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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Vernal pool with clay hardpan bottom, Vina Plains Nature Conservancy Preserve, Calif.

Vernal pools, also called vernal ponds or ephemeral pools, are temporary pools of water that provide habitat for distinctive plants and animals. They are considered to be a distinctive type of wetland usually devoid of fish, and thus allow the safe development of natal amphibian and insect species unable to withstand competition or predation by fish. Certain tropical fish lineages (such as killifishes) have however adapted to this habitat specifically.

During most years, a vernal pool basin will experience inundation from local surface runoff, followed by desiccation from evapotranspiration. These conditions are commonly associated with Mediterranean climate. Most pools are dry for at least part of the year, and fill with the winter rains or snow melt. Some pools may remain at least partially filled with water over the course of a year or more, but all vernal pools dry up periodically. Some authorities restrict the definition of vernal pools to exclude seasonal wetlands with defined inlet and outlet channels. Such seasonal wetlands have larger drainage basins contributing higher concentrations of dissolved minerals, and increased probability of periodic scouring flows through the wetland. Low dissolved mineral concentrations of smaller vernal pool basins may be characterized as oligotrophic, and poorly buffered with rapid pH shifts due to carbon dioxide uptake during photosynthesis. (Full article...)

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

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

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Credit: Scott Ehardt

Kudzu on trees in Atlanta, Georgia.

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Did you know...

... that a hydrosere occurs when a kettle dries to form woodland?

(Pictured left: A mute swan in natural habitat.)

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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
Alluvial rivers	Anabranch Avulsion (river) Bar (river morphology) Braided river Channel pattern Cut bank Floodplain Meander Meander cutoff Mouth bar Oxbow lake Point bar Riffle Rapids Riparian zone River bifurcation River channel migration River mouth Slip-off slope Stream pool Thalweg
Bedrock river	Canyon Knickpoint Plunge pool
Bedforms	Ait Antidune Dune Current ripple
Regional processes	Aggradation Base level Degradation (geology) Erosion and tectonics River rejuvenation
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