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Habitat Assessment

Aquatic Beds

Aquatic beds are characterized by plants that form a continuous layer on or at the water's surface. They can include algal mats, detached floating mats, and rooted plants, which are submerged, or have floating leaves, but at least 80 percent of their area is vegetated.

Aquatic Beds can occur within inland and Great Lakes marshes where they are often referred to as the submergent zone. Aquatic Beds can also occur further out from the shore, where there is sufficient light to permit plant growth. In areas protected from strong wave action, such as Anchor Bay, the bottom is almost entirely populated with plants, whereas they are scarce in the main part of the lake where the bottom is scoured by waves.

Aquatic beds provide valuable habitat for fish and other aquatic animals and a re a critcal source of food for migrating waterfowl in fall. Wild celery is a particularly valuable food for diving ducks such as canvasbacks and redheads that overwinter in the project area.

For more information, see: Coastal Habitat Assessment, Section IV (PDF)