Marsh
A marsh is — according to ecological definitions — a
Marshes can often be found at the edges of lakes and streams, where they form a transition between the aquatic and terrestrial
Marshes provide
Basic information
Marshes provide a habitat for many species of plants, animals, and insects that have adapted to living in flooded conditions or other environments.
Values and ecosystem services
Marshes provide habitats for many kinds of invertebrates, fish, amphibians, waterfowl and aquatic mammals.[4] Marshes have extremely high levels of biological production, some of the highest in the world, and therefore are important in supporting fisheries.[1]
Marshes also improve water quality by acting as a sink to filter
Types of marshes
Marshes differ depending mainly on their location and
These three can be found worldwide and each contains a different set of organisms.Salt marshes
Saltwater marshes are found around the world in mid to high latitudes, wherever there are sections of protected coastline. They are located close enough to the shoreline that the motion of the tides affects them, and, sporadically, they are covered with water. They flourish where the rate of sediment buildup is greater than the rate at which the land level is sinking.[3] Salt marshes are dominated by specially adapted rooted vegetation, primarily salt-tolerant grasses.[8]
Salt marshes are most commonly found in
Freshwater tidal marshes
Although considered a freshwater marsh, this form of marsh is affected by the
Freshwater marshes
Ranging greatly in both size and geographic location, freshwater marshes make up the most common form of wetland in North America. They are also the most diverse of the three types of marsh. Some examples of freshwater marsh types in North America are:
Wet meadows
Wet meadows occur in areas such as shallow lake basins, low-lying depressions, and the land between shallow marshes and upland areas. They also occur on the edges of large lakes and rivers. Wet meadows often have very high plant diversity and high densities of buried seeds.[8][10] They are regularly flooded, but are often dry in the summer.
Vernal pools
Vernal pools are a type of marsh found only seasonally in shallow depressions in the land. They can be covered in shallow water, but in the summer and fall, they can be completely dry. In western North America, vernal pools tend to form in open grasslands,[11] whereas in the east they often occur in forested landscapes.[12] Further south, vernal pools form in pine savannas and flatwoods. Many amphibian species depend upon vernal pools for spring breeding; these ponds provide habitat free from fish, which eat the eggs and young of amphibians.[8] An example is the endangered gopher frog.[13] Similar temporary ponds occur in other world ecosystems, where they may have local names. However, the term vernal pool can be applied to all such temporary pool ecosystems.[8]
Playa lakes
Prairie potholes
Prairie potholes are found in the northern parts of North America as the Prairie Pothole Region. These landscapes were once covered by glaciers, and as a result shallow depressions were formed in great numbers. These depressions fill with water in the spring. They provide important breeding habitats for many species of waterfowl. Some pools only occur seasonally, while others retain enough water to be present all year.[17]
Riverine wetlands
Many kinds of marsh occur along the fringes of large rivers. The different types are produced by factors such as water level, nutrients,
Embanked marshlands
Large tracts of tidal marsh have been embanked and artificially drained. They are usually known by the Dutch name of polders. In Northern Germany and Scandinavia they are called Marschland, Marsch or marsk; in France marais maritime. In the Netherlands and Belgium, they are designated as marine clay districts. In East Anglia, a region in the East of England, the embanked marshes are also known as Fens.
Restoration
Some areas of the world have already lost 90% of their wetlands, including marshes. They have been drained to create agricultural land or filled to accommodate urban sprawl. Restoration is the process of returning marshes to the landscape to replace those lost in the past.[1] Restoration can be done on a large scale, such as by allowing rivers to flood naturally in the spring, or on a small scale by returning wetlands to urban landscapes.
See also
- Aquatic plant – Plant that has adapted to living in an aquatic environment
- Bayou – Body of water in flat, low-lying areas
- Marsh gas – Gas produced naturally within marshes, swamps and bogs
- Mire– Wetland terrain without forest cover, dominated by living, peat-forming plants
- Bog – Type of wetland with peat-rich soil
- Fen – Type of wetland fed by mineral-rich ground or surface water
- Swamp – A forested wetland
- Tidal marsh – Marsh subject to tidal change in water
- Freshwater marsh – Non-tidal, non-forested marsh wetland that contains fresh water
- Mangrove– Productive wetlands that occur in coastal intertidal zones
- Paludiculture – Wet agriculture and forestry on peatlands
References
- ^ a b c d e Keddy, P.A. 2010. Wetland Ecology: Principles and Conservation (2nd edition). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. 497 p
- ^ World Encyclopedia. "Marshes". Archived from the original on 23 May 2013. Retrieved 4 February 2012.
- ^ a b c d e f Rafferty, J.P. (2011). Lakes and Wetlands. New York, N.Y.: Britannica Educational service publishing's.
- ^ a b Campbell & Reece (2008). Biology Eighth Edition. San Francisco, CA: Pearson Education Inc. p. 1162.
- ^ S2CID 134372265.
- ^ ISSN 1557-7015.
- ^ Draper & Reed (2005). Our Environment. Nelson Education ltd. p. 96.
- ^ a b c d Keddy, P.A. 2010. Wetland Ecology: Principles and Conservation (2nd edition). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. 497 p.
- ^ B.R. Silliman, E.D. Grosholz, and M.D. Bertness (eds.) 2009. Human Impacts on Salt Marshes. A Global Perspective. University of California Press, Berkeley, California.
- ^ Keddy, P.A. and A. A. Reznicek. 1986. Great Lakes vegetation dynamics: the role of fluctuating water levels and buried seeds. Journal of Great Lakes Research 12: 25-36.
- ^ Bauder, E. T. 1989. Drought stress and competition effects on the local distribution of Pogogyne abramsii. Ecology 70: 1083–9.
- ^ Calhoun, A.J.K. and P.G. deMaynadier. 2008. Science and the Conservation of Vernal Pools in Northeastern North America. CRC Press, Boca Raton, Florida.
- ^ Richter, S. C. and Seigel, R. A. 2002. Annual variation in the population ecology of the endangered gopher frog, Rana sevosa Goin and Netting. Copeia, 2002, 962–72.
- ^ Smith, L. M. 2003. Playas of the Great Plains. Austin, TX: University of Texas Press.
- ^ United States Environmental Protection Agency. "Playa Lakes". Archived from the original on 4 February 2012. Retrieved 5 February 2012.
- ^ Bolen, E. G., Smith, L. M., and Schramm, H. L., Jr. 1989. Playa lakes: prairie wetlands of the southern High Plains. BioScience 39: 615–23.
- ^ van der Valk, A. G. 1989. Northern Prairie Wetlands. Ames, IA: Iowa State University Press.
- ^ Day, R., P.A. Keddy, J. McNeill and T. Carleton. 1988. Fertility and disturbance gradients: a summary model for riverine marsh vegetation. Ecology 69: 1044-1054