Gulf Restoration Network

Swamps
General Description: forested wetlands found along rivers, streams, bayous, or lakes
Common Plant Types: Bald cypress (pictured), Tupelo
Location: All Gulf states

Prairie Potholes
General Description: wetlands with few trees, warm and dry climatic conditions, dominated with prairie plants that serve as vital habitat for migratory birds
Common Plant Types: drought resistant plants, floating aquatic plants in deepwater, bulrushes and cattails close to shore
Location: Texas

Playa Lakes
General Description: wetlands found amid prairie grass and croplands that serve as vital habitat for migratory birds
Common Plant Types: diverse assemblage of non-woody plants including pink smartweed, ragweed, cheeseweed, blue sunflower, evening primrose
Location: primarily in the panhandle of Texas

Pocosins
General Description: a wetland known as a "swamp on a hill" that is a seemingly flat area slightly raised at its center. The floor is covered with sphagnum moss and the soils are acidic and low in nutrients.
Common Plant Types: several herbaceous species, evergreen shrubs, loblolly pines, holly, sphagnum moss, bay and pond pines, venus fly trap.
Location: northern Florida to Mississippi

Vernal Pools
General Description: naturally occurring depressional wetlands lacking a permanent above-ground outlet. These wetlands are covered by shallow water for variable periods from winter to spring, but may be completely dry for all of the summer and fall.
Common Plant Types: wildflowers, drought resistant plants that remain dormant during the dry season.
Location: found in the gently sloping plains of grasslands, flooded meadows, and upland forests.

Bottomland Wetlands
General Description: forested wetlands found along rivers
Common Plant Types: broad-leaved and needle-leaved deciduous trees including gum and oak species, bald cypress
Location: found in all of the Gulf states

Mangroves
General Description: forested wetlands that are primarily comprised of mangrove trees
Common Plant Types: red, black, and white mangroves
Location: primarily in Florida and South Texas in tidal estuaries

Saltwater Marshes
General Description: wetlands found along the Gulf coast in salinity concentrations ranging from .5-25 ppt.
Common Plant Types: grasses and other vegetation adapted to salt and brackish water such as smooth cordgrass
Location: All Gulf states