The Mantua Bog State Nature Preserve (or Mantua Swamp) is a protected wetland in Mantua Township, Portage County in the U.S. state of Ohio. It was designated a National Natural Landmark in 1976 and a state nature preserve in 1990. The national landmark designation encompasses which includes Marsh Wetlands State Nature Preserve, in addition to Mantua Bog State Nature Preserve. The nature preserve includes different types of wetlands including

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 ...

, boreal

bog A bog or bogland is a wetland that accumulates peat as a deposit of dead plant materials often mosses, typically sphagnum moss. It is one of the four main types of wetlands. Other names for bogs include mire, mosses, quagmire, and muskeg; a ...

, and

cattail ''Typha'' is a genus of about 30 species of monocotyledonous flowering plants in the family Typhaceae. These plants have a variety of common names, in British English as bulrush or reedmace, in American English as reed, cattail, or punks, in A ...

marshes. Twenty-four state-listed plants have been identified in the bog including autumn willow (''

Salix serissima ''Salix serissima'' is a species of flowering plant in the willow family known by the common names autumn willow and fall willow. It is native to North America, where it is distributed across much of Canada and the northern contiguous United Sta ...

''), bunchflower (''

Melanthium ''Melanthium'' is a genus of herbaceous perennial plants native to North America. They are closely related to ''Veratrum'', and in fact are included in that genus by some authors. The distinction between ''Melanthium'' and ''Veratrum'' is based ...

virginicum''), and cranberry (''

Vaccinium oxycoccos ''Vaccinium oxycoccos'' is a species of flowering plant in the heath family. It is known as small cranberry, marshberry, bog cranberry, swamp cranberry, or, particularly in Britain, just cranberry. It is widespread throughout the cool temperate ...

''). In 2000, the Ohio Odonata Survey found a breeding population of the brush-tipped emerald dragonfly (''

Somatochlora walshii ''Somatochlora walshii'', the brush-tipped emerald, is a species of emerald dragonfly in the family Corduliidae The Corduliidae, also knowns as the emeralds, emerald dragonflies or green-eyed skimmers, is a family of dragonflies. These dragonfl ...

''), a species not previously known to exist in Ohio. Access is by permit only (from the Division of Natural Areas and Preserves) due to the sensitivity of the wetland.

References

{{authority control Bogs of Ohio National Natural Landmarks in Ohio Ohio State Nature Preserves Protected areas of Portage County, Ohio Landforms of Portage County, Ohio Protected areas established in 1990 1990 establishments in Ohio