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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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Lake Hāwea, New Zealand

Limnology is the study of inland waters. It is often regarded as a division of ecology or environmental science. It covers the biological, chemical, physical, geological, and other attributes of all inland waters (running and standing waters, both fresh and saline, natural or man-made). This includes the study of lakes and ponds, rivers, springs, streams and wetlands. A more recent sub-discipline of limnology, termed landscape limnology, studies, manages, and conserves these aquatic ecosystems using a landscape perspective.

Limnology is closely related to aquatic ecology and hydrobiology, which study aquatic organisms in particular regard to their hydrological environment. Although limnology is sometimes equated with freshwater science, this is erroneous since limnology also comprises the study of inland salt lakes.

The term limnology was coined by François-Alphonse Forel (1841–1912) who established the field with his studies of Lake Geneva. Interest in the discipline rapidly expanded, and in 1922 August Thienemann (a German zoologist) and Einar Naumann (a Swedish botanist) co-founded the International Society of Limnology (SIL, from Societas Internationalis Limnologiae). Forel's original definition of limnology, "the oceanography of lakes", was expanded to encompass the study of all inland waters, and influenced Benedykt Dybowski's work on Lake Baikal. (Full article...)

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General images

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

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

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Belostomatidae

Credit: Sdaryn

Belostomatidae.

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Did you know...

... that shrub swamps are transitional between fens and swamps?

(Pictured left: Blackwater River in Canaan Valley, West Virginia.)

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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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