Underwater Panther*

So... there's moderate interest in how wetland type is determine by soil type. That's what y'all are here for, right? Ecological ephemera?

There's a fee for destroying wetlands and tributaries to navigable waters in this great country. A large fee. It's enforced by the Army Corps of Engineers- who might be shaky on maintaining levees, but is really... dedicated to managing our water and wetland resources. (Seriously seriously dedicated. Ever since the Clean Water Act was passed, they've been slowly expanding their purview. The Supreme Court has given them jurisdiction over pretty much anything wet expect vernal pools- and they responded by quietly explaining to developers that destruction of vernal pools will lead to court case that will be appealed all the way to the highest court.)

Sometimes, one can't avoid destroying wetlands. Sometimes one is increasing the volume of the state's largest reservoir by 40%, and one can afford to pay for a little mitigation. Then one maps all the sweet ephemeral streams and seep springs in the flood zone- and pays for their destruction. Dearly.

One of the things noted in wetland mapping is soil type- so one has a great bloody soils map that corresponds with the eternal shoreline. When the soil is cracked shale bedrock, the water seeps out of the cracks, forming springs and seeps, not drying out, supporting actual wetland vegetation. When it's granite, the water forms much cheaper intermittent and ephemeral streams. When it's limestone, there are meanders and oxbows and soggy places where someone once wandered through with their bulldozer, etching effigy mounds.*

So yes- same rainfall, similar topography, widely different wetland types. Which means we have to sample all of them.

*This is my actual experience with limestone- I think it was heavily mined and also easy to cut roads through. In addition, effigy mounds are awesome- the title is the new name for the Alligator Mound.