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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A swamp in the Atchafalaya Basin

The Atchafalaya Basin, or Atchafalaya Swamp, is the largest wetland and swamp in the United States. Located in south central Louisiana, it is a combination of wetlands and river delta area where the Atchafalaya River and the Gulf of Mexico converge. The river stretches from near Simmesport in the north through parts of eight parishes to the Morgan City area in the south. The Atchafalaya is unique among Louisiana basins because it has a growing delta system (see illustration) with nearly stable wetlands. The basin contains about 70% forest habitat and about 30% marsh and open water. It contains the largest contiguous block of forested wetlands remaining (about 35%) in the lower Mississippi River valley and the largest block of floodplain forest in the United States. Best known for its iconic cypress-tupelo swamps, at 260,000 acres (110,000 ha), this block of forest represents the largest remaining contiguous tract of coastal cypress in the US.

The Atchafalaya Basin, the surrounding plain of the river, is filled with bayous, bald cypress swamps, and marshes that give way to more brackish estuarine conditions and end in the Spartina grass marshes, near and at where it meets the Gulf of Mexico. It includes the Lower Atchafalaya River, Wax Lake Outlet, Atchafalaya Bay, and the Atchafalaya River and Bayous Chene, Boeuf, and Black navigation channel. See maps and photo views of the Atchafalaya Deltas centered on 29°26′30″N 91°25′00″W / 29.44167°N 91.41667°W / 29.44167; -91.41667. (Full article...)

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

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

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Billabong

Credit: User:Shiftchange

Billabong at Berrinba Wetlands, Logan City, Australia.

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Did you know...

... that most of the Netherlands windmills are actually windpumps, designed to drain the land?

(Pictured left: Windpump De Olifant, Burdaard.)

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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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