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"The entire face of the country is covered with these shallow lakes, ponds and puddles, many of which are, however, dry or undergoing a process of gradual drying out." So stated Charles Froebel (1870) as he described the lands along the Sheyenne and James River Valleys, Dakota Territory, during General Alfred Sully's 1865 expedition. Thus the uniqueness of North America's Prairie Pothole Region has been recognized for well over 100 years. In this Community Profile, we briefly describe the biotic and abiotic settings and features of the most common kinds of wetlands found in the portion of this region that lies in the Dakotas, and outline the natural and manmade ecological processes that affect these wetlands.

Kantrud, Harold A., Gary L. Krapu, and George A. Swanson.  1989.  Prairie basin
     wetlands of the Dakotas: A community profile.  U.S. Fish and Wildlife 
     Service, Biological Report 85(7.28).  111pp.

Kantrud, Harold A., Gary L. Krapu, and George A. Swanson.  1989.  Prairie basin
     wetlands of the Dakotas: A community profile.  U. S. Fish and Wildlife 
     Service, Biological Report 85(7.28).  Jamestown, ND: Northern Prairie 
     Wildlife Research Center Online.  
     http://www.npwrc.usgs.gov/resource/wetlands/basinwet/index.htm 
     (Version 16JUL97). 

Table of Contents

• Preface
  

• Conversion Factors

• Introduction -- Chapter 1

  1.1 -- Geographic Area Covered

  1.2 -- Definition of Prairie Basin Wetlands

  1.3 -- Classification of Prairie Basin Wetlands

  1.4 -- Distribution and Abundance of Wetlands

• Abiotic Environment -- Chapter 2

  2.1 -- Geology

  2.2 -- Climate and Weather

  2.3 -- Hydrology

  2.4 -- Water Quality

• Biotic Environment -- Chapter 3

  3.1 -- Phytoplankton, Periphyton, and Metaphyton

  3.2 -- Macrophytes

  3.3 -- Invertebrates

  3.4 -- Fish

  3.5 -- Amphibians and Reptiles

  3.6 -- Birds

  3.7 -- Mammals

• Ecological Processes -- Chapter 4

  4.1 -- Physical Functions

  4.2 -- Biological Functions

• Human Uses and Impacts -- Chapter 5

  5.1 -- Economic Functions

  5.2 -- Wetland Ownership

  5.3 -- Wetland Degradation and Drainage

  5.4 -- Wetland Management and Restoration

  5.5 -- Prospects for the Future

• References

• Appendix A
  

• Appendix B
  

  Appendix B. 1.

  Appendix B. 2.

  Appendix B. 3.

  Appendix B. 4.

  Appendix B. 5.

• Appendix C

  Appendix C. 1.

  Appendix C. 2.

  Appendix C. 3.

Figures

• Figure 1 -- Prairie Pothole Region of the Dakotas
  
• Figure 2 -- Arrangement of water regimes around basin wetlands
  
• Figure 3 -- Physiographic regions in the Prairie Pothole Region
  
• Figure 4 -- Extent of Pleistocene glaciation in North America
  
• Figure 5 -- Water level fluctuations in prairie wetlands
  
• Figure 6 -- Factors influencing wetland ecology
  
• Figure 7 -- Sources of water in prairie wetlands
  
• Figure 8 -- Flow pattern in a flow-through type prairie wetland
  
• Figure 9 -- Flow pattern in a closed-system type prairie wetland
  
• Figure 10 -- Flow pattern in a sump type prairie wetland
  
• Figure 11 -- Spatial relation of vegetational zones
  
• Figure 12 -- A generalized vegetational cycle in an Iowa wetland
  
• Figure 13 -- A sequence of wetland phases as related to climate
  
• Figure 14 -- Cultivated basins in an agricultural landscape
  
• Figure 15 -- Wetland P1 of the Cottonwood Lake study area
  
• Figure 16 -- Photograph of wetlands P1 and P8 of the Cottonwood Lake study area
  
• Figure 17 -- Wetland P8 of the Cottonwood Lake study area

Tables

• Table 1 -- Wetlands that occur in the Prairie Pothole Region of the Dakotas
  
• Table 2 -- Climatic data for Bismarck, North Dakota
  
• Table 3 -- Stages of a habitat cycle in a semipermanent Iowa wetland
  
• Table 4 -- Invertebrate zooplankton of prairie wetlands
  
• Table 5 -- Aquatic coleoptera of prairie wetlands
  
• Table 6 -- Distribution of breeding marsh and aquatic birds in prairie wetlands
  
• Table 7 -- Density of breeding marsh and aquatic birds in prairie wetlands
  
• Table 8 -- Frequency of breeding marsh and aquatic birds in prairie wetlands
  
• Table 9 -- General use of prairie wetlands by mammals
  
• Table 10 -- Primary production in Prairie wetlands
  

As the Nation's principal conservation agency, the Department of the Interior has responsibility for most of our nationally owned public lands and natural resources. This includes fostering the wisest use of our land and water resources, protecting our fish and wildlife, preserving the environmental and cultural values of our national parks and historical places, and providing for the enjoyment of life through outdoor recreation. The Department assesses our energy and mineral resources and works to assure that their development is in the best interests of all our people. The Department also has a major responsibility for American Indian reservation communities and for people who live in island territories under U.S. administration.

Copies of this publication may be obtained from 


The Publications Unit

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

18th and C Streets, N.W. Mail Stop 1111 

Arlington Square Building

Washington, DC 20240

or may be purchased from 


The National Technical Information Service (NTIS)

5285 Port Royal Road

Springfield, VA 22161  

Author contact information:


U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center

P.O. Box 2096

Jamestown, ND 58402

or


U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

National Wetlands Research Center

1010 Gause Boulevard

Slidell, LA 70458

U.S. Department of the Interior

Fish and Wildlife Service

Research and Development

Washington, DC 20240

basinwet.zip (488K) -- Prairie Basin Wetlands of the Dakotas: A Community Profile