The world's wetlands are aquatic biomes that are among the most complex and biodiverse on our planet. They can occur anywhere on Earth where shallow water exists, from the saltwater mangroves of the tropics, to the bogs and fens of the arctic. Join me as I take a tour of wetlands on every continent and explain the differences in each of their varied types.

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🕐TIMESTAMPS🕖
👉0:00 Opening Montage
👉0:24 Introduction and Titles
👉1:16 What are Wetlands?
👉2:46 Mangroves and Salt Marshes
👉4:22 Tidal Freshwater Marshes
👉4:45 Intertidal Flats
👉5:02 Freshwater Marshes
👉6:17 Freshwater Forested Swamps
👉8:05 Riparian Wetlands
👉11:17 Bogs and Fens
👉12:47 Peatlands
👉15:24 Prairie Pothole Region
👉16:01 Threats to Wetlands
👉17:52 Outro

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Mangrove forest occurs only in the tropics, and along coastlines protected from wave action. They are composed of salt tolerant trees and shrubs. Examples are the Sundarbans of India/Bangladesh, the Niger Delta of Nigeria and the Orinoco Delta of Venezuela.

Saltwater marshes are the equivalent of mangroves in temperate latitudes and are populated by salt tolerant trees and shrubs. Examples include the Camargue of France, the Wash of England and the Mississippi Delta.

Tidal Freshwater Marshes and Intertidal Flats occur in areas of large tidal ranges such as river estuaries including the St Lawrence River of Canada and the River Severn of Great Britain.

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Freshwater Marshes (marshland) are large non-forested flat areas that are flooded seasonally or year round by incoming streams or rivers. Examples include the Everglades of Florida, the Mesopotamian Marshlands of the Tigris and Euphrates confluence in Iraq.

Freshwater Forested Swamps are similar to Freshwater Marshes except their primary vegetation is trees. Examples include the Amazon Basin, the numerous forested swamps of the Eastern Seaboard and Gulf Coast of the USA, and the Pripyat or Pinsk Marshes of Belarus/Ukraine.

Riparian Wetlands are similar to the above freshwater systems except they are dominated by a river that regularly floods its banks. Examples include the Sudd of the Nile River in South Sudan and the Pantanal of Bolivia/Brazil/Paraguay.

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Bogs and Fens (peat bog and fenland) are areas where the exit of water is heavily or entirely prevented, allowing the build-up of acids in decomposing expired plants (mostly sphagnum moss) that eventually lead to peat. They are found from the tropics to the arctic, and include the Cuvette Centrale of the Congo River and the West Siberian Lowland, probably the largest wetland of any kind in the world. They are also known as peatlands due to their ability to form peat over time.

In areas such as Ireland, peat has been harvested (turf cutting) for centuries for use in home heating. Peatlands are important in terms of carbon capture and the Earth's carbon cycle. CO2 is trapped in the plant while it is alive and upon expiry, the plant keeps most of this carbon as it is converted to peat. If dried out they can ignite, releasing this carbon and contributing to climate change.

Wetlands have faced threats for millenia, but in 1971 the Ramsar Convention was signed to help protect thousands of wetland sites around the world. However many wetlands in the tropics are still under threat.

This information is ideal study material for Environment and Ecology UPSC and AP Environmental Science courses and exams.

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FURTHER READING:

Additional charts, maps and images along with the narrative script - click here:
👉 geodiode.com/biomes/wetlands

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📷📹🎥 VIDEO & PHOTO CREDITS ❤️❤️❤️
geodiode.com/biomes/wetlands#credits

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Research and Media Procurement Assistance, Spanish CC Translation: Richard Torres

Narrated, Written and Produced by
B.J.Ranson

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