Cloquet Area Watershed Wetlands
Wetland class descriptions

Class descriptions of common wetlands

Aquatic Bed - AB
Includes wetland and deep water habitats dominated by plants that grow principally on or below the surface of the water (usually less than six feet deep) for most of the growing season in most years. Subclasses include: Algal, Aquatic Moss, Rooted and Floating Vascular, unknown submergent and surface. Vegetation could include: cattails, pondweeds, nalads, coontail, water-milfoils, waterweeds, duckweeds, waterlilies, spatterdocks, wild rice, and reeds
A few example codes in this class might be: PAB1D, PAB4H, PAB2B

Emergent - EM
Includes both persistent and non-persistent vegetation. Characterized by erect, rooted, herbaceous hydrophytes, excluding mosses and lichens, which is present for most of the growing season in most years. Vegetation types may include: grasses, bulrushes, spikerushes and various other marsh plants such as cattails, arrowheads, pickerelweed and smartweeds.
Subclasses:
1) Persistent - plants that normally remain standing at least until the beginning of the next growing season.
2) Non-persistent - plants which fall to the surface of the substrate or below the surface of the water at the end of the growing season

Forested - FO
Woody vegetation greater than 6 meters (20 feet) tall. Species include both broad and needle leaved deciduous and evergreen categories. Could include tamarack, arborvitae, black spruce, balsam, red maple, black ash, willows, dogwoods

Scrub/Shrub - SS
Woody vegetation less than 6 meters (20 feet) tall. Species include true shrubs, young trees (saplings) or trees that are small or stunted because of environmental conditions. Includes both broad and needle leaved deciduous and evergreen categories. Soil is usually waterlogged during the growing season and is often covered with up to six inches of water. Vegetation types include: alders, willows, buttonbush, dogwoods, and swamp-privet, and younger tamarack, arborvitae, black spruce, balsam, red maple and black ash.

Unconsolidated Bottom - UB
Includes all wetlands and deep water habitats with at least 25% cover of particles smaller than stones, and a vegetative cover less than 30%. Subclasses include: cobble, gravel, sand, mud and organic matter. Possible types include potholes, shallow lake basins, limestone sinks, holding ponds, and sloughs. NWI formerly called this open water.