What is the difference between wetland and marsh

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.

The plants that grow in marshes bind to the muddy soil, which slows the flow of the water. There are three kinds of marshes: tidal freshwater marshes, tidal saltwater marshes and inland freshwater marshes. Tidal marshes are affected by the tides, although tidal freshwater marshes are further inland from the coast and mostly contain fresh water, with low saltwater content. The types of marshes we have here in Will County, which is located far from either coast, are inland marshes.

These marshes are found along the edges of rivers and lakes. The most famous marsh in the United States is an inland marsh — the Everglades. The massive national park — the third biggest in the United States — is home to nine distinct types of habitat, including marshes, according to the Department of the Interior. Many people think the Everglades is a swamp, but it is not. However, the Big Cypress Swamp, which includes more than , acres of swamp land, is adjacent to the Everglades.

Big Cypress, which is a national preserve, is critical to the health of the Everglades. Bogs are yet another kind of wetland. They are different from marshes and swamps because they are highly acidic and have low oxygen levels, the National Parks Service reports. These conditions develop because organic matter accumulates faster than it can decay.

Michigan's Upper Peninsula, including Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, contains a rich composition of marshes, bogs, cedar swamplands, vernal pools, wet meadows, and forested lowlands. These wetlands provide habitat for many kinds of plants and animals, including rare orchids and invertebrates, and are especially critical as amphibian breeding grounds.

Wetlands also reduce flood peaks, serve as natural filters, control erosion, and recharge and discharge groundwater. Few studies on wetland ecosystems have been done at Pictured Rocks. One was a study on vernal pools in Vernal pools are small, temporary wetlands that generally fill during spring or fall and dry up in summer. One essential characteristic is that they lack fish, which makes them safe breeding habitat for certain species of amphibians and wetland invertebrates such as fairy shrimp that would otherwise become fish prey.

Marsh A marsh is a wetland dominated by herbaceous plants such as grasses, rushes, or sedges. Small shrubs often grow along the perimeter as a transition to drier land. Marshes usually form along the shallow edges of lakes and rivers. They provide habitat to a broad diversity of aquatic invertebrates, many of which occupy and feed on decomposing vegetation. The invertebrates support numerous species of fish, amphibians frogs , reptiles snakes and turtles , waterfowl, water birds, and wetland mammals like muskrat.

The best examples of marshes at Pictured Rocks occur in quiet shallow pockets of large lakes and around the periphery of small lakes, most notably around Miners Lake and Little Chapel Lake. Marshes are highly dynamic, subject to flooding, drying, and hydrology changes brought about by climatic conditions and also by beaver activity. Bog Bogs are acidic, low-oxygen wetlands that form where accumulation of organic material occurs faster than organic decay.

Bog soils are waterlogged and acidic peats formed by sphagnum moss and other vegetation that decomposes very slowly. Most northern bogs form in enclosed glacial depressions called kettle lakes, where there is little in or outflow and the main water source is precipitation rather than streams or groundwater.

A mat of moss or other vegetation develops on the edge of the lake and slowly grows over the surface of the water. Papyrus was used for making paper in ancient Egypt. Marshes are often found near the fringes of lakes and streams. A marsh often serves as a transitional area between land and aquatic ecosystems. A swamp is a wetland dominated by trees and other woody plants. This type of wetland is often found along large rivers and lake shores.

Swamps often have stagnant, slow-moving water. Swamp vegetation is often dependent on the water level fluctuation. This in particular is the case with swamps found near large rivers.

There are two kinds of swamps: swamp forest, and shrub swamps. Swamp forests are better known as freshwater swamp forests or flooded forests. These are swamps in which forests are saturated with freshwater during part of the year, or permanently. They exist near freshwater lakes and the lower portions of a river.

This type of swamp can be found in a variety of climates and biomes, from the tropical climates near the Equator to the cold boreal forests of Subarctic regions. A shrub swamp is not considered a "true swamp" like a flooded forest is. This is considered a "transitional swamp".