Portal:Wetlands

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Wetlands Portal

Introduction

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 number of roles in the environment, principally water purification, flood control, carbon sink and shoreline stability. Wetlands are also considered the most biologically diverse of all ecosystems, serving as home to a wide range of plant and animal life. Wetlands occur naturally on every continent except Antarctica, the largest including the Amazon River basin, the West Siberian Plain, and the Pantanal in South America. 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 more prominent within wetland systems than any other ecosystem on Earth. International conservation efforts are being used in conjunction with the development of rapid assessment tools to inform people about wetland issues.

Constructed wetlands can be used to treat municipal and industrial wastewater as well as stormwater runoff and they also play a role in water-sensitive urban design.

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A river in the Amazon.

A várzea forest is a seasonal floodplain forest inundated by whitewater rivers that occurs in the Amazon River Basin. Along the Amazon River and many of its tributaries, high annual rainfall that occurs mostly within a rainy season results in extensive seasonal flooding of areas from stream and river discharge. The result is a 10–15 meter rise in water level, with nutrient rich waters.

Várzea forests can be split into two categories: low várzea and high várzea. Low várzea forests can be categorized by lower lying areas where the annual water column has an average height of more than 3 meters, where the period of flooding is greater than 50 days per year. High várzea forests are categorized as the areas where the average annual water column is less than 3 meters high and flooding periods are less than 50 days per year. Amazonian várzea forests are flooded by nutrient rich, high sediment white water rivers such as the Solimões-Amazon, the Purus, and Madeira rivers. This makes the várzea areas distinct from igapós, floodplains from nutrient poor black water. The water level fluctuations that the várzea experiences result in distinct aquatic and terrestrial phases within the year. Amazonian white water river floodplains cover an area of more than 300,000 km², and várzea forests cover approximately 180,000 km² of the Amazon basin. 68% of the Amazonian river basin is located in Brazil, with the remaining areas located in Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Peru, Suriname, and Guyana. The várzea extends from this basin upward into the land before reaching slopes into the terra firme forests. (Full article...)

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The following are images from various wetland-related articles on Wikipedia.

Image 1Spaulding Fen, Wisconsin. (from Fen)
Image 2Pantanal in Brazil (from Swamp)
Image 3Bud of water lotus (Nelumbo nucifera), an aquatic plant (from Wetland)
Image 4Carnivorous plants, such as this Sarracenia purpurea pitcher plant of the eastern seaboard of North America, are often found in bogs. Capturing insects provides nitrogen and phosphorus, which are usually scarce in such conditions. (from Bog)
Image 5A freshwater swamp in Florida, United States (from Swamp)
Image 6Sphagnum moss and sedges can produce floating bog mats along the shores of small lakes. This bog in Duck Lake, Oregon, US, supports populations of English sundew (Drosera anglica). (from Bog)
Image 7A black alder swamp in Germany (from Swamp)
Image 8Sugar Fen, Norfolk (from Fen)
Image 9A wet meadow adjacent to Big Bear Lake, San Bernardino Mountains, California (from Marsh)
Image 10Marsh in shallow water on a lakeshore (from Marsh)
Image 11Viru Bog in Lahemaa National Park, Estonia, which is rich in raised bogs (from Bog)
Image 12A raised bog in Ķemeri National Park, Jūrmala, Latvia, formed approximately 10,000 years ago in the postglacial period and now a tourist attraction. (from Bog)
Image 13Marshlands are often noted within wetlands, as seen here in the New Jersey Meadowlands at Lyndhurst, New Jersey, U.S. (from Marsh)
Image 14An expanse of wet Sphagnum bog in Frontenac National Park, Quebec, Canada. Spruce trees can be seen on a forested ridge in the background. (from Bog)
Image 15Bog with October morning mist in Mukri, Estonia (from Bog)
Image 16Wetlands contrast the hot, arid landscape around Middle Spring, Fish Springs National Wildlife Refuge, Utah. (from Wetland)
Image 17A marsh in Jyväskylä, Finland (from Marsh)
Image 18Tourbière du Lac-à-la-Tortue (fr), ombrotrophic, Quebec, Canada (from Bog)
Image 19A salt marsh in Scotland (from Marsh)
Image 20White water lilies are a typical marsh plant in European areas of deeper water. (from Marsh)
Image 21Dernford Fen, Cambridgeshire (from Fen)
Image 22Vernal pools are ponded only during the wetter part of the year. (from Marsh)
Image 23Many kinds of birds nest in marshes; this one is a yellow-headed blackbird. (from Marsh)
Image 24Precipitation accumulates in many bogs, forming bog pools, such as Koitjärve bog in Estonia. (from Bog)
Image 25Wetland at the Broadmoor Wildlife Sanctuary in Massachusetts, United States, in February (from Wetland)
Image 26Inside a mangrove canopy, Salt Pan Creek, New South Wales (from Swamp)
Image 27Bog-wood and boulders at the Stumpy Knowe near South Auchenmade, Ayrshire, Scotland (from Bog)
Image 28Aerial view of prairie potholes (from Marsh)
Image 29The Sitniki peat bog in Russia recultivated after industrial use (from Bog)
Image 30Snapping turtles are one of the many kinds of turtles found in wetlands. (from Wetland)
Image 31Fog rising over the Mukri bog near Mukri, Estonia. The bog has an area of 2,147 hectares (5,310 acres) and has been protected since 1992. (from Wetland)
Image 32Kakerdaja Fen, Estonia (from Fen)
Image 33Wicken Fen, England. Grasses in the foreground are typical of a fen. (from Fen)
Image 34Difference between swamp and marsh (from Swamp)
Image 35Avaste Fen, Estonia. Sedges dominate the landscape, woody shrubs and trees are sparse. (from Fen)
Image 36Many species of evergreen shrub are found in bogs, such as Labrador tea. (from Bog)
Image 37The wetlands of Cape May, New Jersey, US, comprise an extensive hydrological network that makes them an ornithologically important location to study the many birds which use the preserve as a place to nest. (from Wetland)
Image 38Blanket bog in Connemara, Ireland (from Bog)
Image 39Marshlands are often noted within wetlands, as seen here at the Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge in New York City. (from Wetland)
Image 40Swamp in southern Louisiana (from Swamp)
Image 41Small extreme rich fen in southwestern Minnesota. The white flowers, Parnassia glauca, are a fen indicator species in Minnesota. (from Fen)
Image 42Peat bog and peat to dry, L'Isle-aux-Coudres, Quebec, Canada, 1976 (from Bog)
Image 43Sphagnum with northern pitcher plants at Brown's Lake Bog, Ohio, US (from Bog)
Image 44Sunrise at Viru Bog, Estonia (from Wetland)
Image 45The Linnaistensuo Mire, a nature reserve swamp in Lahti, Finland. (from Swamp)
Image 46Marsh Arabs poling a mashoof (from Swamp)
Image 47A small swamp in Padstow, New South Wales, Australia (from Swamp)
Image 48Aerial image of Carbajal Valley peat bogs, Tierra del Fuego Province, Argentina (from Bog)
Image 49A bog in Lauhanvuori National Park, Isojoki, Finland (from Bog)
Image 50A bog in Ostfriesland (from Bog)
Image 51Many species of frogs live in wetlands, while others visit them each year to lay eggs. (from Wetland)
Image 52Humid wetland in Pennsylvania before a rain (from Wetland)

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Birdwatching

Credit: User:MPF

Birders at Caerlaverock, watching Britain's fifth White-tailed Lapwing.

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Did you know...

... that dambos are often used for growing rice?

(Pictured left: Rice field near Morondava.)

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v t e River morphology
Large-scale features	Alluvial plain Drainage basin Drainage system (geomorphology) Estuary Strahler number (stream order) River valley River delta River sinuosity
Alluvial rivers	Anabranch Avulsion (river) Bar (river morphology) Braided river Channel pattern Cut bank Floodplain Meander Meander cutoff Mouth bar Oxbow lake Point bar Riffle Rapids Riparian zone River bifurcation River channel migration River mouth Slip-off slope Stream pool Thalweg
Bedrock river	Canyon Knickpoint Plunge pool
Bedforms	Ait Antidune Dune Current ripple
Regional processes	Aggradation Base level Degradation (geology) Erosion and tectonics River rejuvenation
Mechanics	Deposition (geology) Water erosion Exner equation Hack's law Helicoidal flow Playfair's law Sediment transport List of rivers that have reversed direction
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