Wetlands Vocabulary Worksheet

A cold-blooded, smooth-skinned like a frog, toad or salamander, that characteristically hatches as an aquatic larva with gills. The adult has air-breathing lungs; an animal capable of living both on land and in water. A cold-blooded vertebrate living on land but breeding in water
The variety of plant and animal life in a habitat.
a type of wetland that received most of its water supply from rainfall; found in northern Alberta. Common vegetation consists mostly of sphagnum mosses, black spruce or tamarack, cranberry, sedges and thick layers of accumulated peat. Wet spongy ground of decomposing vegetation.
An organism that eats other organisms or organic matter in a food chain.
Dabbling ducks will push their heads underwater to pull food from the submerged plants. You will see their rear ends in the air while they feed on plants and insects below the water’s surface. They move at ease on the water or on land. Examples of dabbling ducks include mallards, northern pintails, wood ducks, and green and blue-winged teals. Diving ducks submerge under water completely and come back up or take food from the surface or the surrounding areas. They have smaller tails and bigger feet to aid in swimming and diving. They are more awkward on land and do all of their feeding in the water. Many of them eat fish and mollusks. Examples of diving ducks include mergansers, and canvasbacks.
An organism that breaks down waste and decomposing matter. Commonly exists in soil.
Vegetation with roots in water, but grows well above the surface, and most often close to the water’s edge or in shallower areas. Common plants include: reed grass, common cattail, bulrush, marsh marigold, small-flowered buttercup and giant bur-reed.
A wetland that receives most of its water supply from groundwater. It supports vegetation such as sedges, grasses, shrubs or trees. They contain more nutrients than bogs.
Plants whose leaves float at the surface and roots hang down. Often, they have pockets of air that help them to stay afloat, such as bladderwort. Common plants include: algae, common duckweed, star duckweed, small yellow pond lily, floating leaf pondweed and water smartweed.
What eats what in the ecosystem. All of these in a community make up the food cycle and create a food web. Shows how energy passes from one organism to another.
A community of organisms where there are several inter-related food chains.
Water that seeps through the ground and accumulates in underground water sources called aquifers.
A natural area that has favourable biotic (living) and abiotic (non-living) elements to support the growth of plants and animals. The four main elements that living things need to survive are: food, water, shelter and space. The place where an organism lives.
Any animal that lacks a vertebral column or backbone. Approximately 95 per cent of all the earth's animal species are these; of these the vast majority is insects and other arthropods