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The group consists of numerous unrelated plants that have convergently evolved. Sometimes, the widely distributed genus Rhizophora is referred to as the true mangroves. Pistia, a genus with one species that is native to tropical environments and has further extended its range as an introduced species. Phragmites is a genus of plants known as reeds.
Aerenchyma in stem cross section of a typical wetland plant. Aerenchyma or aeriferous parenchyma [1] or lacunae, is a modification of the parenchyma to form a spongy tissue that creates spaces or air channels in the leaves, stems and roots of some plants, which allows exchange of gases between the shoot and the root. [2]
A simplified definition of wetland is "an area of land that is usually saturated with water". [14] More precisely, wetlands are areas where "water covers the soil, or is present either at or near the surface of the soil all year or for varying periods of time during the year, including during the growing season". [15]
Wetlands exist on every continent, except Antarctica. [19] The water in wetlands is either freshwater, brackish or saltwater. [18] 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.
If woody plants are present they tend to be low-growing shrubs, and the marsh is sometimes called a carr. This form of vegetation is what differentiates marshes from other types of wetland such as swamps, which are dominated by trees, and mires, which are wetlands that have accumulated deposits of acidic peat. [3]
Difference between swamp and marsh. Swamps and marshes are specific types of wetlands that form along waterbodies containing rich, hydric soils. [7] Marshes are wetlands, continually or frequently flooded by nearby running bodies of water, that are dominated by emergent soft-stem vegetation and herbaceous plants.
A raised bog in Ķemeri National Park, Jūrmala, Latvia, formed approximately 10,000 years ago in the postglacial period and now a tourist attraction. A bog or bogland is a wetland that accumulates peat as a deposit of dead plant materials – often mosses, typically sphagnum moss. [1] It is one of the four main types of wetlands.
Wetland restoration, or bringing back the wetland and its functions, [24] is an important step in conservation of freshwater marshes. Restoration can take two forms, re-establishment or rehabilitation. [24] One common way freshwater marshes are restored is restoration of channelized rivers. [23]