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Jun 11, 2020 · While it may seem easy to lump wetlands, marshes and swamps together, they all have some unique characteristics. Wetlands are areas of land that link land and water, where these two crucial types of habitat meet to form yet another crucial habitat.
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Marshes are wetlands dominated by herbaceous, emergent vegetation rooted in mineral (non-peat) substrates. Swamps, on the other hand, are forested wetlands dominated by trees and shrubs. One of the primary functions of wetlands, marshes, and swamps is to provide habitat for a wide variety of species.
- Description of Bogs
- Functions & Values of Bogs
- Status of Bogs
- Northern Bogs
- Pocosins
- Functions & Values
- Status
Bogs are one of North America's most distinctive kinds of wetlands. They are characterized by spongy peat deposits, acidic waters and a floor covered by a thick carpet of sphagnum moss. Bogs receive all or most of their water from precipitation rather than from runoff, groundwater or streams. As a result, bogs are low in the nutrients needed for pl...
Bogs serve an important ecological function in preventing downstream flooding by absorbing precipitation. Bogs support some of the most interesting plants in the United States (like the carnivorous Sundew) and provide habitat to animals threatened by human encroachment.
Bogs in the United States are mostly found in the glaciated northeast and Great Lakes regions (northern bogs) but also in the southeast (pocosins). Their acreage declined historically as they were drained to be used as cropland and mined for their peat, which was used as a fuel and a soil conditioner. Recently, bogs have been recognized for their r...
Description
Northern bogs are generally associated with low temperatures and short growing seasons where ample precipitation and high humidity cause excessive moisture to accumulate. Therefore, most bogs in the United States are found in the northern states. Northern bogs often form in old glacial lakes. They may have either considerable amounts of open water surrounded by floating vegetation or vegetation may have completely filled the lake (terrestrialization). The sphagnum peats of northern bogs cause...
Description
The word pocosin comes from the Algonquin Native American word for "swamp on a hill." These evergreen shrub and tree dominated landscapes are found on the Atlantic Coastal Plain from Virginia to northern Florida; though, most are found in North Carolina. Usually, there is no standing water present in pocosins, but a shallow water table leaves the soil saturated for much of the year.They range in size from less than an acre to several thousand acres located between and isolated from old or exi...
Habitat is the most valuable function of Pocosins. Some pocosins are very large and difficult to develop, and so they remain largely undisturbed. As a result, they are a haven for species adapted to living in unaltered forests. As more and more land is developed in the Eastern United States, pocosins are becoming ever more valuable refuges for wild...
Historically, pocosins were mostly threatened by agriculture. Today, timber harvesting, peat mining, and phosphate mining join agriculture as the biggest threats to the remaining undisturbed pocosins.
Oct 31, 2023 · When you look, seeing the comparisons of a wetland vs. marsh vs. swamp isn’t easy. They are easily confused with one another until you know what to look for. This article is here to break down the differences between the three so you know exactly what each one is, where they are found, and how to tell them apart.
Part of the difficulty arises from the diversity of wetland types that exist around the world, from salt or brackish water coastal marshes and mangroves to inland freshwater swamps, peatlands,...
NOAA classifies wetlands into five general types: marine (ocean), estuarine (estuary), riverine (river), lacustrine (lake), and palustrine (marsh). Common names for wetlands include marshes, estuaries, mangroves, mudflats, mires, ponds, fens, swamps, deltas, coral reefs, billabongs, lagoons, shallow seas, bogs, lakes, and floodplains, to name ...
Wetlands are areas where water is the primary factor controlling the environment and the associated plant and animal life. They occur where the water table is at or near the surface of the land, or where the land is covered by water.
