Alternative site for the Global ecosystem typology with additional information for ecosystem profiles and indicative maps.
This site is maintained by jrfep
The Artificial wetlands biome includes built structures that hold or transfer water for human use, treatment or disposal, including: large storage reservoirs; farm dams; recreational and ornamental wetlands; rice paddies; freshwater aquafarms; wastewater storages and treatment ponds; canals and drains. These are globally distributed, but are most often found in humid and subhumid tropical and temperate environments. Most of these ecosystems contain standing water, with the exception of canals and drains. Energy, water and nutrients come generally from allochthonous sources, either incidentally from run-off (e.g. farm dams, storm water canals) or deterministically by management (e.g. rice paddies, aquafarms, wastewater ponds). Water chemistry varies with human use, with some wastewater ponds accumulating toxins or eutrophic levels of nutrients, while large reservoirs with undisturbed catchments may be oligotrophic. Artificial wetlands are generally less temporally variable, more spatially homogeneous and lack the biological diversity and trophic complexity of their natural analogues. Trophic webs vary with connectivity and depth of the water body, temperature and substrate. The simplest artificial wetlands support only microbial biota, while the most diverse include invertebrates, fish, waterbirds, reptiles and rarely amphibious mammals.