A lake may have marshland along its border. A former glacier covered northeastern Wisonsin. Debris from the retreating glacier blocked the meltwater, forming a lake that accumulated sediment and eventually drained to form Horicon Marsh.
The area covers 32, acres and includes the Horicon Marsh State Wildlife Area and the Horicon National Wildlife Refuge with millions of migrating waterfowl that include duck species, Canadian geese, and great blue herons.
The Okavango River of Botswana drains into a large delta which forms a marshland area of the Kalahari Desert. It is home for crocodiles and hippopotamuses, and a source of water for elephants, giraffes, wildebeast, lions, cheetahs and many other wild animals that live in the nearby desert.
The Florida Everglades are the largest freshwater marsh in the United States, covering over 2, square miles.
The Everglades are actually a very wide, slow moving river averaging less than one foot in depth. Beginning at Lake Okeechobee, the land slopes very gradually toward the southwest. Four major rivers of central Florida drain into the lake which overflows, the waters moving southwest through the Everglades to Florida Bay at a rate of one half mile per day. A large portion is sawgrass marshland, with areas of swampland and small clusters of cypress trees in places where sinkholes have developed in the limestone under the surface.
The Everglades are home for alligators and 16 wading bird species. Wetlands exist all over the United States and include swamps and marshes, as well as bogs. While these three types of wetlands may seem one and the same, there are key differences that distinguish them. While some wetlands are always wet, it isn't a requirement.
Some wetlands are dry for long stretches of the year, but still are considered wetlands because the water table for the area is either at or near the land, which allows aquatic plants to grow and thrive there. Both marshes and swamps can occur in areas with either fresh water or saltwater.
While the presence of water is the main similarity between marshes and swamps, the kind of plant life present in the area is the primary difference between them.
Swamps are predominantly forested, while marshes have few if any trees but are home to grasses and herbaceous plants, including annuals, perennials and biennials, according to National Geographic. Swamps are often classified by the predominant type of tree growing there. For example, there are hardwood swamps, cedar swamps and cypress swamps, according to National Geographic. They are found all over the world, on every continent except Antarctica.
Swamps are similar to lowland forests, which are forests in low-lying areas near water sources. The difference between the two is that swamps usually have deeper standing water and are wet for longer periods of the year, according to the National Parks Service. Marshes have rich, waterlogged soils that support plant life, according to National Geographic. How are wetlands formed? Wetlands on barrier islands at Cape Lookout National Seashore help absorb the energy of storms.
NPS photo Although some wetlands can form relatively quickly, many others took thousands of years to develop. Here are some of the processes that form or modify wetlands: Flooding of coastal lowlands from rising sea levels has created broad coastal marshes that are protected from wave action by barrier islands or reefs. Coastal wetlands also form when rivers deposit sediment as they reach the ocean.
The Everglades are rich in biodiversity. This so-called "River of Grass" supports such plants as sawgrass, cypress, and mangrove forests.
They are home to animals such as ducks, geese, raccoons, turtles, and frogs. Predators such as alligators and panthers are also indigenous to the Everglades. The Okavango Delta in Botswana is probably the largest freshwater marsh in the world. The Okavango River empties into the Kalahari Desert, forming a delta in an arid region instead of near an ocean or lake.
The Okavango Delta is a series of marshes totaling about 15, square kilometers 5, square miles. Okavango marshes are made up of dense beds of papyrus, water lilies, and underwater plants such as bladderworts.
The Okavango Delta is a haven for a diverse number of animal species. Some animals live directly in and around the marshes, such as hippopotamuses and crocodiles. Other animals, such as giraffes and elephants, use the marshes as a source of freshwater in the middle of the dry Kalahari Desert. Marshes and People A number of human activities pose a threat to marsh ecosystems.
Development along the Gulf Coast of the U. Massive development in south Florida has reduced the amount of water flowing through the Everglades. Wildlife such as the Florida panther are endangered because of the reduction of habitat. The rivers waters have been drained and diverted to expand agricultural production, salt extraction, and tourist facilities. With less water feeding into their ecosystems, the marshes at Doana have been reduced from , hectares , acres to only 30, hectares 74, acres.
As a result, plant and animal species have diminished. The World Wildlife Fund and the Spanish government are now working to increase the water flow that enters the ecosystem. Their approach, like most marsh restoration programs, requires the cooperation of government officials, environmental regulator s, agricultural producers, and the public.
Photograph by Patty Bodwell , My Shot. Marsh Arabs The Madan, or Basra Marsh dwellers of southern Iraq, are thought by some historians to be descendants of the ancient Sumerian civilization. These so-called "Marsh Arabs" have lived for millennia by fishing and grazing buffalo in the lush delta of the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers. Adapting to the ebb and flow of the tide, the marsh dwellers reside in floating reed houses and transport themselves in boats and canoes.
Unfortunately, the marshes were reduced drastically during the presidency of Saddam Hussein. The number of Marsh Arabs in Iraq shrunk from about , to as few as 20, Today, the Madan find it difficult to maintain a livelihood as the polluted, drained, and saline waters of the marshes cannot support enough commercially viable wildlife.
Also called industrial agriculture. Also called an alpha predator or top predator. Hurricanes are the same thing as typhoons, but usually located in the Atlantic Ocean region. Birth, growth, and death usually characterize the life cycle of animals.
Usually rivers enter another body of water at their mouths. Pesticides can be fungicides which kill harmful fungi , insecticides which kill harmful insects , herbicides which kill harmful plants , or rodenticides which kill harmful rodents.
Also called a storm tide.
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