 1979)
Definition
Permanentl[l'l oodecbl 1't ides.
Exposeclel sso ftent han daill'b;' ticles.
Dr r i l tri J ; r [l ] , ' , ' J r n q . t ner. ll ' , ' . t t t ,l , ' . r t r .
Floodeclle sso ftent han claily'anct;l' picallv
exposectol air.
Per mirnentltf'l oodedb y trclesa nd rivero r
exposecirl regularllb' y't ides.
I'loodecllb r nrosto f the grolvings easonb 1'
rivero vetflou'butr ,vitht idal llucruati(rnin
rvaterl evels.
D. r r lr; i J u lf l , ' , ' d i n g . t ncJx n ( ) > u 1l (, 'J i r '
Floodecilr regularl;b' 1't idesa ncls easonallbl l'
river overllor'r'.
Floodecilr regr-rlarblll' ridesa nclI or bricl
periodsd uringg rou'ings easonb l river
overflou'.
Floodedt hroughoutt he Iear in all vears.
Floodec1l 'ear-rouncdx ct-ptd urlnge xLreme
clroughts.
Floocledth roughctutth e grorvings easoltln Irost
)'ei rrs.
Floodecllo r extenc'lepde rtodsi n grolvlng
seasonb. ut surfacen 'ateri s usuallva bsentb 1
end of grou ing seasott.
Sr-rrfac\\e'a teri s seldomp resentb, ut substrate
is saluratectol the surlacef or rnosto l the season
Floodedl br onll'bnef per iodsd uring grorving
season*,' ith watert ablcu sualll'* 't-llb eltrt't he
soil surface for ntost ol the se asc'rl'l.
Substr2rties usuail exposecal nclo nll' flooclecl
for variablep reriod\s\ 'tthoutc letectablsce asonal
pcrioclicitl'.( Not al* a1'sw etlanclsm: ir)'b e
upland in some situatittns).
Duration and rmoultt o{ flooding is controllccl
b;' meanso f pumpso r siphtrnsin combinatlon
u'ith dikes or dams.
nonvegetated areas. Belon' the sullclass level, DON'11-
NANCE type can be applied to specill'the predominant
plant or animal rn the r'vetland commr-rnit;' N'IODIFERS
allow better descnption of a given wetland or deep\\raler
habitaL in regard to hy'drologic, chernical, and soil charac-teristics
ancl to human tmPacts.
WATER REGIME MODIFIERS describe flo,rding or
soll saturation conditions and are divided lnto tri'o nain
groups. (1) ridal; and, (2) nontidal. Tidal $'aler regimes
are used where water level fluctuations are largell' dnven
b1'oceanict ides. Tidal regimesc an be subdivided intt) two
general categories: one for salt ancl brackish tldal :rreas,
and anolher for fresh ticlal areas. B;'conlrast, nontidal
Ar r i t rer . rllv I ' l t rodct l
30% or more of the surfac:e AquaticB ed,M oss-Lichen
Wetland,E mergenWt etland,S crub-Shrr-Wrbe tland,a nd
ForestedW etland. The remarnings ix classerse present
areasg enera lll'lackingv egelalion:R ockB ottom,l Jncon-solidatedB
ottom,R eef( sedenLarryn vertebratceo lonv).
StreambedR. ocky'Shorea,n dU nconsolidateSdh oreP. er-m:
lnentl), floodecln onveg,etateda reasa re classilieda s
eirher Rock Bottom or UnconsoliclateBdo ttom' whrle
exposecal reasa ret ;'peda s StreambedR, ockl Shore'o r
UnconsolidatedS hore Invertebratere efsa re louncli n
both permanentlyll'o odeda nd exposeda reas.
Eachc lassis divrdedi nto SUBCLASSEuS'h ichd ef ine
thet ypeo f clorninanvte getatioonr lhet ypeo f substralcin
l 0
modifiers define conditions where surface water runoff,
ground water discharge, and./or rvind eff'ects (i.e., lake
seiches)c ausew aterlevelc hanges.B oth tidal and nontidal
water regime modifie rs are presented and briefly defined
in Table 3.
Water chemistrl, is divided into two categories: (1)
SALINITY MODIFIERS; and, (2) pH MODIFIERS. Like
water re gimes, salinrty modlfiers have been furthe r subdr-vided
into Lwo groups: t 1) hrlinity modificrs for tldal
arees. and, (2) salinity'modiliers lbr nontidal areas (Table
4). Estuarine and marine u'aters are dominated by sodium
chloride, which is gradually diluted by the fresh n'ater
discharge of coastal rir.ers. In contrast, the salinity of
inland waters is derived from a comblnation of four malor
cations (calciurn, magnesium, sodium, and potassium)
and three malor anions (carbonate, sulfate, and chloricle).
Interactions between precipitation, surface runoff, ground-water
flow, and er,apotranspirationrn fluencei nland salts.
Thc pH modifie rs are used to identify'acrd (pH < 5.5),
circumncutral (pH 5.5-7.4) and alkaline (pH > 7.4) rva-ters.
Somes tudiesh aves hor'vna good correlationb etrveen
plant distribution and pH levels. especiell;' in peat soils
that rsolate plant roots from the underl;,ing mineral sub-
Table 4. Salinitl'modlliersfi rr coastaal nd inlanda reas
(Corvardinc. r al., ]979).
st rate( Sj i r rs.I o50;Jcglum, l97l ) . Sincep H can be used
to t1i:Linguish hctri'ccn mineraL-rich and mineral-poor
r'vetl ands and is re1 atir.'el1'eas1d'teot ermrne, pH nrodifier s
we re institutecl for freshr'vater \\retlands.
SOIL MODIFIERS are used bec ar-rsseo il exertss trong
influence s on plant growth and reproduction, as lve ll as on
thc animals lrving in i[. Tr'r,os orl modifie rs are given: (1)
mrneral .a nd. (2) orgrnic. In general ,i f a soi l has 20% or
more organic matter b1'u'cight in thc uppcr l6 rnches. it
rs eonsidcrcd o_ r_Lb *'_a^n' ' 'ie.u 'hereas if it has less than this
amount, it is a mineral s o i l .
SPECIALM ODIFIERSd escribet he activities oI pct'rp1c
and./or animals such as beaver that affect wctlands ancl
deepwater habitats. These mocliliers include : (l) exca-vaLed.
t2) imptrunded. (3) dikecl, (4) partll'drailred; (5)
I'armed;a nd, (6) artificial A detailed clell nition of each
level o1' Lhe U.S. Fish and Wildllfe Sen'ice's r,vetland
elassifieatrons )-stcm ern be louncl in Cou'ardllr, ct al.
( 1979).
References
Cou'ardinL, M, V Car ter ,F C Golet: rnclE I LaRoe
1979. Classifci ationo .fW ctlandsa nclD t't'pttutt'rH abi-tatso
.tfh t Uni tcdS tatc.sU.. S .F isha ncWl rldhf eS en'ice.
FWS/OBS-79/31W. ashingtonD, .C. 103p .
JeglumJ, K 197I . Planrr ndrerr trrrtsr {p H :rndr i'ater leveI
rn peatlanclast CandleL akc,S :rskatcheu,anC.n na-dian
Journal o.[ Botany 49: I 661- 1676
Reed,P .B.,J r., 1988a. NationalL rsto .fP lttntS pccielsh rrl
OccurinW etlanclN.so: lrhca.(sRt egion.l)U. .S.F ishand
WildlifeS erviceB, iologicaRl eportB B( 26.1). Wash-i
n g t , rDn C 1 l 1 P
Reed,P .B.,J r., I988b NcrtioncLrils Lo .lP lctnSLp cciet-hsa t
Occurin Wct lands1; 988C onncct icuUt .. S.F isha ncl
WildlifeS en'rc,e N ERC-88/180 7 SLP eters burg,F L.
Sather,J .H (ed ) I976 Proccedrngifs the National
Wt tlandC lassi.ficatiaonnd l nvc ntory\ lrork shop,Jluv 20-
23, 1975,c l Univer-sito_.y[M ary-lanclU S. Fish ancl
Wi ldl i feS en' iceW. ashingtonD, C 358 p.
SharvS, .P .a nclC .G . Fredine.I 95 6. Wctland so .[t ht LJn itetl
Statcs.U .S.F ish and \Vildlife Sen'ice, CircuLa3r 9.
WashingtonD, .C. 67 p.
S.1orHs,. 1950. On the relationb etr,veevne getationa nd
eleclrol)'teisn norlh Su'edishm rre$ 'aler s. Oiho-2s:
2+l-258.
Tiner ,R .W. ,Jr .1 989.A clar i f icat ioonl t l . reU .S Fisha nd
WildlifeS en'icew etlandd ef lnition.N ationaVl lttlund
Nelr,slctrt.e,I 1(3):6-7.
U.S.D.AS. ollC onsen'ationS en'rc.e 1987. HvdricS oilso /
tl'LeU nitt:dS tatc-s1,9 8/. ln cooperatic'rrn.r .rthth e
NaLionaTl echnicaCl ommrttrt for H;'drieS oilsU, S
Dcprrtrnentt rf Agriculture. Washington,D C.
Coastal Inland Salinity
Modifiersl Modifiers2 (o/oo)
H1'perh aline H1'pers aline >40
Euhalint Eusaline 10-40
Mrxohahne N4ixosaline3 0.5-30
(Brackish)
Polyl"raline Pol;'saline IB30
N4esohahne \4esosaline 5- I B
OLigohaline Oligosaline 0 5-5
Fresh Fresh 0.5
Approximate
Specific
Conductance
(Mhos at 25o C)
>60,000
45,000-60,000
800 45.000
30,000-45,000
8,000-30,000
800 8,000
<800
ttC^ oestrlm trdilrcrsrr c cmploy'edrn the N'larinea nd Estuanne
-zSI nysl rtnedm s. n r r r d i I i clrr:c r r n p l . r ; r 'rrnI t h t 'R i v r ' r i nLt .; rr(r < l n n r ' .
rnd P e l n c r r i r r r - \ r ' c r , ' m <
JThet er- "brackish"s houldn ot be usedf or inlandr ,vetlands
nr r l c , ' r r r l r f cl h r h r t r t <
L]
CHAPTER 3.
National Wetlands Inventory Techniques and Results
Introduction
High-altitude aerirl photographl' ranging in scale
from l:60,000 to 1:80,000 sen'es as the primary remole
sensing imagery source for the National Wetlands Inven-tory
Once suitable high-altitude photography is ob-tained,
there are seven sleps in prepanng wetland maps:
(I) fietd investigations. (2) photo interpretation; (3) re-vrew
of existing wetland information; (4) quality assur-ance;
(5) draft map production; (6) interagency review of
draft maps, and. (7) final map production. Steps 1 , 2, and
3 encompass the basic data collection phase of the inven-tory.
Steps 4 through 7 result in the productionof 1:24,000
scale welland maps.
After publicatir)n of final wetland maps for Connecti-cut,
the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Sen,ice generated acreage
summaries for wetlands and deepwater habitats for both
the statea nd by count ies.T he proceduresu sedl o inven-tory
Connecticut's wetlands and the results of this inlen-rory
are discussedin the lol lowing sect ions.
Wetlands Inventory Techniques
Review of Existing Wetlands Inventories
Prior to initiatrng the National Wetlands Inventory
(NWI) in Connecticuitn 1980,t heU .S.F isha ndW ildlife
Sen'ice reviewed past wetland suneys to ensure that no
duplicationw ould occur.M ajori nventorieisn cludedU .S
Fish and Wildlife Services unreyso f rmportantw aterfowl
wet landrsn 1954,1 95ae. nd lQb5;C onnec t i cuDtc par t -
ment of EnvironmentaPl rotection'sc oastawl etlandsm ap-ping
in the early I970s; and, NatlonalC ooperatrvSe oil
Surveym apsf or theS tate'isn landw etlands( 1962-1983).
During this review, it was found that no comprehensive
inventoryo n thee cologicacl haracteristicosf Connecticut's
wetlandsa nd deepwaterh abrLates xisted. Information
wasl ackingo n thev arietyo f wetlandsb asedo n r.egetation
types and hydrologic characteristlcsa,n d there \\.eren o
currentd atao n the acreagea nd drstnbutiono l di{{erent
wetlandt ypes.l n this respectt,h e NWI ef fort pror.idesth e
first comprehensives tatewidein ventoryo f Connecticut's
wetland resources.A summaryo f r'r'etlandin ventortesin
Connecticuits presentedin Table5 .
Mapping Photography
Black and white, l:80,000 scale aerial photography
wasu sedf or mappingC onnecticut'ws etlands( Figure5 ).
This imagery was taken mostl).during the spring of 1980
with a portiono f westernC onnecticuot verflownd uring
t"h' 'e "sro' r inso f loBl . The r r serc hor r ldn av nar l i cular
attention to the date of the photography used for each
map, slncew etiandsm ay haveu ndergonec hangese, ither
naturalo r human-induceds, incet hat time. In general,
however,t hee ffectived ateo f this inventoryc anb e consid-ered
1980
Field Investigations
Priort o performrngth ea ir photor nterpretationfi,e ld
investigationsw ere conductedb y ConnecticutD EPs taff
to become familiar with the r.anety of we tlands through-out
Connecticut. Many wetlands, whether typical or
uncommon, were first identiiied on the imagery and then
field checkedt o recordt he appropriatec lassificatrona nd
to der.elopc orrelationsb etweenp hoto signaturesd is-played
on the imagery and what was actuaily obsen'ed on
the ground.
Throughout the sun'ey, field trips were conducted to
resolves ignificanitn terpretationq uestions.D etailedn otes
weret akena tm oret han2 00s itest hroughourth es tate.i n
addition,o bsen'atlonsw erem adeo f countlesso ther wet-lands
for classificationp urposes. Approximatelyn ine
weeks were spent in the field from the fall of 1980 to the
spring of I982.
Photo Interpretation and Collateral Data
High-altitudea erialp hotographsw erei nterpretedb y
specially-trarneDdE Pb iologistsu singm irror s[ereoscopes.
Wetlandsw ere identifieda nd delineateda nd eachw et-land
was classifiedu sing the mapping conventionsa s a
guide (U.S.F ish and WrldirfeS en'ice,l 98i). ln accor-dancew
ith thesec onventionsa, ll agricultura1l andsi,n -
cluding historic $,etlandsa nd allur,ralf lood plains under
agriculturaul se,w ere not designateda s wetlandsa nd,
therelorea, ren ot includedi n this report
Duringp hoto interpretationa,d ditionarl esourceln -
formationw ase xamrnedto insuret he completenesosf the
wetlandsi nventory.C ollateradl atar ncludet he following:
(1) t:12,000 black and white aerial photography
11e80);
(2) U.S.G eologicaSl urveyt opographicm aps;
(3) U.S.D.A.N ationalC ooperativeS oilS un'eys;
(4) Stateo f ConnecticuCt oastaAl reaM anagement
coastarle sourcem aps;a nd,
(5) numerousp ublisheda nd unpublished
mrnrrse r i n r s
t 2
=
U
o
U
>.
o
'o
tr
N
6
6
o
Ez
;€
-g
-c
o
-c
6
X
'o
r.i
U
b0
l&
l 3
Table 5. Wetlancl rnvenrories conducted in Connecticut. This list represents the more comprehensive sun'e)'s and does not include
local stuches.
Date of
Survey
1980 l9B2
Lead
Agency
Connecl icr - rDt epar tment of
Environmental Protection
rvith U.S Fisl'r and Wildlile
Scn'ice
( , \ n n ( ( l l r t l l Df p d r t l n ! n l , r I
Envi ronmentirl Protection
rvith U.S.D l. Bureau of
Sports Frsheries and Wildlife
Connect icr - rDl epar tment of
Envi ronmental Protection
Wetlands Mapped
Coastal and lnland
\\ietlands
CoastaWl etlands
CoastaWl etlands
Comments
I;irstc omprehensivien ventory,
of Connecticut'ws etlandsa nd
deepr.vatehra bitats. Two sets
of NationalW etlandsl nventory'
nl i lpsw ercp r r rdLl , , , i1 .24.0d0
ancl 1 100,000. Wetlands
classilleda ccordingtc r
Cowardine, ta i .( 1979) .
lvlinimum mapping area = I acre
Mostly1 980p hotographyu sed;
1981 photos used lor the
\ ^ P q l P r n n r r l n f r h r ' < r i I P
Firste cologicaol ven-iewo f
n c c c n t i e l l \ - r l l r h i t r / . r l
marsh acreage rn Connecticut.
I27 nrarsh svstenrs were
sun,eyecl ior vegetation,
associated fhuna and
environmental impacts. Ten
s) rstemsh ad addi t ional mrcro
r , l i . [ \ n n ' ' \ r P r r h l i r h , r, ]>
Volume I and lt; Nienng ancl
Warren (1975)
Fiol , 'nl r rnninq, r l t i , l r l
\\'eLlands by biologists using
the vegetatron-hydrology
definition of the Tidal
Wetland Act. Approximatell,
1 5,000 acres of trdal rvetland
mapped on l:2,400 aenal photo
prints and approved by public
heanng, r.r'ith bounclaries
staked and flagged at straight
line inten'als. Report (Le{br ancl
Tiner; 1972, 1974).
l97l- t c ) 7 5
I q 7 )
r Trhlt i r rrnilnucd on lre ing prg, )
Althor-rgehfI icienta nda ccuratelo r inventorying\\ 'et-lands,
L het echniquehs avel imitations.P roblemsin herent
with air photo intcrpretationo lten limit one'sa bilit)'t o
delineatew etlanclbsa sedu pon theq ualityo f the photog-raphl'
and thes easona ndy eari n which it rvast aken Since
iLw asn ot aln'aysp ossibleto makea reasonabldee termi-nati
ono l \ \ ell rndsh asedu p() nt hcv cgelaiol n.h yd r , ,1og. y
or topographl'r'isibleo n aerialp hotos,a dditionali nfor-mation
was neededp rior to the classificatioon{ certain
areas.A lthoughm an;,problem s werer esoh'edb 1'rcgular
and./ora ddrtionafl ield work, othersr equiredt he useo f
ar.ailablceo llaterailn formrititrn Sr.met f thcsep roblems
and their resolutiona red iscussecble lor'v:
t Classi f icat ionofLonglslandSoDunude.t oalou'
energ)c' oastlinea nd the magnitudeo f freshwa-ter
influencef rom Connecticut'rsi vers( Hardy,
1972),L ongI slandS or-rn\d\' asc lassifieads p art
of the estuarincs )stcmr f,thcrt hen part of the
marine s),slem,b asedu pon the definitionso f
Corvardinc.t al . ( 1979)
2 Tidalf loodingo f rvetlandsS. incet he photogra-
+.
phy usedf or thisi nventoryw asn ot tide-coordi-nated,
some regularly flooded emergent tidal
wetlands and tidal flats were obscured by flood-ing
waters. U.S.G S. topographic maps and
collateral photography were used to identifl'
locationso f thesew etlands.
Mapprngo f (slu ar inca lgelb ed' . Thts. cI L'autr cs
were not interpretableli om the sourcei magery
and r,vereo nly delineatedw hen observedr n the
fie 1d.
Determinationo f rvaterr egimef or intertidalf lats.
Al l intcr t idall lals were c( )nsidcredre guler ly
floodedi n this survey,a lthoughi t is recognized
thatt he lor , repr orLionosl thcsef latsa rci r regu-larly
exposed.
Applicationo f $'aterc hemistrlm' odifiersi n es-tuar
incs )s tcm.P roblcmasr oscin at tcnrpt lntgo
l 4
Date of
Survey
I950-t 983
I 964
Lead
Agency
U.S.D.A. Soil Consen-ation
Sen'ice
U S.Dt Frsl'ar nd Wilcllile
Sen icc
U.S.D.l Fish and Wildlile
Sen ice
U.SD . l Fisha ncWl i ldl i le
Sen ice
Wetlands Mapped
Coastal and lnland
We tlands
(based on soils)
Coastal Wetlands
lnland Wetlands
(>40 acres)a nd
CoastaWl etlands
(>10 acres)
CoasraWl etlandsa nd
Tidal ancl Fresh Areas
Along the Three N{a.jor
Rivers
Comments
( , , l l l 1 l \ \ l l T \'r_' ,\'\- t t t":1t t- rt -t l i t t , ' > t ' i l b .
seness oll cornplexes.
Llnclfil erentiirtccsl oil groups.
anclr lrscellaneouasr eas.
N,linimurnm rrppinga reai s J-5
. r rr r ' s \ , r i l -\ \ {r , r r l ) n , , 1L , n
1. 15.840a er iapl hotop r ints.
Inland n,etlands* ,erc delinecl
bv statutea s 'poor l l 'cl rained,
verl' poorlv clrainecl.
floodplaina nclr lluvral
'
as
clefj necbl i U S D.A Soil
Consenr tion St-n'ic.e
Pnmaryc latas ourcel br
implement intgh eC onnect icust
Iniand Wetland Act Published
countl'soils un'eyr' e;rortsfo r
r1l o{ Connecticut.
A resun'eyo' f thc 19 59 rcport.
lclentilide 14,839a creso f
coastal vetiancl.a losso 1
2 , 17 9 a c r e s i n c eI 9 5 4 .
tleport (USFWS, 1965)
A revrsroonl the 1954s uncr ' .
lclcntifiec6l6 .034a creso I
wet landa, losso l l ,3J2
acress incc1 955u , i th6 .656
^ . - . . - i ^ , * * , - - ^ , - 1 . . . - . - ^ , .
. r l r r > i l r i l i l i l l r r ( r l r u n r r B ! r .
Report (USFWS, lS59)
lnventoried 90% ol all
\\,etlands r'vitl'r signi{icance to
waterfou'1. ldentiflecl 23,397
acres of wetlancl of rvhich
17,018 acres were coastal.
Minimum napping 75 acres.
Report lUSFWS, 1954)
l9 5L)
1953
separates altm arshes lrom brackrshm arshesa nd
the brackish marshes from the slightll,brackish
1 , ' l l g l r h a l i n cm) a r s h c su p s t r c rm i n t i r l a l r i v e r s .
Field observations were made to address these
problems t1-rroughor-rtth e coastal zone . Basecl
upon this lleld revierv, brackrsh marshes domi-nl
tcd h; \ ' ( ) rnrnonr t cd (Pi r rugnr i l , 'rsi i lsl ruj is)
ancvor narrorv-1ea ved cattail (Typha dngu-stilbli.i)
were mapped drfler en t11f' rom s1ight11'brackish
marshes dominated by wild rice (Zizanitr
0(lurltica).
De te rmination of the uppe r boundary of riverine
tidal waters. He:rcl of tide information u'as ob-l
r rn\ 'd [ r ( )n] lhe : t r i tCS Cr r l : tdl rCSour (em r |S.
excep t u'her e readily,obsen.ab1iem poundments
abruptll' ended tidal influence.
ldentilicatrono f freshu'atera quaticb ed s. Due Lcr
use ofspring photography, aquatic beds in ponds
ancl lakes rvere not inte rpretable These wetlands
were mapped onl)'when obsen'ed in the lield,
othenvrse they r'ver e inclr-rdecwl ithrn the assclci-ated
$'ate rbodies
8. Mapprng o1'beaver-inlluencedw etlands. Where
hc'rr.'erh ad inrnorrnded or otheru'ise modilied
areas, the special n.rodifler "b" r,vas adcled to the
\\,etland classillcatron. This moclilie r \\'as used
on11'when beaverd ams and,/orl oclgesw e re clearll-vrsible
on the imager;' Lrr rftr-r ttrnfrrmatron
rhrol rgl , ,1r rcc{ric ld inVt 'sirg nr ron>.
Identihcation of bogs. Bogs in Connecticut are
prir-narily scrub-shrub wetlancls dominated by
e r i r ' r t c t r u sp l a n l >q u r h l > l t : - rhtc r l t a fr C. t s s c t t . l t i i
calyculaLa)a, ncl in most casesw ere easil)' photo
interpreted. The acicl rnodifier "a" was usecl to
distinguish h,rgs fr,'m t,ther l r l u s t r i n c reruh
shrub rvetlancis. All areas determrned as bogs
were lleld checked in this inve ntory.
Use of the circumneutral $'ater chemistr;' modi-fier
Calcareousw etlandsa rep res enti n the marble
l 5
l 0
l l
t2
valleys of western Connecticut. The modifier "t"
was used to indicate these wetlands.
Circumneutral wetlandsi n thesea reasw ere iden-tified
from published bedrock maps and unpub-lished
lield data.
Dc l e rmr n ai lo n o f t h e mr n imum ma p p i n gu n i t .
Due to the availability of I : 12,000 aerial photog-raph;'
as collateral information, the minlmum
m.rpping unit uscd in this suney is approxi-mately
one acre.
Mapping and classification of linear wetlands.
Linear wetlands consist mainly of shallow streams
and contiguous vegetated wetlands too narrow
to be mapped as polygons. These areas were
classilied by convention on the basis of the
bordering \.egetation and are treated as linear
palustrine wetlands, although most of these lin-ear
wetlands contain a stream channel.
Inclusion of small upland areas within delin-eated
wetlands. Small isiands of higher elevation
and better drarned uplands naturally exist within
many wetlands. Due to the minimum size ol'
mapping units. small upland areas mry be i n -
cluded r,"ithin desrgnated wetlands. Field in-spections
and./or use of larger-scale photography
r'vere used to refine wetland boundaries when
necessary..
l 3
14. Forestedw etlandso n glaciatll ll Thesew etlands
are difficult to identtfy'r n the field. let alone
througha irp hotoi nterpretationC. onsequently,
someo f thesew etlandsw eren ot detecteda ndd o
not appear on the NWi maps.
Draft Map Production
Two levelso f quallty assurancew erep erlormeda fter
thep hotoi nterpretation(:l ) regionaql ualitycontrola; nd,
(2) nationalc onsistencyq'u ahty rssurance. The NWI
Region 5 Office staff carefully reviewed each photo to
ensurep roperi dentificationa ndc lassificatioonf thew et-iands,
a nd the NWI Teama t St PetersburgF,l oridas pot
checkedp hotost o ensurec onsistencwy ith nationasl tan-dards.
O ncea pprovedb y qualltya ssurancwe orkers,d rafl
large-scal(el: 24,000) wetlandm apsw ere producedb y
NWI'ss upports en'icec ontractour singB auscha ndL omb
zoom trans[ers copes.
Draft Map Review
Draft maps were sent to the foilowing agenciesfo r
revrew and comment:
(l)U.S. Fish and Wildlife Sen'ice, Concord Field
Office;
(2)U.S. Army Corps of Engineers( New England
Division);
(3) U.S.D.A.S orlC onsenationS erviceC, onnecticut
Office;
(4) U.S.E nvironmentaPl rotectionAgenc(yR egionl) ;
(5) NationalM arine FlsheriesS ervicea; nd,
(6) ConnecticuDt epartmento f EnvironmentaPl ro-tection.
In additiont o thism ulti-agencrye view,t heU .S.F ish
and Wildlife Sen'ice Region 5 Office's NWI staff also
conducted field checks with the DEP biologists and thor-oughly'examinedth
e draft maps to ensurep roper and
accurateu se of the classificationa nd mapping.
Final Map Production
All commentsr eceivedo n the drall mapsw eree valu-ateda
nd incorporatedl nto the linal mapsa sa ppropriate.
Two scaleso f finalm apsw erep ublished:( l) large-sca1e
(1:24,000)a;n d,( 2) smal l -sca(le1: 100,000) .
Wetland Acreage Compilation
The U.S.F isha nd Wrldlife Servicein itiatedc ompila-tion
of wetlanda creagefo r Connecticutin early 1986.
Area measurementos f NWI map dataw ere taken with a
Numonics digital planlmeter, at the University of Massa-chusettsC
ooperativeW ildlife ResearchU nit, in Amherst.
Wetland and deepwaterh abitata creaged ataw ere gener-ated
for the state and by county.
Wetlands Inventory Results
National Wetlands Inventory Maps
A total of 112 U.S. GeologicaSl urveyl arge-scale
( l :24.000)w er landm apsw erep ubl ished[o r Connecr i -
. u r T h p c p mr n c i'd"p.n.t.i.f t.r. .t h/ e c i z e < h r n c e n d t r r n p n [
wetlandsa nd deepwaterh abitatsi n the state. An evalua-tion
of NWI mapsi n Massachusettdse terminedt hat these
mapsh ad accuraciees xceeding9 5 percent( Swartwout,e f
aL, 1982), and a more recent study by the Vermont
Agencyo f NaturalR esourcefso und that 9 1 percento f the
261w etlandse xaminedw erea ccuratelmy apped( Crowley,
et al., l9BB). Thls high accuracyis possibleb ecauseth e
inventory technique invoives a combination of photo
interpretation, field studies, use of extsting information,
and interagency review of dralt maps. However, NWI
maps cannot be used lo determine the legal boundary of
wetlands in Connecticut. Since soil drainage rs the pri-mary
identifying criterion, most wetland boundaries in
Connecticut are determined on-site by a certified soil
scientisut slngt heU S D.A.c ountys oils urveysa sa guide.
This differencein determinationl ed to disparityb e[ween
the boundary of NWi wetlands and legal wetlands in
Connecticut, although recent studies have indicated a
1 6
E i
- 1 1 i ' . J ;
:#s{
'ft s(s
ffi
til >.,{ '({.
':,
:li
\ .''r. { 1 i
: . . , l
(
/'--.-{
z-:_{
{ / - , ,
1,,'/i/ ,, .t\
//t1",'{:
b
* ^ N
Figure6. Exampleoaf Nat ionalWet landslnventorymaTph. isisapor t ronoft he I :24,000scaleSpr ingHi l l
n n r r l r r n o l e r l i t h thc l c o e n d r \ m l l l p d
T7
Estuarine Wetlands
Emergnet I 2,070
Flats
Othe r
6,287
+7 1
( 10.9olo)
i l .
a .
il
Riverine & Lacustrine Wetlands (l.lol")
I .929 a.
fotal 18.828 i r
Palustrine Wetlands (88.0"/")
Deciduous Forestecl
Evergrecn Forestecl
Nlixecl Forestecl
ForestecVShrub
Deciduous Shrr-rb
Evergreen Shmb
lr4ixecl Shrulr
i_h r r*l -r /'T_: "r r',_ r . r . ' n t b _ '
Enrergent
C)penW ater/Aquatic
f)thcr
66,BqI a
+ , 16 0 a .
5,555 a .
16,9)7 a.
12.627 a.
6I) 2r.
3cl5 21.
l l , 3 I 5 2 r .
I ( l . I 5 3 a
Becl 17.663 i r .
l.+91 r .
l5 I . 7 9 1
Figure 7. ILela tn'c abunclance ol Connccticut's l'etlancls
one-tr)-rlneL orr-c" st -D_ on- -Llcncein mosl cases( Nletzlcr,u n-published
data).
Final maps have been il\'ililable [or Connecticut srnce
1982. Figure6 shovu'asn exampleo 1z r1 :24,000m rp. In
addition, maps sholving changes in r,r'etlandsin central
Connecticut from 1980 to 1985/86 are available from
ConnecticuL DEP or the U.S. Fish ancl \Vilcllile Se n'ice lor
revie$'. NWI n-r:rpsc an lle purchaseclf rom the Conneet i-c
u I Dc p a rnl r e n tt r l En r ' i r o nmt n t i lPl r r r l clti r r n .M ; t p sl n d
Pubhcations OIllce, Room 555, 165 Capitol Avenue,
Hartford, CT 06106
Wetland and Deepwater Habitat Acreage Summaries
SLatc Totals
According to this inventory, Connecttcut has ap-proximately
172,548 acre s ol we tlands and 478,75 1 acres
of deep \\''atehr abitats,e x cluclings maller-rivers and streams
that eppcar rs linc-rr leatures on $'etlancl maps, and
wetlancls that n'ere not iclcntifie cl clue to the ir sn.rall size.
Using Lhe NWI de frnition. rl)rrut livc pcrccnt oi the state's
land surlace rs wetland.
The relativee x tcnt oIma jor ri etland t1,pesis shor'vnin
Figure 7. About 88 percent ol the state's rvetlands lall
within two s)'slems: Palustrine and Estuarine. Thc
generald istribr-rtiono f Connecticut'sw etlands by-t y pc is
shown on the enclclsg6fli ,'r' rt th,' hrrl. ,rf rhis 1gpp11
Of the 18,828 acres of estuarine wetlancls rnvcnto-r
i n , ] n - l Ir r' "p"r ,' . n l . r . .m. r ob. n' l" r v n t l , r n d - I h n r , r <' tm J l ( ) r l t )
of the se are salt and brackish marshes ( I I ,963 acres), with
just 107 reres rrf shghLly brackish or oligohaline marshes
inventoried. Nearly 9O pcrccnL rrI Lhc enrcrgcnt wetlands
arei rregularlv flooded rvith the remainder sub.jecto c1ail1'
tidal floodrng. Nearll' two thirds of these wetlands h:l\,e
been mosqurto ditched. About 6,300 acres of intertrdal
I l r rq r . ^ . r - rmc . rnned. rnd lcss thl rn 50 t t [c: t r I cstur l r inc
scrub-shrub rvetlands n"e re ide ntifrecl.
Palr-rstrin$e' etlands,c overing I 51,791 acres , areo \,er
eight times more abundant than estuarincr ,vetlanclsA. I-most
all cl{ this acreagei s nonticl:rl freshwi.rterw etland,
\\'ith 1.437 acres. or less than one percent, mapped as
lieshll,ater tidal marshes. Almost Lwo-thirds of nontrclal
$'etlands are lbrested, dominated primarilv by red mrrple .
I n l t r c s lj p o l l' s' '1' , ' 1b - , ' 1 - r;' ir'nn( l t n i r , ' , 1c v c r l r , ' , ' nl r ) r e 5 tCL l
\ \ c l l J n d ) t r r t l l t r n l ) 9.715 re rcs rnd , r r t ur p f l n r e r r l ; r n
Litchlleld Countl'(2,155 re res) s'hcrc thc;':rrc dominated
b1'e astern hernlock, anclN e\\'Lonclon (2,658 acres)a nd
Windham (2.5+7) counties r.vhere Atlantic white ced ar is
nlore common.
Emer gentr ,vet land(sI0 ,151 acres)d, eciduouss crub
shrub (12,627 acres), mirecl cnrcrgent anrl se rub-shrr-rb
(13,315a cres) ,a nd shal low ponds/acluat rbce ds (17,661
ilcres)c omprise the ma.lorit1o. f the remaining freshwater
nontldal r,vetlancls.O ther freshr,r'ate$r' etlands invento-ried
include evergreen scrub-shrub wetlands, which are
primarily leatherleaf bogs. Fronr a wate r regime stand-f
otr-rl
1 8
Table 6. Wetlanda creageo f Connecticuct ountiesb asedo n NatronaWl etlandI nventorl'mapping.P ercentagoel eachc ounty
representedb y wetland and ranking basedo n wetland acreageis alsoi ndicated.
County
Fairfield
Hartlord
Litchfielcl
Middlesex
New Haven
New London
Tolland
Windhanr
StateT otal
Land Area
(sq. mi.)
659
751
9+9
38ri
6)3
701
42r
520
5,012
Land Area
(Acres)
400,000
473,600
600,320
235r,6 0
387,750
4)+,520
266.240
128,540
3.I 16.130
Wetland Area
(Acres)
1 9,32 r
2 1 , 1 6 6
22.76t
15,402
19,465
34,819
1 1 , 5 1 2
28,102
172.548
o/" County
Represented
by Wetland
4.8
4.5
l . B
6 . 5
5.0
8 2
+ 3
8 6
5 5
Ranking Order by
Wetland Acreage
6
+
l
7
5
I
B
2
Table 7. Deepwatehr abirata creageo f Connecticuct ountiesb asedo n NationalW etlandsI nventoryn rappingI.
Litch-
Fairfield Hartford field Middlesex
New New
Haven London
5tat€
Tolland Windham Totals
r 9.733
7 . \ 3 3
8,2 16
Estuarine
Waters 3,799
RiverineT idal
Waters 99
Rivenne Nontidal
warers/ '+I I
Lacustrine
Waters 10,479
Unmapped
Waters ol
Long 1{and
5()unc1-
TOTAL
DEEPWATER
HABITAT 14.788
2 6+0
l . l 2 l l.uoO 1 0 . 6 5 1
3,854 284 256
2.302 2,380 40 874 651 loo I , 2 I 2
lEstuarined eepw,atehr abitata creagefi guresa re lower than actuald ue to the exclusiono i Connecticut'sp ortion of Long lsland Souncl
from calculations.
2Rivennen ontidal acreageli guresa re lou'er than actuald ue to the exclusiono l linearw etlandsd elineatedo n the NWI maps.
3lncludess altwateor f tidalr iversb asedo n an estimatem adeb y ConnecticuDr epartmenot f EnvironmentaPl rotectionC, oastaAl rea
ManagemenUt nit (nou',O fficeo f LongI slandS oundP rograms).
point, nearly all of Connecticul'sfr eshwatern ontidal
wetlands are classifieda s seasonallyf looded,/saturated,
with seasonallayn d temporarilyfl oodedr egimesu sedf or
alluvialf loodp larns,a nd saturatedre gimesfo r bogs.
Riverine wetlands occur pnmarily along tidal rivers
sucha st heC onnecticuat nd HousatonicO. nly 238 acres
of riverine tidal flat, with and without nonpersistenl
t.99 l 13,137 3,129 6,000 7,401 3,616 3,641 51,394
J9).251
8,933 11,517 ]0,346 9,I tB 18,959 3,982 4,853 478,7t t
emergent vegetatlon were mapped. Laeustrinc wetlands
are also limited in therr distribution with the 1,691 acres
mapped, perhaps reflectlng the early spring timing trf the
photography, or simply a restricted occurrence.
Deepwrtcr habitat acreage rn Connecticut totals
86,496 acres including the brackish water of tidal rivers
and bays. Nearly 70 percent of these areas are eilher
l 9
Table 8. Summaryo [ NationalW etlandsI nventoryw etland type acreagefo r eachC onnecticutc ounty.
Wetland Litch- New New
Type Fairfield Hartford field Middlesex Haven London Tolland
Estuarine
Emergent
Wetlands 1,462 2,310 5,234 3,064
Estuarine
Intertidal
Flat 2,938 875 1,675 799
Estuarine
Other
Wetlands 35+ B 70 39 -
SUBTOTAL
Estuarine
Wetlands 4,754 3,193 6,979 3,902
Palustnne
Open Water/
Aquatic
Bed 3,325 2,405 2,794 1,459 2,117 2,022 1,401
Palustrine
Emergent
Wetlands 367 1,600 2.129 1,670 791 1,133 568
Palustrine
Deciduous
Forested
Wetlands 6,161 10,746 6,203 4,013 4,790 17,617 +,216
Palustrine
Evergreen
Forested
Wetlands 3 98 I,152 t9 105 I.024 505
Palustrine
Mixed
Forested
Wetlands 37 386 1,003 335 227 1,634 640
Palustrine
Other
Forested
Wetlands 331 27 6 1,614 I+4 161 )30 282
Palustrine
Forested/
Scrub-shrub
Wetlands 2,108 2,104 2,029 2,210 I,782 3,202 1,031
Palustrine
Deciduous
Scrub-shrub
Wetlands 1,371 1,528 1,838 1,320 1,284 2,239 1,101
Palustrine
Evergreen
Scrub-shrub
Wetlands 6 79 I t9 12 )9 67 53
Palustrine
Mixed
Scrub-shrub
Wetlands 13 63 I24 15 34 56 83
Palustrine
Scrub-shrub/
Emergent
Wetlands 841 1,794 3,157 834 938 1.537 1.322
State
Windham Totals
12,070
6,2.87
18,828
2,140 17,663
1.895 10.153
13,145 66.891
r ,214 4. i 60
r.293 5.555
445 1,483
2.46r 16.927
I ,946 12.627
247 612
+7r
395
z0
2,892 13,315
Wetland
Typ"
Palustrine
Farmed
Wetlands
SUBI'OTAL
Palustrine
Wetlands
Riverine
Wetlands
(mostly tidal)
Lacustrine
Wetlands
Litch-field
Middlesex
New
Haven
12.258
New
London Tolland Windham
State
Totals
I O
Fairfield
14.563
Hartford
zr.079 22.162 I2.03I 10,770 11.202 27.726 151,791
238
1 ,691
22,761 15,402 19,465 34,819 11,512 28,102 172,548
r67
72 5BB L I 228 103 3 t 0 376
TOTAL
WETLAND
ACREAGE 19.321 21.166
NOTE: Forestedw etlanda creageli guresa reh igher than actuald ue to inclusiono f alluvials oilst hat aren ot floodedo ften or long enough
to constitute wetland according to Cowardin, et aI. (1979). These areas, however, are considered "wetland" according to state
statutes.
freshwatelra kesa nd reservoirs(5 1,394a cres)o r freshwa- Summary
ter nontidalr ivers( 8,236a cres)R. iverinet idal waterst otal
7,133 acres,a nd 19,733a creso fbrackisha nd saltt idal
water are mapped in the lower portion of tidal rivers and
in trdalc reeksc, oves,a nd bays.
County Totals
Acreageosf wetlandsa ndd eepwatehr abitatsfo r each
county are found in Tables 6 and 7, respectlvely. In
addition the relative abundance of the drfferent types of
wetland in each county is shown in Table 8, and Figures
8 and 9 show the relative abundance of estuarine and
palustrinew etlands.
New London County hast he largeste xtento f wet-lands(
34,819a cresf)o llowedc loselybyWindhamC ounty
(28,1,0a2c res)L itchfield(2 2,761a cres)H, artford(21,166
acres)N, ew Haven( 19,465a cres)a, nd Fairfield( 19,321
acres)c ountiesa re closei n acreagew, hereasM iddlesex
(15,402a cresa) ndT ol landc ount ies(1 1,512a cresc) on-tain
thel east.W rndhamC ountyh ast hei argespt ercentage
of land mapped as wetland (8.6%) and Tolland County
has the least (4.3olo).
New London County also has the most deepwater
habitat( 18,959a cres)m, uch of which rse stuarinew aters
(10,651a cres)F. airfieldC ountyh ast hel argesat creagoef
lreshwatelra kesa nd resen'oirs(1 0,479),m uch in water
utility companyo wnership.T hel easta mounto f deepwater
habitat occurs in Tolland County, with 3,982 acres o[
rivers, lakes anci reservoirs.
The National Wetlands Inventory Project completed
an inventory of Connecticut's wetland and deepwater
habitats using aerial photo interpretation methods. De-tailed
wetland maps and acreage summaries were pro-ducedforthe
entire state. Nearly 173,000 acres ofwetland
and 86,500 acres of deepwater habitat were delineated in
Connecticut. Thus, about live percent of the state was
identified as wetland rn this inventory. This rs in contrast
to [he estimated 15 to 20 percent of the state sub.lect to
regulations pursuant to Connecticut's wetland laws.
References
Cowardrn, L.M., V. Carter, F C Golet, and E.T. LaRoe.
1979. CLassit'icatoiof nW etlandsa ndD eeprttateHra bi-tatso
Jt heU n itedS tates . U.S .F isha ndW rldiife Service,
FWS/OBS-79/31W. ashingtonD, .C. 103 p.
Crowley,S .,C . O'Brien,a nd S.S hea.1 988. Resultosf the
W etland St udyo n the1 9 I BD r att' We t Ia nd Rule .sA. gency
ol NaturalR esourceDs,i visiono fW aterQ ualrtyS, tate
o[Vermont. Waterbury. 33 p. plus Appendices.
Hardy,C .D. 1972. Movemenatn d Qualityo f Longlsland
SoundWaters.1, 9ll. MarineS cienceRs esearcCh en-ter,
T echnicaRl cportN o. 17. SUNY. StonyB rook,
NY 66 p.
Lefor, M.W. and R.W. Trner. 1972. Tidalwetlandssurvey
of the Stateo f ConnecticutR eport of the Consultant
B- ' \r]o" bl'o" 'p" 'i"s" t'f_so' rr' the neriodD ecembe2r 2, 1969t o June
30,1972. BiologrcaSl ciencesG roup,U niversityo f
ConnecticutS, torrs. 113 p.
2T
FairfiIed TL-T-:Il
\4iddlesex l---Ffl
Ne*, Ha'en [--F-I|
LEGEND
I I Lmergent Wetlxnd
FII lnterridaFl Iat
I No, Speclfled
New London [-fn
l 0
EstuarineW eLlandA creage(t housands)
Figure 8. Relatived istribution of estuarinew et lands in Connecticut
Fairfielcl LhcEN ll
Hartforcl !
Forested wetland
l j,l i. rub/Shrub Wctl:rnd
Litchfield n Emergenwr etland
Micldlesex W I Open Water/Aquatic Becl
NewHa'en m
New London
Tollancl m
Windham
t0 20
PalustrineW etland Acreage( thousands)
Figure 9. Relatived rstributiono f palustrinew etlandsin Connecticut
Lefor, M W and R.W. Tiner. 1974. Ttdalwetlandssurrel, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Sen'ice. 1959 ReviscdWetlands
o.ft heS tateo .fC onntcttcttt Reporto f the Consultant InvenLoryo J Cctnnecticut.U .S. Department of the
Srplogisrfstr rr hc pcriodA ugustI , 1972- December Interior,O fficeo f RlverB asinS tudies.B oston,M A.
31, t97l BrologicaSl cienceGs roup,U nlversityo f l9 p
ConnecticutS, torrs. 142 p U.S.F ish and Wildlife Sen'ice. 1965. A Supplementary
Niering, W.A. and R.S.W arren (eds.). 1975. Ttdal ReportonthCeo astalWetlandslnt'entoryo.l'Connecttcut.
WetlqndsttJConnccttcuVtlel:g eLattoncndMicro-rehe.f, U.S. Departmento f the Interlor,D ivision of River
part 1-4. ConnecticuDt epartmentoEf nvironmental BasinS tudies.B oston,M A. 11 p
Protection. Hartford, Cl . U.S. Fish and Wildlile Senice. 1981 . MappingConven-
Swartw,ouDt, .J.,W .P.M acConnella, ndJ.T Finn. 1982. tLon.sf or the NationalW etlandsI nventory Mlmeo-
An Et,dluationo f the NattonalW etlandsI ntentory in graphedr eport. St. PetersburgF, L. 13 p.
Massachu/slse. P roceedhgos. fI n-PIacRe esourclnev en
toriesW orhshop(L lmvers itvo JM aine, Orono,A ugus9t -
1+,1 981)S. ocietyoAf mcr icanForesteprs 6 85-691.
U S Fisha ndW ildlife Sen'ice 1954. WetlandIsn t'entory
o.Cf onnt:ctictUtt. S.D epartmenot f theI nterior,O ffice
of RiverB asinS tudies.B oston,M A. I7 p
20
t0
22
CHAPTER 4.
Wetland Formation and Hydrology
Introduction
Historical cvents ancl presenl h1'drologic conditions
have combir-red to create and maintain a diversitl ol
u'etlancls in Connecticut. Human :rctivities have alstr
exerted broad influences on r.vctlirndl ormation ancl hy-drology'.
The follou'ing subsccltonsr rcidrcssg enerald if
ferences betrveen Connecticut's inland and coastal rvet-lancls
in the ir fonnation and h1'clrology'.
Wetland Formation
Inland Wetland Formation
Past gLaciation has pia;'ecl an important role in the
lormation o[ n.ran1w' etlands in Connectrcut. From ap-proxin.
ratel;'80,000t o I6,500 )'earsa go,C onnecticut and
all o[ Long Islanc] Sound *,ere burted under glacial ice
(Figure 10) This ice mirss \\'as the southern extension of
the northeastern lobe of the Wisconsrnan glacier, rvhich
tcrminrrtcclr t prq5snl-,1",1L'o ng lsland. Dr-Lringth is lce
Age , ror-rghl1o' ne third ol the lvorld's lanc1s urface rvas
cove red u,ith ice compared to onll' 10 pe rce nt of tl-re Lar-rcl
surfacet oda1,.l n interior sectionso l Connecticut, the ice
r,vasu pu,arclo f 2,000 feet thick (Flint, 1930)
A s t h c t l i r r r l t cu r r n r t ' d . r n dt h cg l l , r , ' rr t l r t x l t d . l h t '
trrst rvctlrnds appcrrecl. Deglaciation proceecied
northwestwarcl b1' combined dorvnn'asting and
backr,vastingu, 'ith nearl;' all ol Connecticut cleared of
g h c i : r li t c h y 12 . r 0 0 ) . ' ; . l r > a g ( ) (Bl e el qk7. J ) . l \ 1 . ! t , r r i v e r ' .
streams, lakes, and numerLrus inland rvetlands date back
to these times.
Sinced eglaciation,t he cl-raractre o I man;' wet lands in
Connecticut has changed. Sedirner.rtationa nd climatic
ch,rnge havc influcnrctl the hydrologl, and vegetation ol
man), wetlands u,ith changes recorcled in the se diments.
Secliments in selectecl rvetlands and ponds in south-cen
tral Connectrcuth aveb ee n c1sec ribed by'D eer '1'( 1939)
and Davis (l969) documenting natural changes in the
vegetatrona nclc lin-rateo ver the past 12,000 years. More
recentl)',T horson (1990) has anall'scclt he seclirnenLso t
frve small n'etlands in easter n Connecticut and has con
cludecl that post-seLLlemcncth rngcs havc bern far more
signilcrnt than nrtr.rml post glacrirl succession in deter-mrning
the eharretcr trf manl' present da1' n'e tlands
Most of Connectrcut's wetLands r'vere formecl as a
result o[ four glacial processes. (1) glacial erosion ol
bed rock hollorvs and dep rcssit'rns(.2 ) mclting of bunecl
i t c i r t d e p , r : i t st r I s l n d ; r n d g r a r c l I i r r n r i nSt r ( ) u g h st n r l
Figure 10. lxtent oI recenl gl . rer r t r , ,nr n st ,uthcr r rN crv Englancl( mocl i l icd l ionr Stonc. t ' t al . , ]985) .
23
kettles,( 3) formationo f shallowd epressionosn the bot-tom
of now-drainedf,o rmerg laciala kes;a nd,( 4) dcpo-sition
of compactb asalt il1 and glacioiacustrines rltst hat
imnerlp Arairaoo
Wethndsi n ghcial lys couredh ol lowsa nd depres-sions
are numerous throughout Connecticut. These wet-lands
are formed in either shallow soils over bedrock or
over areas with compact basal trll, both ol which impede
drainage.W etlandso n compac[g lacialt il1g enerallyh ave
a strongly fluctuating water table and surface flooding
following periods of heary rain.
Wetlands formed in glacial kettles and troughs are
found in valleysw ith glaciald epositso I sandsa nd gravels.
Assekonk Swamp in North Stonington and Sugar Brook
Swampi n Plainfielda ret wo of the largere xamplesfo und
in the state. Smaller kettle wetlands can be found in
Mclean's Game Refuge in Granby and in the area sur-rounding
Congamond Lake in Suffield Congamond Lake
is, in fact, a natural lake of glacial kettle ongin, with the
slow successrono f wetland vesetationi nto the lake over
time (Figure 11).
Wetlands formed in small depressions i n
glaciolacustrined epositsa re most common rn the towns
of Suffield, Enfield, and East Windsor on the poorly
drained sediments of Glacial Lake Hitchcock, the largest
of Connecticut'sn ow-extinctg laciall akes.T his former
lakea t its greateset xtento ccupredm uch of the Connectr-cut
Valley from Middletown north to the northern border
of Massachusettas ,le ngtho f approximately1 50m ilesa nd
a maxlmum width of l0 miles This lake persrstedu ntil
approxrmatelJy. 0,700ye arsa go( Flint,1 956;S tonee, t cl.,
1985) when the dam south of Rocky Hill was breached
and the lake rapidly drained. Figure 12 illustratesth e
distributron of the larger glacial lakes once found in
Connecticut.S omel argerw etlandso ccupyinglo w-lying
depressionisn formerg lacialla keb edsi ncludet heD urham
Meadows, the Cromwell Meadows, Robbins Swamp in
Canaana, nd the SusquetonscuBt rookS wampi n Lebanon
and Franklin.
Wetlands have also formed on flood plains along
rivers and large streams throughout the state. Here,
wetlands are found in the inner areas of mature flood
plainsb ehind then aturall eveesT. hel eveesth emselveas re
composedo f coarsem atenalsa nda reb etterd rainedt han
the inner flood plarn,w hich is characterizedb y silts and
clays and poor drainage. ln addition, lateral river migra-tion
canf orm wetlandsi n thef orm of scrollb ars( Wangunk
MeadowsP, ortland)a nd oxbowl akes( WethersfieldC ove,
Figure1 3 ). Theh ydrologya ndv egetationo f theC onnecti-cutR
iverf loodp larnh asb eend escribebdy Nichols( l9 I 5)
and by Metzler and Damman (1985).
Beaver activlty and human actions may also create
wetlands by flooding former upland areas. In these
situations, wetland plants quickly colonize the wetter
habitats. Historically, beaver have played a prominent
role in wetland formation by damming stream channels
and flooding 1ow-lying upland areas, but beaver largely
disappearedd ue to trapping and agriculturalp ractices.
Today, however, beaver populations are increasing in
abundancea ndr angea nda rec ommoni n partso f Litchfield,
Tolland, and Windham counties.
Beaver activity can also influence the hydrology and
charactero I existingw etlands. Beaverd amsc an raiset he
water level in adjacent forested or scrub-shrub wetlands
killing trees and creating areas of open waler, emergent
wetland,o r a complexltyo f wetlandh abrtatsC. onversely,
as beaver dams are removed from an area and the original
hydrologyi s restored,p reviouslyc reatedw etlandsc anb e
recolonizedb y upland vegetationi,n effectr educingw et-land
acreage.
Farm ponds, artificial lakes, and reservoir construc-tion
maya lsoc reatew etlandso r havea n effecto n them. ln
many instancesn, aturalv egetatedw etlandsa rea lteredb y
water level changes in adjacent lakes, and by resewoir
construclion. In other cases, highly eutrophic shallow
ponds and lakes may become completely overgrown with
emergent,s ubmergent,f loating-leaved,a nd/or floaring
plants. Similarly, aquatic beds and emergent wetlands
may becomee stablisheda long the shorelineso i shallow
lakes and reseloirs with active siltation. If siltation
progressest,h esea ccreteda reasc an eventuallyb ecome
shrub and forested wetlands.
Recent lyw.e t landhsa vea lsob eenc reateidn c onjunc-tion
with government and private projects, such as high-way
construction, port expansion, and flood control im-poundments.
Some of these new wetlands were built to
mitigatel osseso f naturalw etlands,w hile most represent
unlntentionacl reations.T he U.S.A rmy Corpso I Engi-neersh
as successfullye stablishedw etlands,p articularly
in trdal areasa t several ocationsa crosst he country, but
many wetland creatlon projects end in failure, for a host of
reasonsF. or example,t he ConnecticutD epartmento f
Transportationh asu nsuccessfullay ttemptedt he creation
of artificiai wetlands along some of the highway corridors
in the state (Reinold and Cobler, 1986). In most cases,
thesew etlandsw erec reatedin conju nctionw lth stormwater
retention basins with the resultant design insufficient to
ensurew etland success( Butts, 1988). Currently,t he
state-of-the-airnt wetlandc reationis not advancede nough
to ensures uccessfurie placemenot f all valuesi ostf rom the
destroyedw etlands( Larsona ndN ei1l,I 987). Recentlya,
masterst hesish asb eenc onductedo n the comparisiono f
createda nd natural freshwaterw etlandsi n Connecticut
(Confer. 1990)
24
MARSH SEQUENCE BOG SEQUENCE
lacustrine
Open Water
Palustrine
Open Water
Palustrine
Emergent Wetland
(Vegetat ionin
StandingW ater )
Palustrine
Scrub - Shrub
Wetland
(Saturated
Sedrment sn,c r
StandingW ater )
Palustrine
Scrub - Shrub
or Forested
Wetland
I
II
I
i
Initiation of
Floating Mat
(Palus t r inOe pen
Water:Palustrine
EmergenWt et land)
Development of
Floating Mat and
False Bottom
(Palus t r ineE mergento r
Sc rub-ShrubW et land)
Closing of Open
WaterlConsoli-dation
of Mat
(Palus t r rnSec rub-
Shrub W e t l a n d )
Filled Basin or
Lowmoor Bog
(Palustrine
Sc rub,Shrubo r
Fores tedW et land)
Raised or
Domed Bog
(Pal ust rine
Sc rub-Shrubo r
Fores tedW et land)
--+
<-
Figure Il. N,larsahn d bogs ueecssronpir.ll ttcrnst .rtl.rptefdr om Dansererua nclS egadas-Viann1a9, 52).
25
C'reatF alls/
HoLlen bec k
na,,tamp,
Ellington
Willimantrc Sediment
Dr n r r r r c Jp , r p i l| 1 p r r ' i 1 r
HitchcocU
Ir,lrcldletown
Pachaug/
Quinebaug
Danb u1 1' Quinnipiac
Conne cticr-rt
Figure 12. [xtent of ma.jorg lacralla kesi n Connectrclr(tm oclilledlr om Schafee r.J
Cllaciall- akeC onnecticr.crot rrespondasp proxtmateltlo' the present-dr)
I ' . U. : . ( ' u , ' l r ' g . i , .rrul r r . ) . r r n I u h l r > h , ttll . r t ; r )
extent ol Lor - rgl slanclS ouncl .
Restoration o{ previLrusl)'c lraincd Lrr olhcrwise cle-graded
wetlands offe rs bctte r possibilities for succe ss. On
the Connecticut co:rst, histonc:rll;, degradecl reed
(Phr.rrgmitem-sa) rshesh ave becn ehangcd to sxlt marsh in
a rclirti\clv short |critrd o[ tirne with lhe opening or
constructlon of culVcrts lo lncrease or reinlroduce ticlal
flooding (Rozsa, 1988; Steinke, 1988; Sinicrope, et c l . ,
1990). Wetland restoration has also been successfLlll)'
;rt crrnrnlisht d hr, thc Ii S Fish and Wilclhfe Sen'ice and
rrthcr rgeneics rn thc Pr:ririe PoLhole Region oI North and
South Dakota ancle lsen"hcrc.S rnrLlrrorp prrrtunitiese xist
in Connecticut for restoration of drained or other-w'rsc
. l ' - - r " . 1 . ' , I - " , ' t 1 . . . 1 .
Coastal Wetland Formation
Nearl1'1 8,000 )'earsa go, mLlch of the rvorLcl'so cean
waler was storecl as glacial ice. This lor'i,ere d seal evels by.
approxrmatell' 325 feet from thc prcsent lcvtl (Oldale ,
1986) The Connecticut shoreline was then far to the
s()lrlhe:rsl _e, 'n' ' d l' --_o "nb !' Is_ lancl Sound u'as buried r-rnder
glacial ice . When the climate r.r.armed ancl thc gl.reier
melte d, the vast alnount ol \\,aler slored as ice u'as slou'ly
releaseda nd seal er-elr ose. As Long lsland Sound became
free from glacial ice , a freshw'ater lake rv:rs lormecl in the
pr r ' -cxlsiln g l rx51pa nLlp t ' r>rslcJin pl r t [ , r re ppr ( )xrmr lcl ) '
4,000 1'ears. N{annc wirtcrs ma)'haYe entered the eastern
portion of Long lslanclS onncl;rsc arlr';rs1 1.000 ) ea rsa go,
with transgression lnto the central portion not before
10,200 radiocarbon years ago (Stone and Borns, 1986;
Needell and Ler.vis, l985). Sea level continued to rise
rchtivcll' reprd\ until approxin.ratel;,4 ,000 1'earsa go
r.vhen rates shou,'ed a marked decrease (Bloom and Ellis,
1965; Redf lelcl1. 972, Keene, I97t ; Emer l 'and Uehupr ,
1972). As sea le\,el rise slou'ed, the cleposition of sus-pencled
mater ialsw asa blet o kee p paccr vith submergcncc
rrnd thc devclopmcnt o[ coastal marshes began. It is
inter es ting to note, hor,vevert,h at at this time , sea lel'e1 o n
the Connectrcut coastr ,vasa pproximately'I I leet (3 5 m)
l,ru.'crr han rt nrr's.nr Sincet hen , the lori, relatir,er ate of
coastals ubmer genceh as allolved the cievelopmen t of the
extensive sait marsh communrties lvl'rich have slou'I1'
n.rigratedin land rvith rising seal evel .
The devel r r r rmnet nf et r lst l l ln tXfShcSin Ct rnnct t i r r t t
h:rs receir-ed conslderable attention. Bloom ancl Ellis
(l965) clescnbeclt he formation o[ three coast:rlm arsh
types based on morphology' and radiocarbon d.rting trf
ctrred sedimcnts: decp coastal marshes, shallori, coastal
marshes, and estuarine marshes. Using this system, Hill
and She:rrin (1970) classilied and mapped the coastal
marshes of Connecticut ancl Rhode lslancl ln gcncml.
thel'found the Connecticut marshes west olthe Cr)nncctl
cut River "deep,"r 'i,itha ccumulated peat greatert han nine
feet and the rnarshes east ol the Connectrcut Rive r "shal-
Ior,vu" ,'lthp eata ccLlmulationle sst han nine Iee t. EsLuarine
26
Figure 13. Recenct hangcsrn the ConneclicuRt iverf tood
plain south of Hartford (frorn Flint, 1930)
Ruleda rea- glaciolacustnnte rracess,t ippled
area - channel rn lB9l, dotted lines - channeL
about 1837,e venlvd ashedli nes- approxtmalc
channeli n the 1600's
marshes \\'ere restricted to the mx1or tidal rivers with
\.ariabled epth and substantialm ixing of fues hwater sedi-ments.
The de veltrpmcnt history ol Connectrcut's coastal
marshes (Bloom and E11isI,9 65) is as follorvs:
During the pcnod r.f raprd submergence, Lhe se a rose
into coastal r'alleys and produced bay's and lagoons.
Sediments accumulated but did not approach sea level.
When the rate of submergence slowed, mud flats devel-oped
and \\,'ere soon colonized by lorv marsh r,egctation.
Then as sediments accumulated, the 1on' marsh \\,as
colonized by hrgh marsh ve ge t-rtion. As scr lcvel contin-uecl
to rise, sedimentation kept pace lvlth submergence
and the marsh surface grew both inland and further out
into the bay. Redfield (1972) describes a similar deve lt'p-ment
of saltm arshesi n Massachusettsr,v hileO rson (1982)
describes the somer,vhat different development of a salt
marsh in Niantic, Connectlcut. A section through e "deep"
marsh in Conne cticut typically has a veneer of muddy'salt
marsh peat nine leet thick or lcss. overl;'rng a thick rvedge
of mud. In manl'marshes, this mud overlies a thin layer
of freshwater sedge peat. reprcscnting rhc fringe of fresh-water
marsh that grer'va t thc transgressings htrreline.
In contrast,
"shallor,l"m' arshesh ave developcd pri-marily
on submerged coastal lowlands with slight topo-oranhi,'
rclicf l"\'4-r"n)v o[ lhese areas rvere freshwater
marshepsr iort os ubmerg.'nrese ev incchd; thersr tretig-raphy:
salt marsh pcat a l t c r n r t i n g with l r ; c r s , r l sedgc
nl -p.1^1" , ) \e - 'rll r i n bo oo.r^r | e- l l I/ n r r t , ' r i r l I l r n - , ' l , r rn' 'r < r' ', ' p r c s c n t
the upland border of fresh or brackish marsh that u'as
buried as sea ler.el rose . Gross (1966) and C)rson, cf rrl.
( 1987) describe the formation of ticlal marshcs in dror.vned
rivt'r vallevs in t rste rn Connecticut. These salt marshes
bcgrn lorming abrrut 3.500 years ago Halophl'tic (salt-toler
ant) plants replacedI res hrvater marsh plants ass alin-it1-
rnurcrscd due ttr rising sea level and replaced upland
vege tation as low-lf ing uplancls u'cre subnte rge cl b1'e stua-rine
waters.
Prcscntll'.c oastrl nrzrrshecso ntinue to migrate land-ward
as sea level rises. Recent mcilsurements of sea leve I
rise on the Atlantic coast between Cape Cocl and Cepc
Hatter ash aves hou'n an es timatecla ver agei ncrea seo f 0 I 3
inchcs/ycar (1.5 mm), e rate comparable to the more rapid
mtcs 4,000 )'c3rsr gLr( Emery anclU chupi, 1972, Reclfielc l,
l L ) 0 7 ) .l n Co n n c t t i c u.t a h i g h r n t , ' o [ 0 . - |i n c h t : / ; e r r r ) 0
mm) rvasr ecorcledb y Harrison and Bloor.r(.1r 977) dunng
the penod I964 to 1973, end an eve r:lge mtc trf 0 1 incl.res/
;car (2.5 mm) was ealculated for the last lO0 ;'ears
(McCaffrey, 1977). With this increased rate ol submer
s.n*' rhr' frrrrrre, rf , oastal marshes in COnneCttCUttS
uncertaina t bes t,e speciallyr ,"'hree urban devel opmen t has
taken place ln contiguous lori'-lying areas th:1t \\,ould have
allowed natural rnland transgres sit-rnh ;'selt rnrrsh veg et a
tion.
Wetland Hydrology
The presence o[ water lrom flooding, surf:rce u'ater
r u n o [ . 1g. r o u n d \ \ a t c r d i s eh r r q t ' .o r t i d e : i s t l r c d r i v r n g
lbrce creatrng anci naintaining wetlands. These h1'dro-logic
mechanlsms in combination lviLh soil charactenstrcs
and climate determine thc naturc and t; pes rrl wetlands.
An accuratea ssessrrrenotf hydrologl,, unfortunatelr., re-quires
extensivek nou'leclgeo f the local h;,'clrologicc 1'cle,
the frequenc;' and duratron of flooding, u'ater table Iluc-tuations,
and ground r.vatcrr clrtr.rnshrps. This informa-tion
can be gainecl onl;, Lhrough rntcnsive and long-ternt
s l i l d i a . T h c r e r r e \"\ '_ r | s- '/h "' ) \ ^ a \ ' r ' r 1 , ) r ' . , , u n i u e u e n e r . r l
differencelns u 'etlandh y'drolo91,woar ter egimeM. ajor
hl,drologic characteristrcs of rvetlands are apparent at
certaint imes o{ the 1'sx1c, spcuiallyc lulng spring {1oodso r
high tides Yet, {br most of the;.ear, such obvious evidence
is lackingrnmanywetlands. At these trmes, less crrnspieu-ous
signs o[floodrngmal' be obsen'ed: (l) water marks on
Y' . et r p. . e- . l i l. i.o. .n (-2 ) $" -;.r. .l ( . r.-. l- r. .l-fHl s' Dr r n ctdl c h r r r , ' n n l J n t s . , r
collecteda round their bases;( 3) u,ater-staineclle aveso n
the ground, ancl, (4) a preclomrnance oI hummock hke
vegetation throughout Lhe area. These signs and knou'l-edge
of the u'ate r tablc rnd \\,etland vegetatron help one
recognize hl,clrologlc dif lerences betwee n \\'etlancis.
The U.S. Frsh and Wilcllife Sen'ice we tland classifica-tion
(Cowardin, ct al., I 979) rncludes water regime modi-
27
lierst o describeh ydrologrcc haracteristicsT. wo groupso t
warerr egimesa rei dentified: (I) tidal and (2) nontidal.
Trdal u.'alerr egimesa re drir,enb ;' oceanict ides,w hrle
nontidalr egimesa rel argelfi nfluencde b;' surfacer vater
runoff and grounclw:rter clischarge. The state ol our
knon'ledgein r'vetlandh yclrologlh' asb eens ummarizedb y
Car tere, ta l . ,( 1979) ,a nd Lei tch( 198I )
Tidal Wetland Hydrology
Ocean-drivetni desa ret he dominanth 1'drologifcc r-ture
of \\,etlandsin coaslala reirs.W ithin Long Island
Sound, tides are seml-diurnaLa nd s1'mmetricaul' rth a
period o[ l2 hours and 25 mtnutes. ln olhe r words, there
are roughll, tw'o high tides and t'uvclol u' tides eachd a1'
Sincet het idesa rel argely controlled by thep ositiono f the
moon relative to the sun, the highest and lowest tide
("springt ides ")u suall)'occudr uringf ull andn e\\'moons
ln LongI slandS ound,m eant idalr angesv aryi rom 2.7I ee t
(0 8 m) in Stoningtont o 7.4 feet( 2 3 m) in Greenwich
(Table9 ). Coastalstormcsa na lsoc aLlseex tremeh rgha ntl
1owt'i cles.S trongr 'vindso vera prolongedp eriodh avea
great impact on the normal tidal range in Long Island
Sound,s ubstantiallrl,a rsrngo r low'eringth e normalh igh
or low tidesc lunngc oincidentael vents.
In coastarl, vetlandds,if ferencersn tidall loodrnge r e-aret
wo zones thatc anb er eadllyid entifled:( l) a regularl;'
floodedz onea nd (2) irn irregularlyfl oodedz one( Figure
t 4) Ther egularllf'l oodedz onei sa lternatley floodeda nd
exposeda t leasto nced aill'b1'thet ides. It includesb oth
the "lolv marsh"a nclt he mores eau'ardin tertidalm ud and
sandf iats Abor.'teh er egularl;f'l oodedz one,t hem arshi s
less frequently flooded b;, the tides. This irregularl;'
floocledz one, or "hig1-nr- rarsh,i"s exposectlo air ft r lonll
periodsa nclf loodedo nl;' for perioclso f variablel ength.
The hlgh marshi s usualll'f loocledd uring spring rrdes.
Theu pperm arginso f theh ighm arshm a1b' e ;1o.,.1gtriln ly'
during storm tides rvhrch are more fre quent in thc n'intcr.
Table 9. Rangeso f spr ing and mean t ides at selectecllo cat ions
in Connecticut (NO,{A. 199 I ) .
Mean
Tide
Range
Location (ft)
StoningtonF, ishers
Island Sound 2 7
Noank,N 'lvstrRc iver
Entrance 2.1
'fhames
River.
' Nerv London 2.6
Nor"vrch 1.0
\ l r l l s t o n r ' P , ' i n t ) . ;
ConnecticuRt iver,
> ; l y b r , , t1r k1 1 1 1 I i
Essex 3.0
East Haclclarn 2.9
Portlancl 2.)
Hartford
.l.9
4 ) 2 . 0
3 6 l 7
1 . 5 1 6
) 6 I l
2 i I I
Spring
Tide
Range
(fr)
3 . )
) . 7
3 0
3.6
3 2
Mean
Tide
Level
(fr)
I 5
t +
1 5
t 7
I . t
Es t u e r i n ,p l r n t s h r r c a d a p l c d l o l h e s c r l i f l c r e n c e si n
inundation ancl certain plants rre gtrtrcl indicators ol
different u,,ater regimes (Table 10)
Some strictll' freshu,atern etlands are also sub.leetc cl
to tidal floodrng. The1, lie above the estuary where
virtual11'n o ocean-denr-eds alts (less than 0.5 parts per
thousand) are found, and rvhere river florv and trdal
flooding rnteract to create a rathe r complic:rted h;'clrology
(e.g., along the Connecticut Ri\,er north of Essex). :\l-though
fieshwater areas flooded and e xposed at le:lst once
daily b1'thet ldesa re conslder ed regularll'lloocled , ast hey
Irregularly Flooded Zone
Regularly Flooded
Zone
Extreme high sPring tides
and storm tides
Mean high
Mean low tide
Subtidal Zone
Figure 14. Hyclrologl
once clail;
of coastall vet lanclss horn' tngd i f lerent zones of f looding.
b1' the t rcles,u ,hi le the i r regular l l ' f looded zone is f loodec]
The regularll,lloodedzo nei s floodeda t least
lesso f ten( l romT iner ,l 9BB)
28
are do\\rnstreamin the estuary,w etlands that are not
subjectt o dailyt idal floodingn rce h ssifrcde ss casonally
Ilooded/tidaol r temporanll'f l.r,.ded/tidelT hrser epre-sentt
he firorec ommc]nw 'ater cgimesin freshwatetri dal
areas,n 'rth the frequenc;a' nd durationo [ flooclingr hc
main h1'drologicd ifferencebs etr,veetnh em. Seasonally
flooded/tida\l, \,etlancalrse o ftenf loodedb y tidesd uring
periodso f lon' flow',b ut floodw atersm a)'b e presentf or
Table 10. Exanrples of plant rnchcators ol- the predomrnrnt
trclal riate r re grme s for Connecticut s estLlannc
u'ctlands. These pliints are gcneralll'good
inclicators of tjdal flooding regimes.
Water Regime Indicator Plants
r a t h c rl o n g p c r i t r d sr.s p e t i a l l ; t l u r i n gs n o u mc l r . h c a r l
rains, or spring runrrff. Temporarily flooded/tidal areas
are llooded infrequcntll., and surlace rvaLer cloes nol
persist lor more than a fcw cla;.s. Temporarilr' floocled,/
tidal lbrested wctlancls are quite similar rn appearance to
their nontidal counterpartsa nd wer e not separatecol ut in
the current $'e tlands inve nLor1,.
Nontidal Wetland Hydrology
Beyond the influcncc of the rides, two hy'drologrc
forces regulate \\.ater levels or soil saturation in rvetlands:
I l ) s u r h r ' c\ \ t t c r n r n r r f l n J i 2 t Ar ( ) u n d - \J\l c r t l r s .h l r g c .
In certarn cases, r,vind drrvcn rvaves (e.g., seiches) across
Iarge lreshrvater lakes cause flor)cllng o{ shorelinc ri'ct-lancls
Surface water runoff from the land cither collects
in depressional r,r'etLandsc 'rro verflorvs I'r-omr ivers and
lakes afier snorvmelt or periods of rainfall (Figure l 5 ) .
Clror:ncl, ,r,'atelrv ill discharge lnto a dep ressional r,vetl and,
$ h c n t l r sd i r c . t l ; t o n n c r ' t c ttl( )l l ) ( \ \ i l t c rt r h l t r r r i n r t r
sloping wetlands in 'seepage" areas (Figr-rre 16). An
individual wetland may,exist due to surface wate r rLlnoff,
grclundr ,r'atedr ischarge, or both. The role ol h;.drt logy rn
maintainir-rgl res hrvater we tlanclsi s discusseclb 1,C 'osseii nk
and Turner (l 978).
Freshw':rterri ver s ancls treamsi n Connec licut r,rsnrll;'
experienceg reatestf loclthng in rr intcr and r-.rr1rs' pring
(Hoyt and Langbein, 1955). Such 1'loodingi s assocrated
u,ith trozen soil, snor,vmelta, ncl/orh eary rains, although
flo odrngc an occLlra t 21n,tvrm e du ring t hc ;-crrr.I n contrast,
Regularll'
Fkroded
I rregularlv
Flooclecl
Smooth cordgrass - tall fornr
( -S/ rairn l t ra l t t ' rn i fLr r r r )
[ :asternL i laeopsis (Li lucopsisc hint 'nsi .s)
Water Hemp (AnrarcnlhLr(.ds r lnabini {s)
P jckerelrveecl (Ponledcria t o t clatct)
Wilcl Rice (Zi:uia uquu|ictt)
Sal t Ha1'G rass ( -Spcr r . l ipnrar tcns)
Spikc C' rass (Di .sr ichl issp icata)
5mooth Corclgrass- shor t lorm
(5partina altt'rni/lora)
Black C' rass ( / i incLrgsc rcr r .di i )
Narroli' leavecl Cattail (f,pha angu.sti/olia)
Common Reed (Phr -agnr i t ta'su st ral is)
S U R F A C E W A T E R
D E P R E S S I O N A L W E T L A N D
S U R F A C E W A T E R
S L O P E W E T L A N D
Overland
Flow
F^
E
d . /
. 9 t I d
l ' t ' t r
< ! l 1 ( !
. = l / l ' 1
^ l t = . = l \ :
B V / d
E ' r >
A r r l
Water Table (may temporarily rise to wetland
level, but ground water inflow is minor
compared to surface water inflow)
0.)
A
\ a
Lake or River
Flood Water
Level
+--+
Water Thble (may temporarily rise to wetland
level, but ground water inflow is minor
compared to surface water inflow)
Figure I5. H1'drologl'osl urfaceu ,atern 'etlands(r edrau.nlr om Novitski,t 9tl2)
C R O U N D W A T E R
D E P R E S S I O N A L W E T L A N D
C R O U N D W A T E R
S L O P E W E T L A N D
c0 l
! l
o. l
U Y
aq
a
lf]
Overland
Flow
Ground Water
Inflow
SeasonaHl igh
Water Table
-^
' ; l i t c6
-' Y l t tl : - w
v l t H
'o.n It ( o \ o .
X g ) < !
; f ( >
/
Ground Water Inflow
Overland
Flow
Water
T a b l e - - - - i
Figure 16. H1'drologl'ogf roundw'ateur, 'etland(sr edrau'nfr om Novitski,1 982).
the hldrolog;' of the Connecticut River is greaLlya llected
by events in northern Nerv England rvhere snorvmelt
causes the river level to peak long after l6cal rivers have
recedecl This has greatly inlluenced the development ot
the vegetationo n the Connecticr-lRt iver flood plaln, u'rth
patterns of piant communities dependent on flood lre-quency
and duration (N'letz ler and Damman, 1985) Sum-mer
floods have the most disilstrous eIlect on lhe vegeta-tron
(Figure I7) In Lates ummer ancle a r11'lallh, urricanes
can bring heavy rains r,r'hich rncrease flood heights and
duration.
Water table fluctuations [o11olr' a similar paltern
(Figure IB). From r'vinter tt'rm id-spnng r)r e.lrl)'summer,
the u,ate r table is at or near the surface in most $'etlands.
Dr-rringt his lrme, water ma1'p ond on or llood the wetland
surface for varying periods. The u'ater table generally
begins to marked ly'c1ropi n er r1;'sumtner. rnd reachesi ts
lor,l'p oint in Sep teu rber or October. Most of the fluctua-tion
relates to increasecl clay length, air temperatures,
evapotranspiralion, ancl other factors ,.1'hich help lou'er
the waler table front spring thror-rgh summer.
Stanclingrvaler ma1'be pre sent in cle pressional, slre am-side,
or lake front u,e tlands for variable periods dunng thc
gror'ving se ason. When flooding or pttnding is brie [ (usu-ally
tu'o u'eeks or less), the wetlzrnd is considered tempo-rarily
flooded. During the summer, the \\'aler table may
drop to three leet or more bclolr. the surlace in these
wetlands.T his situationi s prevalenat long[ 1oodp larns.
Floodingf orl onger periodsr sd escribedb y threec ommon
waterr egimes:( I) seasonallfylo oded;( 2) semi-perma-nentl)'
floodeda; nd,( 3) perm,rncntlf;l oodcd. A season-all;
flooded vu'etlandty plcally hass tandingw ater visible
form oret hano nem onth,b ut usually'byla tes ummers uch
wateri s absent.B ;'contrasla, semi-permanentflylo oded
wetlandr emainsll oocledth rclughoutth e growings eason
rn mosty ears.O nl1'd uringd ry spellsd oest he surfaceo f
thesew etlandsb ecomee xposedt o air. EvenL hen,t he
t 0
o
t
T
";
=
p6a
=
r-
J
?)
c
-c
6
&
a -c
i
s
=-U
1 0 1
Figure l7
05 .25 2 i 10 25 50 100 200
Recurrence inte n'al, in 1'ears
Recurrencien ter valo f annuala nd summer
floodingo n the ConnectrcuRt iver( from lt4etzler
and Damnran,l 9B5). A surnmerf lood rvhich
can inundatet he lou'erl looclp lain (approxi-r
n ; r t c ll;2 l t . ' h . r .n r ( r rl(h a n: l l c n l ) c r rCnrlh : t n c c
o1o ccurringa nnuallln' earH artlord.
SOIL
SURI:ACI
sutface watet
presenl l o r
variable periods +
planls oormanl.
lower evapolallon
sulface * ater
/ Pr e s e n tl o r
"z/variable periods
! . , ^
t - :
YI,AR I yt:AR 2
Figure I8. Water t r ible l luctui r t ion in a nont rclalw ct lancl (adapteclf rom clatab v Ll ' lord. 1964) In generel .t he r . ,narerra ble is i r r
or neilr the surlace through the rvinter ancl sl)ring. clrops markecll)'ilr sulrln.r. .rnd hcgrns tL) rise ln thc fall. As
shoqn. tht - \ \ 'ater t able f - luctuatess easonalh'anda nnual l ; , .
0 /.
:0
.10
60
80
waLerl able lres at or Ver)'n ear the surlace. Permlncntll-llooded
wetlancls include areas exposed onll' cluring cx-treme
drought (intermrttentll exposed). These u,'etlands
include open water llodics ri hcrc Lhcd cpth is Lcssth an 6.6
feet( 2 rn), such asp onds and shallow.partso flakes,r ivers,
and streams.
C)ther rvetlancls are rarell' flooded and are almost
cntircl)' inflr.rcnecdb ; ground-water dischargeo r surface
\'\'aterr unoff. Some of theser ,vetlandso ccur on slopesr n
associationr .viths prings or other points of actlveg rrrunLl-
$'ater dischargec ommonl)'called "seep s." Here the soils
are r'vaterlogged to the surface for most of the gltrri'rng
season and the water rcgimc rs clessilicd rs saturated.
Other saturated wetlands occur in glacial kettles and
clepressionsI.n theses ituations,s oil saturatlonm a),come
lrom both surface \\'ater runoff and ground-water clis-charge.
Common indicator plants of' nontrdal \\'ater
re!'imesr re nrr-'scntedin Table I L
Water Regime
Permant-ntl1'
Floodec l
Semrper manenLi r
Floocle cl
Seasorralll
Flooclecl
Table ll. Exampleso l planti nclicatorosi nontidal\ vaterr egrmesfo r Connecticutsp alustnncu ,etlands
Indicator Plants
Fragran\tV hiteW aLerL il)'
(N\,nrphar'ao cilrt utu)
Pondu'ceds( Potomogetsopnp .)
Waters hield (Brlscnia-s chrtbrie)
Small Yello*' Pond-li1;
(NLrphamr.i cr rphr,'nllrL)r
Buttonbush( Cephalanthoucsc identalis)
Water -lvillor,r.( Dccodonv crr icilldus)
Bur-reeds( Spcr.qaniusnprp .)
Prckerclue ed (Pontcclt'r-(r (r)r 11ail )
(-attarl (Tvpha spp )
ClreenA sh (Ft.otin iisp .nn -sll1'r:lni.rl)
BogH emp (Bor'hnrcio-r,ali ndrica)
Sen sitn'eF ern (Onoclti. snsihilis)
Cireen Dragon (Ansucnratl rtrcontium)
Water Regime Indicator Plants
Seasonallv
f'looded/
Saturated
Te mporarilv
Flooclcel
Spicebr - rsh( Linr / t ' rab en:oin)
llighbush blueberr-r'
( \ , ' r tcr i niunrc or .yr r rbt rsunr )
Srvamp Azalea (RhrrdocL'rrc/roI ni. scosLrnr)
'l-ussock
Seclge (Carcr str.icta)
Skun k Cabbage (-\-rn,r plocur .pLrso.ft ri dris)
SYcamore (PldtanLrosr . i . idr 'ntal i .s)
Pin Oak (Quer .cusp r r lLrst r is)
Ost r ich Fern ( , \ lcr l l t 'urcias r rr thiopler is)
Joe P1'e-we'ed s (Eupcr t i riLr rnrs pp. )
Avens (C,cLul L.in.ldallsf )
Bl : rckS pruce (Pi . r lcrn rdr idn. t )
Leather leal (Cc.ssanr l rcau lvcl lata)
Bog Laurel (Kcrlnrrcpr oli.liliu)
Tari'nv Cotton Clrlss
(Et . i ryholun r l i r .qinicnLrt)
l l
Saturated
References
BeethamN, andW A Nier ing 1961.A pol lend iagram
from southern New England. AntcricanJ ournalo .f
Scicnc2e5 9 66-75
Black,R.F1. 973.W et landge. . loglyn : T Hcl fgt r t t ,M.W.
Lefor,a nd W.C. Kennard( eds.). ProceedingFs:ir st
WctlandsC ont'eren.c eln stitute of Water Resources,
Universityo.f ConnecticuLS. torrs.p 42-63
BlcrcrnA-i.,L . and C.W. Ellis,Jr. 1965. PostgluciSatlr atig-rapht
and Morpholo.qoy. fC oastctCl ctnnecticutC. on-necticut
Geologrcaal nd Natural History'S urvey,
GuidebookN o. I . Har t fordp. . l -10.
Butts, M. I988. Status oi wetland creation/mitigation
prolee t so n stateh ighwa;'prqectsin ConnecticLtItn. :
M.W. Lefor and W.C. Kennard (eds.). Proceedings:
Fo urt h We t lctndCs t tnfe r t ncc . Connecticutl nstituteo f
WaterR esourcesR,e portN o. 34. Universitl'ofC on-n
e r ' l I r ' l l 1 \ l r r r r ( n I l - 1 8 .
Car terV, . ,M .S.B edingeRr ,. P.N, ovi tskia, ndW.O.W i len
I 979.W aterr esourceasn dw etlandsl.n : P.EG. rceson,
J.R.C 1arka, ndJ.E.C lark (eds.). WetlctnFd unclions
andValuesT: heS tateo .fO ur Llnders tandingA. merican
Water ResourceAss sociation.M inneapohsM, inne-sota.
p. 3+4-376.
Confer, S. 1990. Compcrrisoon. fC rcateda nd Natural
Freshwatre P alustrin-eE mergenWt etlandsin Connccti-cut.
M .S.T hesis.C onnecticuCt ollegeN. ewLondon,
CT.
Cowardin, L.M., V. Carter, F.C. Golet, and E.T LaRoe.
1979.C lassifrcatioJnW etlandas ndD eepvateHr abi-tatsoJthLeI
nitedStateUs..S .F isha ndWildlifeS ervice,
FWS/OBJ-79/3l .WashingtDo.nC, 103p .
DansereauP, . and F. Segadas-Vianna1 952. Ecological
stud;' oi the peat bogs of eas[ern North Amenca.
CanadianJ ourncorl. fB otcuty3 0:490-520.
Davis,M .B. 1969. Climaticc hangesin southernC on-necticutr
ecordedb y pollen deposiLiona t Rogers
Lake. Ecology5 0.+09'+22.
DeeveyE, .S. ,J r 1939. Studieso n Connect lculta ke
sedimcntsL a postglaciet li mat ic chr , 'nt r log,lo) r
southcrnN cw England.A tnt t ic. rJt t, ,urn"ni l/ Sci rncc
237 69r-72+.
Emery, K.O. and E. Uchupr. 1972. WesternNnrthAtlantic
Ocean:T opographyR, ochsS, tructurt,W ater Lit'ea nd
SedimentA. mericaA ssociationP etroleumG eology.
Tulsa, Oklahoma. 532 p.
Fllnt, R.F. 1930. The GlocialG eologyo f Connecticut.
ConnecticuGt eo logicaal nd NaturalH istoryS urvey,
Bulletin No 47. Hartford, CT 294 p.
Flint, R.F. 1956. New radiocarbon data and late-plersttrcenset
retrgraphy.A mcricanJo urnalo .fS cience
25+.265-287.
Gossel inkL, G. and R.E.T urner . 1978. The role of
hydrology in freshwaterw etland ecosystems.I n
Good,R .E.D, .F.W highama. ndR .L.S impson(e ds. ) .
Fr eshwat erW e tlunds.E cologicParl ocesuas ndM nnag-e
mentPottntialA. caclemiPc ressN. ewYork. p 63-78.
Gross,A .C. 1966. Vcgetcttioon.f t heB ruckerM arsha ndt he
BarnI slandNaturaAl rea,S toningtonC,o nnecticutM. .S
ThesrsC. onnectrcuCt ollege.N ew London.
Harrison, E.Z. and A.L. Bloom. 1977. Sedimentatron
rateso n tidal marshesi n Connecticut.l tturnal o.l
kdimentaryP e tro logX47 (4): I 484-I 490.
Hi1l, D.E. and A.E Shearin. 1970. Tidal Marsheso J
Connecticuatn d RhodeIs land. ConnecticLAlt gricul-tural
Experiment Station, Bulletin No. 709. New
Haven 34 p.
Hoyt ,G . andW .B.L angbein.1 955. FloodsP. r ineeton
Unir.ersityP ress.N J. 496 p.
Keene,H .W. l971. Postglaciaslu bmergencaen d salt
marshe volutioni n New Hampshire.M aritimt Sedi-ments7
. 64-68.
Larson,JS andC.N eill(eds) . 1987. MitigatingFreshwa-ter
WetlandA hernationisn theG laciatedN orthwe-srtne
Unitd StatesA: n A-s-se-snstm oe.ft ht SctencBen se. Pro-
( e e d i n u c nf r w n r k c h o n h c l d r r the l l n i r ' , ' r s i t r , r I
MassachusettSse, ptembe2r 9-30. 1986. The Envi-ronmental
lnstrtute. Unn'crsity o{ Massachusetts.
Publ icat ioNn o.87-1. Amherst .1 43p .
Leitch,J.A.1 981.W etlcndHydrologSt:t ate-o.f-the-aAnrdt
AnnoLaLeBdib liogarp hy. No rth DakotaS tateU niver-sit;'.
A gneulturaEl xpenmentS tatronN, clrthD akota
R e c e r r e h P e n n r t R). F f f g O . lO p .
Lyford,W .H. 1964. Watert ablef luctuationsin pen odr-cally
wet soils of central Nerv England. Harvard
I l n r v c r q i t v H r n c r d F n r c c t P r n n r I \ l n R C e m h r i d o e
MA 15 p.
McCaffrey,R J 1977 A Recordo f theA ccumulationo f
Sedimentasn d TraceM etalsi n a ConnecLicuUt,. S.A.,
SahM arsh. Ph.D. DissertationY, ale University,
Departmenot f Geologya nd Geophysics.N ew Ha-ven.
Metzler, K.J. and A.W H. Damman. 1985. Vegetation
patterns in the Connecticut Rir,er fiood plain in
relationL o Irequencya nd durationo l llooding. Le
NaturclisteC anadienII 2 535-547
Natronal Oceanic Atmospheric Administration i99 I
Trde Tables l99l - East Coast of North and South
Amer i car nc l r rdinCpr cenlandI. S Dcnar tmcnt rt [ '
Commerce. RockvilleM, D. 289 p
Needell, S.W. and R.S. Lewis, 1985. Distribution and
historyo f the freshwatelra kei n BlockI slandS ound,
Rhode Island and New York during the late
Wisconsinan. Norlhea-srlne Gtolog, 7 .28-32
NrcholsG, .E. 1915. The vegetat ioonf Connect icuVt ,.
plants ocretieasl r)ngri versa nds treamsB. ulkttno ,ft he
To rreyB tttctnicCaIl ub4 2.16 9- 2I7 .
Novitzki, R P. 1982. Hydrologyo l WisconsinW etlands.
U.S. GeologicalS uney, informatlon Crrcular4 0.
RestonV, A. 22 p.
Oldale,R N 1986. LateQ uaternarys ca-levehl istoryo f
New England: a review of the pubhshed sea-level
data. NortheasttrGn eoLog7X. 1 92-200.
32
Orson,R .A I982. Detelopmtnot f theL ovtcrP ataguansct
EstuarineT idal MqrshesN, inntic, Connccticut M S
Thesis,C clnnecticuCt ollegeN, ew London 43 p
Orson, RA., R.S. Warren, and W.A. Niering. 1987
Der,elopmenotl a tidalm arshi n a Neu'Englancri ver
val ley.E stuar ieIs0 ( l ) :20-27.
RedfieldA, .C. 1972.D evelopmenotf a New Englands alt
marsh. EcolttgicaMl onograph4s2 .201-237.
Reinold, R.J. and S.A Cobler 1986. WetlandMitigdtion
llfectivenc.sAs .R eportt o the EnvironmentaPl rotec-tion
Agency,R egionI ContractN o. 68-04-0015.
Rozsa, R. 1988. An oven'ieu' of wetland restoration
prr).jectisn CrrnnecticutI.n : Lefor,M .W. and W.C.
Kennard( eds.).P roceedingFs:o urthW ttlcrndsC onfer-en
ce. ConnecticuItn stituteo f Water ResourceUs,n i-versi
t l 'oIC onnect icuRt ,e porNt o. 34. Stor rs.p . 1-
12.
SinicropeT,. L. ,P .G.H ine,R .SW. ar rena, ndW.A.N ier ing.
1990. Restorationo f an irnpoundeds alt marsh rn
New England.E stuar ie1s3 :25-30
SteinkeT, J 1988. Restoratioon[ degradeds altm arshes
in Pine Creek, Fairfield, Connectlcut. In: Lefor,
M.W. andW. C. Kennard( eds.).P rocedei ngsF: ourth
WetlqndsC onlertnc.e ConnecticutI nstrtuteo l Water
ResourceUs,n iver sityo I ConnecticutR, eportN o. 34.
Storrs. p 20-35.
StoneB, .D.a ndH .W.B orns,Jr I986. Pleistocengela cral
ant l int , ' rgl :irr,l st raitg r rphl oI Ncr . tE nglJndL. ( ,ng
Islanda, ndr d;ree ntG eorgseB anka ndC 'ulfo f Maine.
In: SibravaS, , D Q Bowen,a nd G.M. Richmond
(eds.). Quatern aryG laciutionin tht NorthcrnH enri
sphereQ. uaterneryS cienceR evier,vV. ol. 5, Parts1 -
+
Stone, J .R.J, .P.S chaefear ,n clE .H.L ondon. 1982 The
SurltctaGl eologiNc /lapso .fC onntcticutI llustrattcbl y u
Fieldtripin CentraCl onnccticuCLo. nnec trcutG eo logi-cal
and NaturalH istory Sun'e1'C, uidebookN o 5.
Hartford. p.5-29
StoneJ, .R. ,B .D. Stone,a nd RS. Lewis 1985 Late
Quat t rnaryD eposi lso f thc SouthcrnQ uinnipiac-
Fa r mingtonL otvlc rnd and LLrngIs I c nd Sou n dB s s in : Th e i r
PIace i n a RcgionaSl tr at igra phci Fr a mcn'orh . Counect -i-cut
Geologicaal nd NaturalH isLor;S' un'ey,G, uide-book
No 6 Hartford. p.535-575.
Thorson,R .M 1990. Dct,elopntconft S mallU plancWl ct-
Iands:S tratigraphiSc tudti n Northcasto'nC onnecticut.
Universityo f Connecticut,S choolo f Enginecnng,
FinalR epor t( ProlectJHR90 -191) Stor rs 285 p
Tiner, R.W , Jr 1988. Field Guitb to NontidalW uland
ldenti.ficatioMn.a rylandD ept.o { NaturalR esources,
Annapohsa nd U.S Fisha nd Wildlife Sen'iceN, ew-ton
Corner,M A. Cooperativep ubllcatron.2 83 p.
33
CHAPTER 5.
Hydric Soils of Connecticut
Introduction
Thep redominancoef hl.drics oili sa keya ttributelb r
identiffi ng r,r,etland(sC orvardine, t al., 1979).a lthough
naturalo r artificiall,cvr eatedr ,vetlandms aye xrs[o n soils
that rvere prer.iously nonhl'dric. Hy'dric soils natura111'
developi n r,r'edt epressir'rnosn. floodp hins. on seepage
slopesa, nda longt hem arginso f coastaal ndi nlandr .vaters.
Knorvledgeo f hyclrlcs oilsi s particularlyu sclulr n disLin-o
t t i . h i n o mr r . t n r l rr i\ ler tr lJ 't^l Lr l >' lrt-U l^l t' U l.' .l lJ l*t U r) .' \ \ lh C r . . t h u
mn* t'-,,.a1 ,, -rl.-.1 ^lants are lesS COmmOn Or abSent.
This chaptcr [t euscsL rnt he character istics, clistribution,
and extent ol.Connecticut's h1'dric soils.
Definition of Hydric Soil
Hy'dric soils have been delined b;.the U.S.D.A Soil
Consen.ation Service (1987) as soil that is saturated,
flooded, or ponded long enough during the grrrs'ing
seirsonL oc lev elop anaer obic (no oxygen ) conditlons in the
upper part of the soil. Thesec riter izrc an be used to iden Lif1.
soils Lhat are suffrcientl),\\,et to support the grori'th and
regeneration ol hy'drophytcs. Thcse strils arc cither satu-ratede
nd/ t ' r f l t r t rdcdl t rngc nt rug,ht t ' r f ler I lhc rcpr t 'dur-t
i n n u r , r u t h : r n d. r r r ri r ' , r,'l r f In l-: n t c P lr n r cro ' r ,)u-1118 lll
wetlandsr nusta claptto anaerobisco ilc onclrtronasn dd eal
with the presenceo f reducecflo rmso f manganescir,o n,
and possibly sulphur, rvhich are more toxic than therr
oxidrzecflo rms( P:rtrickI,9 83).
Soilst hat r,verefo rmerll' I,veI but thilt are no\\' com-
- 1 . . r . 1 , 1 . " ; . . . , 1- . . - , , ' h" ,.. "h )r d"r'i , . - , r i l , T h c . e c o i l 5l n U S t
bec hec kedin thef ieldt ov erifl'thadtr ainagme easureasre
sti11fu nctional undernormal or designc onditions. Where
d r a t n r p cm ( ' i r q r r ( 'fqr i l s o i l r c r n r . \ . r r r , r h r ' ,l r r r ' t o n d i -
tions. This condltion, horicvcr. ern only he dctermined
on site.
Major Categorieso [ Hydric Soils
H1'dric sclils are separated into two major categories
onthe basrsoIsoilcomposition: (l ) organicsoils(Hrstosols)
and (2) mineral soils. In gcncrrl. stril s hrvin g 20% or more
L)rgsnic nrrrtcrirl by ricrght in the upper l6 inches are
considered organic soils. All Histosols, except Folists, are
h1'clrie strls. Sttls r,r'ith less organic content are mineral
soils, and ma), or n.ra), not be h;'clric lr4ineral sorls zrre
largell' composed of various mrxtlrres of sand, silt, ancl
clays. Fclr a technical definition of these soils, the reader
rs re ferred to Soil Taxonomy (U S.D.A. Soil Consen'ation
Ser vice, 1975), and the pamphlet H_ydricS oil McrpU ntts-
Conntcticttt (U S.D.A Soil Consen'ation Sen'ice. 1987).
A build-up of organic matter in der,eloping (rrganru
soils in Connecticut results from prolonged anaerobic sorl
conditions associatde with long periodso f flooding ancVor
continuous soil saturatron during the growrng season.
[ h c s c . a lu r t t e d e o n J i t i o n si mp c d t a e r o b i rd c r ump t ' s i -
tion (or oxidation) ol the organic materials entcring thc
water/soil system such as leaves, stems ancl roots, and
encouraEleth eir:lccumulalion as peat or muck ovcr timc.
Lrkc ntrst organic soils. peats and mucks are very poorl;'
drained, and wafer moves through them ver,v slorvll'.
Organic sorls typicalll, form in waterlogged deprcssrons
r.vhere peat or muck deposits ran