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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]
Although considered a freshwater marsh, the ocean tides affect this form of marsh. However, without the stresses of salinity at work in its saltwater counterpart, the diversity of the plants and animals that live in and use freshwater tidal marshes is much higher than in salt marshes.
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
[3] [4] Freshwater marshes are usually found near the mouths of rivers, along lakes, or are present in low lying areas with low drainage like abandoned oxbow lakes. [ 5 ] [ 2 ] Unlike its counterpart the salt marsh , which is regularly flushed with sea water, freshwater marshes receive the majority of their water from surface water.
A marine coastal ecosystem is a marine ecosystem which occurs where the land meets the ocean. Worldwide there is about 620,000 kilometres (390,000 mi) of coastline. Coastal habitats extend to the margins of the continental shelves, occupying about 7 percent of the ocean surface area.
Freshwater ecosystem. Freshwater ecosystems are a subset of Earth's aquatic ecosystems that include the biological communities inhabiting freshwater waterbodies such as lakes, ponds, rivers, streams, springs, bogs, and wetlands. [1] They can be contrasted with marine ecosystems, which have a much higher salinity. Freshwater habitats can be ...
Saltwater tidal marshes live on coastlines in areas that are not completely exposed to the open ocean. The volume of water is dependent on the tides. Plant variation throughout marshes can be due to differences in tide exposure and frequency. [7] Some different types include bottomland hardwood swamps, mangrove swamps, and palustrine wetlands. [13]
Wetland conservation is aimed at protecting and preserving areas where water exists at or near the Earth's surface, such as swamps, marshes and bogs. Wetlands cover at least six per cent of the Earth and have become a focal issue for conservation due to the ecosystem services they provide.