What Are Freshwater Wetlands?
The term “wetlands” encompasses a wide variety of aquatic habitats including swamps, marshes, bogs, prairie potholes, flood plains, and fen. Natural wetlands are lands which, due to geological or ecological factors, have a natural supply of water either from tidal flows, flooding rivers, connections with groundwater, or because they are perched above aquifers or potholes. Wetlands are covered or soaked for at least a part, and often all, of the year. This makes wetlands intermediaries between terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. They are neither one or the other, and yet they are both. What is a marsh? A freshwater marsh is an inland area inundated with 1 6 feet (33 200 cm) of water, containing a variety of perennials (mostly grasses), forbs (flowers), and bushes, rather than trees, as in swamps. Marshes have an interesting mix of plant and animal life, one that effectively demonstrates the interconnectedness of living things. They are home to yellow-headed and red-winged blackbirds, he
