Wetlands, whether swamp, bog, marsh or fen, are waterlogged areas where aquatic plants thrive. Some, like the Okavango Delta, dry up seasonally. Others, like the fenlands of England, are permanently wet. The shallow water can be fresh, brackish or salty, as wetlands often occur where a terrestrial habitat meets a marine one. They can be an effective natural flood control mechanism, allowing excess river water, for example, to disperse over large areas, and are particularly important for birds.
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Volga Delta
The flooding of the River Volga creates a huge wetland delta.
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A wetland is an area of land whose soil is saturated with moisture either permanently or seasonally. Such areas may also be covered partially or completely by shallow pools of water. Wetlands include swamps, marshes, and bogs, among others. The water found in wetlands can be saltwater, freshwater, or brackish. The world's largest wetland is the Pantanal which straddles Brazil, Bolivia and Paraguay in South America.
Wetlands are considered the most biologically diverse of all ecosystems. Plant life found in wetlands includes mangrove, water lilies, cattails, sedges, tamarack, black spruce, cypress, gum, and many others. Animal life includes many different amphibians, reptiles, birds, and furbearers.
In many locations, such as the United Kingdom, Iraq, South Africa and the United States, wetlands are the subject of conservation efforts and Biodiversity Action Plans.
The study of wetlands has recently been termed paludology in some publications.
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