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SWAP Habitat
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Ephemeral Catchments
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SWAP General Vegetation Type
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Aquatic
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Ephemeral Catchments (playas, pools, tinajas, kettles, and tanks) are bodies of standing water formed in depressions, basins, or streams. A playa is an internally drained lake found in a sandy, salty, or muddy flat floor of an arid basin, usually filled with shallow water only after prolonged, heavy precipitation. A pool is formed in a small depression found in a marsh or on a floodplain. A tinaja is a pool in a seasonal stream that may support flora upon desiccation. A kettle is formed in a depression by melting ice blocks deposited in a glacial drift or in the glacier’s outwash plain. A tank is an artificial pond built to hold water for livestock and wildlife (sometimes including fish) that contains water for short and irregular periods of time, usually after a heavy precipitation event.
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