Swamps & Wetlands Sleep Facts

Low-lying, soggy, and mostly avoided—swamps and wetlands offer just enough slow-moving detail to lull your brain into full retreat. Ideal for background noise, insomnia relief, or pondering how plants survive while half-drowning.

Transcript

Welcome to the I Can't Sleep Podcast,

Where I help you learn a little and sleep a lot.

I'm your host,

Benjamin Boster,

And today's episode is about swamps and wetlands.

A swamp is a forested wetland.

Swamps are considered to be transition zones because both land and water play a role in creating this environment.

Swamps vary in size and are located all around the world.

The water of a swamp may be freshwater,

Brackish water,

Or seawater.

Freshwater swamps form along large rivers or lakes,

Where they are critically dependent upon rainwater and seasonal flooding to maintain natural water level fluctuations.

Saltwater swamps are found along tropical and subtropical coastlines.

Some swamps have hammocks or dryland protrusions covered by aquatic vegetation or vegetation that tolerates periodic inundation or soil saturation.

The two main types of swamp are true or swamp forests and transitional or shrub swamps.

In the boreal regions of Canada,

The word swamp is colloquially used for what is more formally termed a bog,

Fen,

Or muskig.

Some of the world's largest swamps are found along major rivers,

Such as the Amazon,

The Mississippi,

And the Congo.

Swamps and marshes are specific types of wetlands that form along water bodies containing rich hydric soils.

Marshes are wetlands continually or frequently flooded by nearby running bodies of water that are dominated by emergent soft stem vegetation and herbaceous plants.

Swamps are wetlands consisting of saturated soils or standing water and are dominated by water tolerant woody vegetation such as shrubs,

Bushes,

And trees.

Swamps are characterized by their saturated soils and slow moving waters.

The water that accumulates in swamps comes from a variety of sources,

Including precipitation,

Groundwater,

Tides,

And or freshwater flooding.

These hydraulic pathways all contribute to how energy and nutrients flow in and out of the ecosystem.

As water flows through the swamp,

Nutrients,

Sediment,

And pollutants are naturally filtered out.

Chemicals like phosphorus and nitrogen that end up in waterways get absorbed and used by the aquatic plants within the swamp,

Purifying the water.

Any remaining or excess chemicals present will accumulate at the bottom of the swamp,

Being removed from the water and buried within the sediment.

The hydrology of a swamp is a key factor in its biogeochemical environment,

Which includes the levels and availability of resources,

Like oxygen,

Nutrients,

PH,

And toxicity.

Swamps and other wetlands have traditionally held a very low property value compared to fields,

Prairies,

Or woodlands.

They have a reputation for being unproductive land that cannot easily be utilized for human activities other than hunting,

Trapping,

Or fishing.

Farmers,

For example,

Typically drain the swamps next to their fields so as to gain more land usable for planting crops,

Both historically and to a lesser extent presently.

On the other hand,

Swamps can and do play a beneficial ecological role in the overall functions of the natural environment and provide a variety of resources that many species depend on.

Swamps and other wetlands have shown to be a natural form of flood management and defense against flooding.

In such circumstances where flooding does occur,

Swamps absorb and use the excess water within the wetland,

Preventing it from traveling and flooding surrounding areas.

Dense vegetation within the swamp also provides soil stability to the land,

Holding soils and sediment in place whilst preventing erosion and land loss.

Swamps are an abundant and valuable source of fresh water and oxygen for all life,

And they are often breeding grounds for a wide variety of species.

Floodplain swamps are an important resource in the production and distribution of fish.

Two-thirds of global fish and shellfish are commercially harvested and dependent on wetlands.

Historically,

Humans have been known to drain and or fill swamps and other wetlands in order to create more space for human development and to reduce the threat of disease borne by swamp insects.

Wetlands are removed and replaced with land that is then used for things like agriculture,

Real estate,

And recreational uses.

Many swamps have also undergone intensive logging and farming,

Requiring the construction of drainage ditches and canals.

These ditches and canals contributed to drainage and along the coast allowed salt water to intrude,

Converting swamps to marsh or even to open water.

Large areas of swamp were therefore lost or degraded.

Louisiana provides a classic example of wetland loss from these combined areas.

New Zealand lost 90% of its wetlands over a period of 150 years.

Ecologists recognize that swamps provide ecological services including flood control,

Fish production,

Water purification,

Carbon storage,

And water storage.

And wildlife habitats.

In many parts of the world,

Authorities protect swamps.

Parts of Europe and North America,

Swamp restoration projects are becoming widespread.

The United States government began enforcing stricter laws and management programs in the 1970s in efforts to protect and restore these ecosystems.

Often the simplest steps to restoring swamps involve plugging drainage ditches and removing levees.

Conservationists work to preserve swamps such as those in northwest Indiana and the United States Midwest that were preserved as part of the Indiana Dunes.

Swamps can be found on all continents except Antarctica.

The largest swamp in the world is the Amazon River floodplain,

Which is particularly significant for its large number of fish and tree species.

The Sud and the Okavango Delta are Africa's best known marshland areas.

The Bungweulu floodplains make up Africa's largest swamp.

The Mesopotamia marshes is a large swamp and river system in southern Iraq,

Traditionally inhabited in part by the marsh Arabs.

In Asia,

Tropical peat swamps are located in mainland East Asia and Southeast Asia.

In Southeast Asia,

Peat lands are mainly found in low-altitude coastal and sub-coastal areas and extend inland for distance more than 100 kilometers along river valleys.

And across watersheds.

They are mostly to be found on the coasts of East Sumatra,

Kalimantan,

Central,

East,

South,

And West Kalimantan provinces,

West Papua,

Papua New Guinea,

Brunei,

Peninsular Malaya,

Sabah,

Sarawak,

Southeast Thailand,

And the Philippines.

Indonesia has the largest area of tropical peatland.

Of the total 440,

000 square kilometers,

Tropical peat swamps about 210,

000 square kilometers are located in Indonesia.

The Vasyugan Swamp is a large swamp in the western Siberia area of the Russian Federation.

This is one of the largest swamps in the world,

Covering an area larger than Switzerland.

The Atchafalaya Swamp at the lower end of the Mississippi River is the largest swamp in the United States.

It is an important example of the Southern Cypress Swamp,

But it has been greatly altered by logging,

Drainage,

And levee construction.

Other famous swamps in the United States are the forested portions of the Everglades,

Okefenokee Swamp,

Barley Barber Swamp,

Great Cypress Swamp,

And the Great Dismal Swamp.

The Okefenokee is located in extreme southeastern Georgia,

And extends slightly into southeastern Florida.

The Great Cypress Swamp is mostly in Delaware,

But extends into Maryland on the Delmarva Peninsula.

Point Lookout State Park on the southern tip of Maryland contains many swamps and marshes.

The Great Dismal Swamp lies in extreme southeastern Virginia and extreme northeastern North Carolina.

Both are National Wildlife Refuges.

Another swamp area,

Reelfoot Lake of extreme western Tennessee and Kentucky,

Was created by the 1811 to 1812 New Madrid earthquakes.

Caddo Lake,

The Great Dismal,

And Reelfoot are swamps centered at large lakes.

Swamps are often associated with bayous in the southeastern United States,

Especially in the Gulf Coast region.

A bagel is a type of swamp found in the forest of the Gulf Coast states in the USA.

A wetland is a distinct semi-aquatic ecosystem whose ground covers are flooded or saturated in water,

Either permanently,

For years or decades,

Or only seasonally.

Flooding results in oxygen-poor and oxic processes taking place,

Especially in the soils.

Wetlands form a transitional zone between water bodies and dry lands and are different from other terrestrial or aquatic ecosystems due to their vegetation's roots having adapted to oxygen-poor waterlogged soils.

They are considered among the most biologically diverse of all ecosystems,

Serving as habitats to a wide range of aquatic and semi-aquatic plants and animals,

With often improved water quality due to plant removal of excess nutrients,

Such as nitrates and phosphorus.

Wetlands exist on every continent except Antarctica.

The water in wetlands is either fresh water,

Brackish,

Or saltwater.

The main types of wetland are defined based on their dominant plants and the source of the water.

For example,

Marshes are wetlands dominated by emergent herbaceous vegetation.

Such as reeds,

Cattails,

And sedges.

Swamps are dominated by woody vegetation,

Such as trees and shrubs,

Although reed swamps in Europe are dominated by reeds,

Not trees.

Mangrove forests are wetlands with mangroves and halophytic woody plants that have evolved to tolerate salty water.

Examples of wetlands classified by the sources of water include tidal wetlands,

Where the water source is ocean tides.

Estuaries,

Water source is mixed tidal and river waters.

Flood plains,

Water source is excess water from overflowed rivers or lakes.

And bogs and vernal ponds,

Water source is rainfall or meltwater.

The world's largest wetlands include the Amazon River Basin,

The West Siberian Plain,

The Pantanal in South America,

And the Sundarbans in the Ganges-Brahmaputra Delta.

Wetlands contribute many ecosystem services that benefit people.

These include,

For example,

Water purification,

Stabilization of shorelines,

Storm protection,

And flood control.

In addition,

Wetlands also process and condense carbon in processes called carbon fixation and sequestration,

And other nutrients and water pollutants.

Wetlands can act as a sink or a source of carbon,

Depending on the specific wetland.

If they function as a carbon sink,

They can help with climate change mitigation.

However,

Wetlands can also be a significant source of methane emissions due to anaerobic decomposition of soaked detritus.

And some are also emitters of nitrous oxide.

A simplified definition of wetland is an area of land that is usually saturated with water.

More precisely,

Wetlands are areas where water covers the soil,

Or is present either at or near the surface of the soil all year,

Or for varying periods of time during the year,

Including during the growing season.

A patch of land that develops pools of water after a rainstorm would not necessarily be considered a wetland,

Even 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 live within them.

Specifically,

Wetlands are characterized as having a water table that stands at or near the land surface for a long enough period each year to support aquatic plants.

A more concise definition is a community composed of hydric soil and hydrophytes.

Wetlands have also been described as ecotones,

Providing a transition between dry land and water bodies.

Wetlands exist at the interface between truly terrestrial ecosystems and aquatic systems,

Making them inherently different from each other,

Yet highly dependent on both.

In environmental decision making,

There are subsets of definitions that are agreed upon to make regulatory and policy decisions.

Under the Ramsar International Wetland Conservation Treaty,

Wetlands are defined as follows.

Article 1.

1.

Wetlands are areas of marsh,

Fen,

Peatland,

Or water,

Whether natural or artificial,

Permanent or temporary,

With water that is static or flowing,

Fresh,

Brackish,

Or salt,

Including areas of marine water,

The depth of which at low tide does not exceed 6 meters.

Article 2.

1.

Wetlands may incorporate riparian and coastal zones adjacent to the wetlands and islands or bodies of marine water deeper than 6 meters at low tide lying within the wetlands.

An ecological definition of a wetland is an ecosystem that arises when inundation by water produces soils dominated by anaerobic-anaerobic processes,

Which in turn forces the biota,

Particularly rooted plants,

To adapt to flooding.

Sometimes a precise legal definition of a wetland is required.

The definition used for regulation by the United States government is,

The term wetlands means those areas that are inundated or saturated by surface or groundwater at a frequency and duration 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.

For each of these definitions and others,

Regardless of the purpose,

Hydrology is emphasized,

Shallow waters,

Waterlogged soils.

The soil characteristics and the plants and animals controlled by the wetland hydrology are often additional components of the definition.

Wetlands can be tidal,

Inundated by tides,

Or non-tidal.

The water in wetlands is either fresh water,

Brackish,

Saline,

Or alkaline.

There are four main kinds of wetlands,

Marsh,

Swamp,

Bog,

And fen,

Bogs and fens being types of peatlands or mires.

Some experts also recognize wet meadows and aquatic ecosystems as additional wetland types.

Subtypes include mangrove forests,

Cars,

Pocosins,

Floodplains,

Peatlands,

Vernal pools,

Sinks,

And many others.

The following three groups are used within Australia to classify wetland by type.

Marine and coastal zone wetlands,

Inland wetlands,

And human-made wetlands.

In the U.

S.

,

The best-known classifications are the Cowardin classification system and the hydrogeomorphic HGM classification system.

The Cowardin system includes five main types of wetlands,

Marine,

Ocean-associated,

Estuarine,

Mixed ocean and river-associated,

Riverine,

With river channels,

Lacustrine,

Lake-associated,

And palustrine,

Inland non-tidal habitats.

Peatlands are a unique kind of wetland,

Where lush plant growth and slow decay of dead plants under anoxic conditions results in organic peat accumulating.

Bogs,

Pens,

And mires are different names for peatlands.

Some wetlands have localized names unique to a region,

Such as the prairie potholes of North America's Northern Plain,

Pocosins,

Carolina Bays,

And bagels of the southeastern U.

S.

Mayenas of Argentina,

Mediterranean seasonal ponds of Europe and California,

Turlufs of Ireland,

Billabongs of Australia,

And many others.

Wetlands are found throughout the world in different climates.

Temperatures vary greatly depending on the location of the wetland.

Many of the world's wetlands are in the temperate zones,

Midway between the north or south poles in the equator.

In these zones,

Summers are warm and winters are cold,

But temperatures are not extreme.

In subtropical zone wetlands,

Such as along the Gulf of Mexico,

Average temperatures might be 11 degrees Celsius.

Wetlands in the tropics are subjected to much higher temperatures for a large portion of a year.

Temperatures for wetlands on the Arabian Peninsula can exceed 50 degrees Celsius,

And these habitats would therefore be subject to rapid evaporation.

In northern Siberia,

Which has a polar climate,

Wetland temperatures can be as low as negative 50 degrees Celsius.

Peatlands in Arctic and sub-Arctic regions insulate the permafrost,

Thus delaying or preventing its thawing during summer,

As well as inducing its formation.

The amount of precipitation a wetland receives varies widely according to its area.

Wetlands in Wales,

Scotland,

And Western Ireland typically receive about 1,

500 millimeters per year.

In some places in Southeast Asia,

Where heavy rains occur,

They can receive up to 10,

000 millimeters.

In some drier regions,

Wetlands exist where as little as 180 millimeters precipitation occurs each year.

Wetlands vary widely due to local and regional differences in topography,

Hydrology,

Vegetation,

And other factors,

Including human involvement.

Other important factors include fertility,

Natural disturbance,

Competition,

Herbivory,

Burial,

And salinity.

When peat accumulates,

Bogs and fens arise.

Wetland hydrology is associated with the spatial and temporal dispersion,

Flow,

And physiochemical effects of peat.

Water flows out of wetlands by evapotranspiration,

Surface flows and tides,

And sub-surface water outflow.

Water flows out of wetlands by evapotranspiration,

Surface flows and tides,

And sub-surface water outflow.

Water flows out of wetlands by evapotranspiration,

Surface flows and tides,

And sub-surface water outflow.

Hydrodynamics,

The movement of water through and from a wetland,

Affects hydroperiods,

Temporal fluctuations in water levels,

By controlling the water balance and water storage within a wetland.

Reviews

Excellent… well what I heard. I went off to zzzzzzz…..😁
Thank you Benjamin! 😻

Another great subject to fall asleep to! Thanks again for your channel, Benjamin!

Thank you for trying to teach me about swamps. You did your best. 😴😴