These are called ecosystem services and include water purification, groundwater replenishment, stabilization of shorelines and storm protection, water storage and flood control, processing of carbon ( carbon fixation, decomposition and sequestration), other nutrients and pollutants, and support of plants and animals. Wetlands contribute a number of functions that benefit people. Some wetlands have multiple types of plants and are fed by multiple sources of water, making them difficult to classify. Examples of wetlands classified by their sources of water include tidal wetlands ( oceanic tides), estuaries (mixed tidal and river waters), floodplains (excess water from overflowed rivers or lakes), springs, seeps and fens ( groundwater discharge out onto the surface), bogs and vernal ponds ( rainfall or meltwater). For example, marshes are wetlands dominated by emergent vegetation such as reeds, cattails and sedges swamps are ones dominated by woody vegetation such as trees and shrubs (although reed swamps in Europe are dominated by reeds, not trees). The main wetland types are classified based on the dominant plants and/or the source of the water. The water in wetlands is either freshwater, brackish or saltwater. Wetlands occur naturally on every continent, except for Antarctica. These methods have contributed to wetland conservation partly by raising public awareness of the functions some wetlands provide. Methods for assessing wetland functions, wetland ecological health, and general wetland condition have been developed for many regions of the world. Wetlands are considered among the most biologically diverse of all ecosystems, serving as home to a wide range of plant and animal species. The primary factor that distinguishes wetlands from terrestrial land forms or water bodies is the characteristic vegetation of aquatic plants, adapted to the unique anoxic hydric soils. Flooding results in oxygen-free ( anoxic) processes prevailing, especially in the soils. lacustrine zones Freshwater swamp forest in Bangladesh Peat bogs are freshwater wetlands that develop in areas with standing water and low soil fertility A water control structure gauge in a wetlandĪ wetland is a distinct ecosystem that is flooded by water, either permanently (for years or decades) or seasonally (for weeks or months). Wetlands come in different sizes, types, locations.
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