How do swamps and marshes differ

The soil tends to be waterlogged and muddy, making it perfect for herbaceous plant life. Marshes are most often found near the banks of rivers and lakes, where they are likely to be covered frequently but not continuously in water. A swamp is an area permanently covered in water and dominated primarily by water-tolerant trees , like red maple.

Smaller bushes like buttonbush are also found in local swamps and can form dense areas of vegetation similar to mangroves found in southern Florida.

A great example of a swamp is the Miller Wetland on the Grace College campus, viewable from the greenway in Winona Lake. Rain and flooding cause the water level to change, but in any case, a swamp remains wet. You are likely to find fish, amphibians and reptiles in this ecosystem. The trees and low-lying bushes that grow in swamps are home to nesting birds, too.

In any of its forms, wetlands work to protect our waterways by filtering impurities out of runoff before it can reach a lake or stream. They also absorb large amounts of water to lessen flooding.

Mangroves are shrubby trees that thrive in this wet environment, doing so well that there is a sub-type of swamp called the mangrove swamp.

Many swamps and marshes have been destroyed to turn their nutrient-rich soils into farmland. While other types of wetlands are very nutrient-rich, bogs are clearly defined by their lack of nutrients and their relative inability to support large plant life. A bog is created over hundreds or thousands of years, formed when plant matter decays in a lake and fills it.

This creates layers and layers of peat, which is often drained before being harvested and burned as a heat source or used as insulation.

Bogs are freshwater, and in spite of the large amounts of decaying plant matter, they are very poor in nutrients because of the slow rate of decay. Most of the plant life around a bog is along the lines of fungi, mosses, and small shrubs. Many carnivorous plants, such as the pitcher plant and the sundew, have evolved in bogs to combat the low nutrient levels in the soil.

Bogs are infinitely valuable in their ability to store carbon, removing this greenhouse gas from the atmosphere. Fens are very similar to bogs, and can contain much of the same decaying plant matter and peat.

Swamps can also have scrubs including the button-bush. Swamps are fed by groundwater or surface water. There are two types of swamps: saltwater swamps and freshwater swamps.

A Marsh is a wetland or an area of land where the ground is covered by water for a long period of time. A marsh is a type of wetland where herbaceous plants are the dominant vegetation. A herbaceous plant is a plant that does not have any woody stems above the ground. Marshes are nutrient-rich wetlands which support a variety of reeds and grasses. The roots of the plant bind to the muddy soil and the slow water flow allows the plants to spread out across the marsh. Many marshes are freshwater and exist in areas with poor drainage—along streambeds, lakes, and ponds.

Since soil is constantly wet from flooding, marshes are extremely nutrient-rich and can support a wide variety of plant and animal life. Marshes can also be tidal, according to experts. Saltwater marshes are saturated every time the tide comes in from the ocean. There are some marshes that are fed by groundwater.