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Flooded Grasslands And Savannas
Flooded grasslands and savannas is a terrestrial biome of the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) biogeographical system, consisting of large expanses or complexes of flooded grasslands. These areas support numerous plants and animals adapted to the unique hydrologic regimes and soil conditions. Large congregations of migratory and resident waterbirds may be found in these regions. The relative importance of these habitat types for these birds as well as more migratory animals typically varies, as the availability of water and productivity annually and seasonally shifts among complexes of smaller and larger wetlands throughout a region. This habitat type is found in Asia, Africa, North America and South America. Some globally outstanding flooded savannas and grasslands occur in the Everglades, Pantanal, Lake Chad flooded savanna, Zambezian flooded grasslands, and the Sudd. The Everglades, with an area of , are the world's largest rain-fed flooded grassland on a limestone s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pantanal
The Pantanal () is a natural region encompassing the world's largest tropical wetland area, and the world's largest Flooded grasslands and savannas, flooded grasslands. It is located mostly within the Brazilian state of Mato Grosso do Sul, but it extends into Mato Grosso and portions of Bolivia and Paraguay. It sprawls over an area estimated at between . Various subregional ecosystems exist, each with distinct hydrological, geological, and ecological characteristics; up to 12 of them have been defined.Susan Mcgrath, photos by Joel Sartore (August 2005) "Brazil's Wild Wet", ''National Geographic Magazine''. Roughly 80% of the Pantanal floodplains are submerged during the rainy seasons, nurturing a biologically diverse collection of aquatic plants and helping to support a dense array of animal species. Etymology The name "Pantanal" comes from the Portuguese word and the Spanish word ''pantano'' that mean "swamp", "wetland", "bog", "quagmire", or "marsh" plus the suffix ''-al'', ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Peat
Peat is an accumulation of partially Decomposition, decayed vegetation or organic matter. It is unique to natural areas called peatlands, bogs, mires, Moorland, moors, or muskegs. ''Sphagnum'' moss, also called peat moss, is one of the most common components in peat, although many other plants can contribute. The biological features of sphagnum mosses act to create a habitat aiding peat formation, a phenomenon termed 'habitat manipulation'. Soils consisting primarily of peat are known as histosols. Peat forms in wetland conditions, where flooding or stagnant water obstructs the flow of oxygen from the atmosphere, slowing the rate of decomposition. Peat properties such as organic matter content and saturated hydraulic conductivity can exhibit high spatial heterogeneity. Peatlands, particularly bogs, are the primary source of peat; although less common, other wetlands, including fens, pocosins and peat swamp forests, also deposit peat. Landscapes covered in peat are home to sp ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Muck (soil)
A sapric is a subtype of a histosol where virtually all of the organic material has undergone sufficient decomposition to prevent the identification of plant parts and even fecal matter. Muck is a sapric soil that is naturally waterlogging (agriculture), waterlogged or is artificially drained. Classification The soils are deep, dark colored, and Friability, friable, often underlain by marl, or marly clay. World Reference Base The World Reference Base for Soil Resources (WRB) defines "sapric" (sa) as a histosol having less than one-sixth (by volume) of the organic material consisting of recognizable plant tissue within 100 cm of the soil surface. Canada Muck soils fall under the Organic Order in the Canadian system of soil classification. Muck soils are organic soils, with at minimum of 30% organic matter and a depth of at least 40 cm. United States In the USDA soil taxonomy, sapric may be a subtype of a haplohemist or glacistel type, and may also be a diagnostic organic soil ma ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Marsh Gas
Marsh gas, also known as swamp gas or bog gas, is a mixture primarily of methane and smaller amounts of hydrogen sulfide, carbon dioxide, and trace phosphine that is produced naturally within some geographical marshes, swamps, and bogs. The surface of marshes, swamps, and bogs is initially Porous medium, porous vegetation that Decomposition, rots to form a Soil crust, crust that prevents oxygen from reaching the organic material trapped below. That is the condition that allows anaerobic digestion and fermentation of any plant or animal matter, which then produces methane. The trapped methane can escape through any of three main pathways: by the diffusion of methane molecules across an air–water interface, by bubbling out of water in a process known as Ebullitions, ebullition, or through plant-mediated transport. Methane formation Methane is the primary gas that makes up the product colloquially known as "marsh gas". Much of the biogenic methane produced in nature is derived f ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Marsh
In ecology, a marsh is a wetland that is dominated by herbaceous plants rather than by woody plants.Keddy, P.A. 2010. Wetland Ecology: Principles and Conservation (2nd edition). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. 497 p More in general, the word can be used for any low-lying and seasonally waterlogged terrain. In Europe and in agricultural literature low-lying meadows that require draining and embanked polderlands are also referred to as marshes or marshland. Marshes can often be found at the edges of lakes and streams, where they form a transition between the aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems. They are often dominated by grasses, rushes or reeds. If woody plants are present they tend to be low-growing shrubs, and the marsh is sometimes called a carr. This form of vegetation is what differentiates marshes from other types of wetland such as swamps, which are dominated by trees, and mires, which are wetlands that have accumulated deposits of acidic peat. Marshes ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mangrove
A mangrove is a shrub or tree that grows mainly in coastal saline water, saline or brackish water. Mangroves grow in an equatorial climate, typically along coastlines and tidal rivers. They have particular adaptations to take in extra oxygen and remove salt, allowing them to tolerate conditions that kill most plants. The term is also used for tropical coastal vegetation consisting of such species. Mangroves are taxonomically diverse due to convergent evolution in several plant families. They occur worldwide in the tropics and subtropics and even some temperate coastal areas, mainly between latitudes 30° N and 30° S, with the greatest mangrove area within 5° of the equator. Mangrove plant families first appeared during the Late Cretaceous to Paleocene epochs and became widely distributed in part due to the plate tectonics, movement of tectonic plates. The oldest known fossils of Nypa fruticans, mangrove palm date to 75 million years ago. Mangroves are salt-tolerant ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Freshwater Swamp Forest
Freshwater swamp forests, or flooded forests, are forests which are inundated with freshwater, either permanently or seasonally. They normally occur along the lower reaches of rivers and around freshwater lakes. Freshwater swamp forests are found in a range of climate zones, from boreal through temperate and subtropical to tropical. Appearance A freshwater swamp forest is a type of wetland ecosystem characterized by its unique hydrology and vegetation. These forests are typically found in low-lying areas, riverbanks, and floodplains where there is a consistent supply of freshwater. A forest that is frequently flooded with relatively fresh water rich in minerals is referred to as a freshwater swamp forest. Since tropical freshwater swamp forests are a subset of tropical rainforests, they share a number of environmental traits with other tropical rainforest formations. Beyond these shared characteristics, however, the environment in freshwater swamp forests and other tropical ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Flood-meadow
A flood-meadow (or floodmeadow) is an area of grassland or pasture beside a river, subject to seasonal flooding.Huhta, Ari‐Pekka, Rautio, Pasi (2014). Flood meadows in Finland - their development during the past century. '' Nordic Journal of Botany'' 32 (6): 858–70 Flood-meadows are distinct from water-meadows in that the latter are artificially created and maintained, with flooding controlledEmma Rothero, Sophie Lake, David Gowing, eds. Floodplain Meadows – Beauty and Utility: A Technical Handbook'' (Floodplain Meadows Partnership; 2016) on a seasonal and even daily basis. Examples Austria: * Hohenau an der March Bosnia and Herzegovina: * List of karst polje in Bosnia and Herzegovina Estonia: * Emajõe flood-meadow * Kasari, Matsalu National Park Finland: * Mattholmsfladan, Pargas * Levänluhta, Isokyrö Ireland: * Shannon Callows United Kingdom: * Angel & Greyhound Meadow, Oxford * Christchurch Meadows, Reading * Christ Church Meadow, Oxford * Mill Mea ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dambo
A dambo is a class of complex shallow wetlands in central, southern and eastern Africa, particularly in Zambia, Malawi and Zimbabwe. They are generally found in higher rainfall flat plateau areas and have river-like branching forms which in themselves are not very large but combined add up to a large area. Dambos have been estimated to comprise 12.5% of the area of Zambia. Similar African words include ''mbuga'' (commonly used in East Africa), ''matoro'' (Mashonaland), ''vlei'' (South Africa), ''fadama'' (Nigeria), and ''bolis'' (Sierra Leone); the French ''bas-fond'' and German ''Spültal'' have also been suggested as referring to similar grassy wetlands.Andrew S. Goudie, "The Geomorphology of the Seasonal Tropics" in William M. Adams, ''et al.'' (editors), ''The Physical geography of Africa'' (Oxford: University Press, 1996), p. 152 Characteristics Dambos are characterised by grasses, rushes and sedges, contrasting with surrounding woodland such as miombo woodland. They may be sub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Coniferous Swamp
Coniferous swamps are forested wetlands in which the dominant trees are lowland conifers such as northern white cedar (''Thuja occidentalis''). The soil in these swamp areas is typically saturated for most of the growing season and is occasionally inundated by seasonal storms or by winter snow melt. The substrate is usually organic in nature and may contain peat in varying amounts, or it may be composed entirely of hydric soil, muck. The swamp substrate is typically nutrient-rich and neutral to alkaline, but can be acidic and nutrient-poor. Coniferous swamps vary in composition, with different species of conifer dominating, and varying amounts of deciduous hardwoods growing within the swamp. A wide diversity of plants is represented within the swamps, with certain species dominating in a variety of microhabitats dependent on factors such as available sunlight (as in cases of trees downed by wind or disease), Soil pH, standing groundwater, and differences of elevation within th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Limestone
Limestone is a type of carbonate rock, carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material Lime (material), lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different Polymorphism (materials science), crystal forms of calcium carbonate . Limestone forms when these minerals Precipitation (chemistry), precipitate out of water containing dissolved calcium. This can take place through both biological and nonbiological processes, though biological processes, such as the accumulation of corals and shells in the sea, have likely been more important for the last 540 million years. Limestone often contains fossils which provide scientists with information on ancient environments and on the evolution of life. About 20% to 25% of sedimentary rock is carbonate rock, and most of this is limestone. The remaining carbonate rock is mostly Dolomite (rock), dolomite, a closely related rock, which contains a high percentage of the mineral Dolomite (mine ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
