Runoff and ground water from the uplands picks up minute levels of salts from glacial till and bedrock and carries it to the salt lakes. When the water evaporates, the salt is left behind, over time a salt lake develops. Fresh water sedge meadows. Fresh water sedge meadows are dominated by sedges, tufted hairgrass, and marsh reed grass. Fresh water sedge meadows do not accumulate salts because they occur at slightly elevated locations.
Water percolates through the soil profiles, carrying the salts with it.
Aspen forest is dominated by aspen, saskatoon, chokecherry, and wild rose. Aspen forest historically occurred only in the depressions. Forest vegetation requires more soil water than grassland vegetation, so aspen forests occupy the wetter sites. In undisturbed areas, the aspen forest occupies depressions and north facing slopes, both of which receive more water and lose less to evaporation. Cloning is a word made popular in science fiction movies, but parkland shrubs have been cloning for centuries.