Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
A wet meadow is a type of wetland with soils that are saturated for part or all of the growing season which prevents the growth of trees and brush. Debate exists whether a wet meadow is a type of marsh or a completely separate type of wetland. [1] Wet prairies and wet savannas are hydrologically similar.
Wetlands exist on every continent, except Antarctica. [3] The water in wetlands is either freshwater, brackish or saltwater. [2] The main types of wetland are defined based on the dominant plants and the source of the water. For example, marshes are wetlands dominated by emergent herbaceous vegetation such as reeds, cattails and sedges.
Typha, known as cattails or bulrushes, are found throughout the world and a characteristic plant of wetland environments. Utricularia, known as the bladderworts, are carnivorous plants with species found worldwide. Water lilies are aquatic flowering plants with leaves that float on the surface of bodies of water.
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 ...
Few species were originally considered to feed directly on seagrass leaves (partly because of their low nutritional content), but scientific reviews and improved working methods have shown that seagrass herbivory is a highly important link in the food chain, with hundreds of species feeding on seagrasses worldwide, including green turtles ...
The Ramsar classification of wetland types is intended as a means for fast identification of the main types of wetlands for the purposes of the convention. [2] The wetlands are classified into three major classes: Marine/coastal wetlands; Inland wetlands; Human-made wetlands
Coastal wetlands also reduce pollution from human waste, [41] [42] remove excess nutrients from the water column, [43] trap pollutants, [44] and sequester carbon. [45] Further, near-shore wetlands act as both essential nursery habitats and feeding grounds for game fish, supporting a diverse group of economically important species. [46] [47] [48 ...
The biotic characteristics are mainly determined by the organisms that occur. For example, wetland plants may produce dense canopies that cover large areas of sediment—or snails or geese may graze the vegetation leaving large mud flats. Aquatic environments have relatively low oxygen levels, forcing adaptation by the organisms found there.