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Wetland, complex ecosystem characterized by flooding or saturation of the soil, which creates low-oxygen environments that favour a specialized assemblage of plants, animals, and microbes, which exhibit adaptations designed to tolerate periods of sluggishly moving or standing water.
Examples of wetlands classified by the sources of water include tidal wetlands, where the water source is ocean tides); estuaries, water source is mixed tidal and river waters; floodplains, water source is excess water from overflowed rivers or lakes; and bogs and vernal ponds, water source is rainfall or meltwater.
As the title implies, wetlands are classified by their geomorphic setting, dominant water source (e.g. precipitation, groundwater or surface water) and hydrodynamics. The hydrogeomorphic (HGM) includes five major wetland types: riverine, slope depressional, flat and fringe.
Two general categories of wetlands are recognized: coastal or tidal wetlands and inland or non-tidal wetlands. Coastal/Tidal Wetlands. Coastal/tidal wetlands in the United States, as their name suggests, are found along the Atlantic, Pacific, Alaskan and Gulf coasts.
A wide variety of species live in wetlands. Birds, including ducks, geese, kingfishers, and sandpipers, use wetlands as pit stops during long migrations, providing them with protection and food. Mammals like otters, beavers, and even tigers rely on wetlands to find food and shelter.
There are 4 main types of wetlands: marshes, swamps, bogs, and fens. Wetlands can be classified depending on factors such as vegetation cover, water source, and land shape. Wetlands provide vital services, including flood reduction, habitat for wildlife, water filtration, and erosion control.
Wetlands are carbon sinks that, when destroyed, can become a major source of greenhouse gas emissions. Altogether, wetlands contain about a third of the world’s carbon, and when they’re ...
Wetlands provide habitat for thousands of species of aquatic and terrestrial plants and animals. Wetlands are valuable for flood protection, water quality improvement, shoreline erosion control, natural products, recreation, and aesthetics.
Each wetland differs due to variations in soils, landscape, climate, water regime and chemistry, vegetation, and human disturbance. Below are brief descriptions of the major types of wetlands found in the United States organized into four general categories: marshes, swamps, bogs, and fens.
There are a variety of distinct types of wetlands. Marshes are shallow wetlands around lakes, streams, or the ocean where grasses and reeds are common, but trees are not. Frogs, turtles, muskrats, and many varieties of birds are at home in marshes.