Portal:Wetlands

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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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Constructed wetland in a ecological settlement in Flintenbreite near Luebeck, Germany

A constructed wetland (CW) is an artificial wetland created for the purpose of treating anthropogenic discharge such as municipal or industrial wastewater, stormwater runoff. It may also be created for land reclamation after mining, refineries, or other ecological disturbances such as required mitigation for natural areas lost to a development.

Constructed wetlands are engineered systems that use natural functions of vegetation, soil, and organisms to treat different water streams. Depending on the type of wastewater that has to be treated the system has to be adjusted accordingly which means that pre- or post-treatments might be necessary.

Constructed wetlands can be designed to emulate the features of natural wetlands, such as acting as a biofilter or removing sediments and pollutants such as heavy metals from the water. Some constructed wetlands may also serve as a habitat for native and migratory wildlife, although that is usually not their main purpose.

The two main types of constructed wetlands are subsurface flow and surface flow wetlands. The planted vegetation plays a role in contaminant removal but the filter bed, consisting usually of a combination of sand and gravel, has an equally important role to play. (Full article...)

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General images

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

Image 1Sugar Fen, Norfolk (from Fen)
Image 2Small extreme rich fen in southwestern Minnesota. The white flowers, Parnassia glauca, are a fen indicator species in Minnesota. (from Fen)
Image 3A freshwater swamp in Florida, United States (from Swamp)
Image 4Precipitation accumulates in many bogs, forming bog pools, such as Koitjärve bog in Estonia. (from Bog)
Image 5A salt marsh in Scotland (from Marsh)
Image 6Blanket bog in Connemara, Ireland (from Bog)
Image 7Wetlands contrast the hot, arid landscape around Middle Spring, Fish Springs National Wildlife Refuge, Utah. (from Wetland)
Image 8Wicken Fen, England. Grasses in the foreground are typical of a fen. (from Fen)
Image 9A 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)
Image 10A wetland in the Chesapeake Bay drainage basin in Mallows Bay Park in Charles County, Maryland, in the United States. (from Wetland)
Image 11An 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 12White water lilies are a typical marsh plant in European areas of deeper water. (from Marsh)
Image 13Spaulding Fen, Wisconsin. (from Fen)
Image 14Inside a mangrove canopy, Salt Pan Creek, New South Wales (from Swamp)
Image 15Sphagnum 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 16Many species of evergreen shrub are found in bogs, such as Labrador tea. (from Bog)
Image 17Kakerdaja Fen, Estonia (from Fen)
Image 18Humid wetland in Pennsylvania before a rain (from Wetland)
Image 19Fog 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 20Difference between swamp and marsh (from Swamp)
Image 21Carnivorous 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 22A marsh in Jyväskylä, Finland (from Marsh)
Image 23A bog in Ostfriesland (from Bog)
Image 24Marsh Arabs poling a mashoof (from Swamp)
Image 25The Sitniki peat bog in Russia recultivated after industrial use (from Bog)
Image 26Sphagnum with northern pitcher plants at Brown's Lake Bog, Ohio, US (from Bog)
Image 27Tourbière du Lac-à-la-Tortue (fr), ombrotrophic, Quebec, Canada (from Bog)
Image 28Swamp in southern Louisiana (from Swamp)
Image 29The Linnaistensuo Mire, a nature reserve swamp in Lahti, Finland. (from Swamp)
Image 30Aerial view of prairie potholes (from Marsh)
Image 31Snapping turtles are one of the many kinds of turtles found in wetlands. (from Wetland)
Image 32A bog in Lauhanvuori National Park, Isojoki, Finland (from Bog)
Image 33Dernford Fen, Cambridgeshire (from Fen)
Image 34Marshlands are often noted within wetlands, as seen here at the Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge in New York City. (from Wetland)
Image 35A wet meadow adjacent to Big Bear Lake, San Bernardino Mountains, California (from Marsh)
Image 36Vernal pools are ponded only during the wetter part of the year. (from Marsh)
Image 37Peat bog and peat to dry, L'Isle-aux-Coudres, Quebec, Canada, 1976 (from Bog)
Image 38Avaste Fen, Estonia. Sedges dominate the landscape, woody shrubs and trees are sparse. (from Fen)
Image 39Pantanal in Brazil (from Swamp)
Image 40Viru Bog in Lahemaa National Park, Estonia, which is rich in raised bogs (from Bog)
Image 41Bog with October morning mist in Mukri, Estonia (from Bog)
Image 42Bud of water lotus (Nelumbo nucifera), an aquatic plant (from Wetland)
Image 43Sunrise at Viru Bog, Estonia (from Wetland)
Image 44Aerial image of Carbajal Valley peat bogs, Tierra del Fuego Province, Argentina (from Bog)
Image 45A black alder swamp in Germany (from Swamp)
Image 46Wetland at the Broadmoor Wildlife Sanctuary in Massachusetts, United States, in February (from Wetland)
Image 47Marshlands are often noted within wetlands, as seen here in the New Jersey Meadowlands at Lyndhurst, New Jersey, U.S. (from Marsh)
Image 48Many species of frogs live in wetlands, while others visit them each year to lay eggs. (from Wetland)
Image 49A small swamp in Padstow, New South Wales, Australia (from Swamp)
Image 50Many kinds of birds nest in marshes; this one is a yellow-headed blackbird. (from Marsh)
Image 51The wetlands of Cape May, New Jersey, in the United States 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 52Bog-wood and boulders at the Stumpy Knowe near South Auchenmade, Ayrshire, Scotland (from Bog)
Image 53Marsh in shallow water on a lakeshore (from Marsh)

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Credit: User:Abrget47j

Sunrise at Viru Bog, Estonia.

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