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Sedges are a large family of grass-like plants with many species that form a characteristic part of wetland vegetation. Bolboschoenus, club rushes. Carex, the true sedges, contains over 2,000 species, primarily found in wetland environments. Eleocharis, the spikerushes. Scirpus, bulrushes.
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]
Peat forms when plant material does not fully decay in acidic and anaerobic conditions. It is composed mainly of wetland vegetation: principally bog plants including mosses, sedges and shrubs. As it accumulates, the peat holds water. This slowly creates wetter conditions that allow the area of wetland to expand.
Wetlands make up about 5-8% of Earth's terrestrial land surface but contain about 20-30% of the planet's 2500 Gt soil carbon stores. [48] Peatlands contain the highest amounts of soil organic carbon of all wetland types. [49] Wetlands can become sources of carbon, rather than sinks, as the decomposition occurring within the ecosystem emits ...
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]
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.
[19] [20] Inland wetlands, freshwater marshes making up about 20-25% of all freshwater wetlands globally, [21] have been decreasing approximately 1.2% each year throughout the last century (since 1900). [22] [23] Wetland restoration, or bringing back the wetland and its functions, [24] is an
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.