Portal:Wetlands

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Wetlands Portal

Introduction

A wetland is a land area that is saturated with water, either permanently or seasonally, such that it takes on the characteristics of a distinct ecosystem. The primary factor that distinguishes wetlands from other land forms or water bodies is the characteristic vegetation of aquatic plants, adapted to the unique hydric soil. Wetlands play a number of roles in the environment, principally water purification, flood control, carbon sink and shoreline stability. Wetlands are also considered the most biologically diverse of all ecosystems, serving as home to a wide range of plant and animal life. Wetlands occur naturally on every continent except Antarctica, the largest including the Amazon River basin, the West Siberian Plain, and the Pantanal in South America. The water found in wetlands can be freshwater, brackish, or saltwater. The main wetland types include swamps, marshes, bogs, and fens; and sub-types include mangrove, carr, pocosin, and varzea.

The UN Millennium Ecosystem Assessment determined that environmental degradation is more prominent within wetland systems than any other ecosystem on Earth. International conservation efforts are being used in conjunction with the development of rapid assessment tools to inform people about wetland issues.

Constructed wetlands can be used to treat municipal and industrial wastewater as well as stormwater runoff and they also play a role in water-sensitive urban design.

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Mudflats near Oban on Stewart Island, New Zealand

Mudflats or mud flats, also known as tidal flats, are coastal wetlands that form when mud is deposited by tides or rivers. They are found in sheltered areas such as bays, bayous, lagoons, and estuaries. Mudflats may be viewed geologically as exposed layers of bay mud, resulting from deposition of estuarine silts, clays and marine animal detritus. Most of the sediment within a mudflat is within the intertidal zone, and thus the flat is submerged and exposed approximately twice daily.

In the past tidal flats were considered unhealthy, economically unimportant areas and were often dredged and developed into agricultural land.< Several especially shallow mudflat areas, such as the Wadden Sea, are now popular among those practising the sport of mudflat hiking.

On the Baltic Sea coast of Germany in places, mudflats are exposed not by tidal action, but by wind-action driving water away from the shallows into the sea. These wind-affected mudflats are called windwatts in German.

Tidal flats, along with intertidal salt marshes and mangrove forests, are important ecosystems. They usually support a large population of wildlife, and are a key habitat that allows tens of millions of migratory shorebirds to migrate from breeding sites in the northern hemisphere to non-breeding areas in the southern hemisphere. They are often of vital importance to migratory birds, as well as certain species of crabs, mollusks and fish. In the United Kingdom mudflats have been classified as a Biodiversity Action Plan priority habitat. (Full article...)

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The following are images from various wetland-related articles on Wikipedia.

Image 1Many species of frogs live in wetlands, while others visit them each year to lay eggs. (from Wetland)
Image 2Inside a mangrove canopy, Salt Pan Creek, New South Wales (from Swamp)
Image 3A salt marsh in Scotland (from Marsh)
Image 4The Linnaistensuo Mire, a nature reserve swamp in Lahti, Finland. (from Swamp)
Image 5A freshwater swamp in Florida, United States (from Swamp)
Image 6Aerial view of prairie potholes (from Marsh)
Image 7Wicken Fen, England. Grasses in the foreground are typical of a fen. (from Fen)
Image 8A bog in Lauhanvuori National Park, Isojoki, Finland (from Bog)
Image 9Swamp in southern Louisiana (from Swamp)
Image 10The Sitniki peat bog in Russia recultivated after industrial use (from Bog)
Image 11Vernal pools are ponded only during the wetter part of the year. (from Marsh)
Image 12Pantanal in Brazil (from Swamp)
Image 13Tourbière du Lac-à-la-Tortue (fr), ombrotrophic, Quebec, Canada (from Bog)
Image 14A wet meadow adjacent to Big Bear Lake, San Bernardino Mountains, California (from Marsh)
Image 15Carnivorous plants, such as this Sarracenia purpurea pitcher plant of the eastern seaboard of North America, are often found in bogs. Capturing insects provides nitrogen and phosphorus, which are usually scarce in such conditions. (from Bog)
Image 16Precipitation accumulates in many bogs, forming bog pools, such as Koitjärve bog in Estonia. (from Bog)
Image 17Viru Bog in Lahemaa National Park, Estonia, which is rich in raised bogs (from Bog)
Image 18Avaste Fen, Estonia. Sedges dominate the landscape, woody shrubs and trees are sparse. (from Fen)
Image 19Small extreme rich fen in southwestern Minnesota. The white flowers, Parnassia glauca, are a fen indicator species in Minnesota. (from Fen)
Image 20Bog-wood and boulders at the Stumpy Knowe near South Auchenmade, Ayrshire, Scotland (from Bog)
Image 21Marshlands are often noted within wetlands, as seen here in the New Jersey Meadowlands at Lyndhurst, New Jersey, U.S. (from Marsh)
Image 22A small swamp in Padstow, New South Wales, Australia (from Swamp)
Image 23Bud of water lotus (Nelumbo nucifera), an aquatic plant. (from Wetland)
Image 24Wetland at the Broadmoor Wildlife Sanctuary in Massachusetts, United States, in February (from Wetland)
Image 25Blanket bog in Connemara, Ireland (from Bog)
Image 26Aerial image of Carbajal Valley peat bogs, Tierra del Fuego Province, Argentina (from Bog)
Image 27Humid wetland in Pennsylvania before a rain. (from Wetland)
Image 28Sugar Fen, Norfolk (from Fen)
Image 29Peat bog and peat to dry, L'Isle-aux-Coudres, Quebec, Canada, 1976 (from Bog)
Image 30A raised bog in Ķemeri National Park, Jūrmala, Latvia, formed approximately 10,000 years ago in the postglacial period and now a tourist attraction. (from Bog)
Image 31Fog rising over the Mukri bog near Mukri, Estonia. The bog has an area of 2,147 hectares (5,310 acres) and has been protected since 1992. (from Wetland)
Image 32A black alder swamp in Germany (from Swamp)
Image 33Snapping turtles are one of the many kinds of turtles found in wetlands. (from Wetland)
Image 34Sunrise at Viru Bog, Estonia (from Wetland)
Image 35A marsh in Jyväskylä, Finland (from Marsh)
Image 36Marsh Arabs poling a mashoof (from Swamp)
Image 37The wetlands of Cape May, New Jersey, U.S. comprise an extensive hydrological network that makes them an ornithologically important location to study the many birds which use the preserve as a place to nest. (from Wetland)
Image 38Sphagnum with northern pitcher plants at Brown's Lake Bog, Ohio, US (from Bog)
Image 39An expanse of wet Sphagnum bog in Frontenac National Park, Quebec, Canada. Spruce trees can be seen on a forested ridge in the background. (from Bog)
Image 40Marshlands are often noted within wetlands, as seen here at the Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge in New York City. (from Wetland)
Image 41Sphagnum moss and sedges can produce floating bog mats along the shores of small lakes. This bog in Duck Lake, Oregon, US, supports populations of English sundew (Drosera anglica). (from Bog)
Image 42A bog in Ostfriesland (from Bog)
Image 43Many kinds of birds nest in marshes; this one is a yellow-headed blackbird. (from Marsh)
Image 44White water lilies are a typical marsh plant in European areas of deeper water. (from Marsh)
Image 45Marsh in shallow water on a lakeshore (from Marsh)
Image 46Bog with October morning mist in Mukri, Estonia (from Bog)
Image 47Difference between swamp and marsh (from Swamp)
Image 48Kakerdaja Fen, Estonia (from Fen)
Image 49Dernford Fen, Cambridgeshire (from Fen)
Image 50Many species of evergreen shrub are found in bogs, such as Labrador tea. (from Bog)
Image 51Spaulding Fen, Wisconsin. (from Fen)
Image 52Wetlands contrast the hot, arid landscape around Middle Spring, Fish Springs National Wildlife Refuge, Utah (from Wetland)

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Credit: Scott Ehardt

Kudzu on trees in Atlanta, Georgia.

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Did you know...

that a hamun is a seasonal marshland found on the Iranian Plateau?

... that a hamun is a seasonal desert marshland found on the Iranian Plateau?

(Pictured left: Camels in Guelta d'Archei, Ennedi.)

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v t e River morphology
Large-scale features	Alluvial plain Drainage basin Drainage system (geomorphology) Estuary Strahler number (stream order) River valley River delta River sinuosity
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