Amazing wetland

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A wetland is an area of land whose soil is saturated with moisture either permanently or seasonally. Such areas may also be covered partially or completely by shallow pools of water.
Wetlands include swamps, marshes, and bogs, among others.The water found in wetlands can be saltwater, freshwater, or brackish. The world's largest wetland is the Pantanal which straddles Brazil, Bolivia and Paraguay in South America.

 Wetlands are considered the most biologically diverse of all ecosystems. Plant life found in wetlands includes mangrove, water lilies, cattails, sedges, tamarack, black spruce, cypress, gum, and many others. Animal life includes many different amphibians, reptiles, birds, insects, and mammals.

In many locations, such as the United Kingdom, Iraq, South Africa and the United States, wetlands are the subject of conservation efforts and Biodiversity Action Plans.

Wetlands also serve as natural wastewater purification systems—e.g., in Calcutta, India and Arcata, California.

The study of wetlands has recently been termed paludology in some publications.

Technical definitions

Wetlands have been categorized both as biomes and ecosystems. A patch of land that develops pools of water after a rain storm would not be considered a "wetland" though the land is wet. Wetlands have unique characteristics: they are generally distinguished from other water bodies or landforms based on their water level and on the types of plants that thrive within them. Specifically, wetlands are characterized as having a water table that stands at or near the land surface for a long enough season each year to support aquatic plants. Put simply, wetlands are lands made up of hydric soil.

Wetlands have also been described as ecotones, providing a transition between dry land and water bodies. Mitsch and Gosselink write that wetlands exist "...at the interface between truly terrestrial ecosystems and aquatic systems, making them inherently different from each other, yet highly dependent on both."

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Regional definitions

In the United States, wetlands are defined as "those areas that are inundated or saturated by surface or groundwater at a frequency and duration sufficient to support, and that under normal circumstances do support, a prevalence of vegetation typically adapted for life in saturated soil conditions. Wetlands generally include swamps, marshes, bogs and similar areas".Some states, such as Massachusetts and New York, have separate definitions that may differ from United States.

Wetlands and climate change

Wetlands perform two important functions in relation to climate change. They have mitigation effects through their ability to sink carbon, and adaptation effects through their ability to store and regulate water.

 Mitigation

Peatswamp forests and soils are being drained, burnt, mined, and overgrazed contributing severely to climate change. As Peatlands form only 3% of all the world’s land area, their degradation equal 7% of all fossil fuel carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. As a result of peat drainage, the organic carbon that was built up over thousands of years and is normally under water, is suddenly exposed to the air. It decomposes and turns into carbon dioxide (CO2), which is released into the atmosphere. Peat fires cause the same process and in addition create enormous clouds of smoke that cross international borders, such as happen every year in Southeast Asia.

Through the building of dams, Wetlands International is halting the drainage of peatlands in Southeast Asia, thereby avoiding enormous CO2 emissions. Reforestation with native tree species as well as setting up community fire brigades are also part of an integral, very cost effective approach shown in Central Kalimantan and Sumatra, Indonesia.

Adaptation

Mangroves, floodplains, highland and other wetlands can reduce the impacts of increased precipitation, storms, glacier melting and even sealevel rise. The water regulating and storage functions of these wetlands are crucial in adapting to a changing climate. Therefore, in order to protect people living close or even far downstream from wetlands and their source of livelihoods, we must conserve and restore wetlands. In this way, they can continue to play their critical role.

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Climate

 Temperature

Temperatures vary greatly depending on the location of the wetland. Many of the world's wetlands are in temperate zones (midway between the North and South Poles and the equator). In these zones, summers are warm and winters are cold, but temperatures are not extreme. However, wetlands found in the tropic zone, which is around the equator, are always warm. Temperatures in wetlands on the Arabian Peninsula, for example, can reach 50 °C (122 °F). In northeastern Siberia, which has a polar climate, wetland temperatures can be as cold as -50 °C (-58 °F). And in a moderate zone, such as the Gulf of Mexico, is usually 11 °C (51 °F).

 Rainfall

The amount of rainfall a wetland receives depends upon its location. Wetlands in Wales, Scotland, and Western Ireland receive about 150 cm (59 in) per year. Those in Southeast Asia, where heavy rains occur, can receive up to 1000 cm (200 in) In the northern areas of North America, wetlands exist where as little as 18 centimeters (6 inches) of rain fall each month

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