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Revision as of 16:30, 3 February 2010
Freshery slow-moving waters. They are usually associated with adjacent rivers or lakes. In some cases, rivers become swamps for a distance. Swamps are features of areas with very high topographic relief, although they may be covered by acid.
Ecology
Swamps are characterised by rich biodiversity and specialized organisms such as frogs.[1] For instance, southeastern U.S. swamps, such as those mentioned above, feature trees such as the Bald cypress and Water Tupelo, which are adapted to growing in standing water, and animals such as the American alligator. A common species name in biological nomenclature is the Latin palustris, meaning "of the swamp". Examples of this are Quercus palustris (pin oak) and Thelypteris palustris (marsh fern). Also, many species of birds, such as Bald Eagle, Geese, Ducks, Swans, Loons, Grebes, Herons, Clapper, Sora, and Virginia Rails, Kites, Cormor'ants, Anhingas, Terns, many sandpipers, avocets and other shorebirds, and so on can be found. Listen for and heron's squawk or a rail's, "Kek kek kek" while observing the marsh habitat.
Famous examples
Russian Federation
The Vasyugan Swamp is a large swamp in the western Siberia area of the Russian Federation. This is one of the biggest swamps in the world, covering an area larger than Switzerland.
Iraq
The Tigris-Euphrates river system is a large swamp and river system in southern Iraq, inhabited in part by the Marsh Arabs. In the 1990s, Saddam Hussein partly drained the area in retaliation against the Shiite tribes' revolt against his dictatorship.
Land value and productivity
Swamps and other wetlands have traditionally held a very low property value compared to fields, prairies, or woodlands that could be more easily developed or harvested. They have a reputation as being unproductive land that cannot be easily utilized for human activities, other than perhaps hunting and trapping. Farmers, for example, typically drained swamps next to their fields so as to gain more land usable for planting crops.
Government environmental agencies (known as the Department of Natural Resources in the United States) are taking steps to protect and preserve swamps and other wetlands.
However, the generally messy nature of swamps, with their diffuse boundaries and lack of enclosure, prevents humans from being able to collect and capitalize on their precious natural resources. Generally swamps are assessed as having low land value even while they are being protected from damage.
List of major swamps
Africa
Asia
South America
See also
References
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