 Wetlands
- Hydrophytic Vegetation Habitat Hydrophytic vegetation represents a group of plants that are adapted to saturated soil conditions. Many of these plants are found only in wetlands. Wetlands that have uncommon plant community types, such as bogs, fens, alpine peatlands, and black gum swamps; contain rare, threatened or endangered wetland plants; or represent the best known local example of common plant community types, such as marshes, shrub swamps, and wooded swamps, make an important contribution to Vermont's natural heritage and genetic diversity.
According to the Vermont Wetland Rules (pdf, 84 KB), wetlands that are any of the following
types: bogs, fens, alpine peatlands or black gum swamps are significant wetlands. Other wetlands that provide important habitat for hydrophytic
vegetation consisting of rare plant species or communities of plant species that make an important contribution to Vermont's natural heritage
are significant wetlands. In determining whether a wetland is significant for the Hydrophytic Vegetation Habitat
function, the Vermont Natural Resources Board shall, at a minimum, consider the extent to
which the wetland meets the following criteria:
- Serves as the best known example of any one of the following community types documented within a county: deep marsh dominated by rushes, deep marsh dominated by cattails, shallow marsh, shrub swamp, wooded swamp dominated by hardwoods, cedars or spruce/fir/tamaracks;
- Provides habitat for rare species of hydrophytic vegetation;
- Contains one or more plant species that are at their range limits;
- Contains disjunct plant species 40 miles or more from the nearest population of that plant species in the United States.
Links of Interest
- Vermont's Rare and Uncommon Native Plants: a list compiled by the
Vermont Nongame and Natural Heritage Program intended to inform naturalists, biologists, planners, developers and the general public about
our rare native flora, including state Threatened and Endangered species.
- USDA Plant Database: a single source of standardized information about plants including names, checklists,
automated tools, identification information, species abstracts, distributional data, wetland indicator status, and other plant information.
- Wetland, Woodland, Wildland: A Guide to the Natural Communities of Vermont. E.H. Thompson and E.R. Sorenson. 2000 and 2005. Published by The Nature Conservancy and Vermont Department of Fish and Wildlife, distributed by University Press of New England.
Updated: January 2002
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Water Quality Division 
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