which deals with formation and types of wetland with suitable pictures

1. TYPES AND FORMATION OF WETLAND
MIDHUN M NAIR
THIRD SEMESTER
ES&M SES
MG UNIVERSITY
KOTTAYAM

2. Wetlands???
• “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 six metres."

3. • Distinguishes between two major wetland
types – mineral and organic
1) Mineral Soil Wetlands
 Marsh:
 poorly drained mineral soils
 dominated by grasses
 common at the mouths of river
 Tidal marshes, Tidal salt marshes, Tidal
Freshwater Marshes
Wetland Types

4. Salt marsh in Scotland

5. Swamp:
• mineral soils with poor drainage
• dominated by trees
• Swamps are found throughout
the world, most often in low-lying
regions (with poor drainage)
• Some swamps develop from
marshes

6. Swamp in southern Louisiana

8. Organic Soil Wetlands
• Generally these referred to as "peatlands“
• Ability to form peat (organic soil produced by the
accumulation of plant material).
• There are two major types– bogs and fens
Bog –
• wet, spongy, poorly drained peaty soil,
• dominated by the growth of bog mosses, Sphagnum,
and heaths, particularly Chamaedaphne
• Bogs are usually acid areas,
• frequently surrounding a body of open water.
• Bogs receive water from rainfall.

9. Mer Bleue Bog, a typical
peat bog, in Ontario Precipitation accumulates in
many bogs forming bog pools.

10. • Fen –peaty soil, dominated by grass
like plants, grasses, sedges, and
reeds
• Fens are alkaline rather than acid
areas, receiving water mostly from
surface and groundwater sources.
• usually dominated by grasses and
sedges, and typically have brown
mosses

11. Wicken Fen showing vegetation typical of a fen
in the foreground and carr vegetation featuring
trees and bushes in the background

12. Avaste Fen, Estonia

13. • The two major types of organic soil
wetlands are, therefore,
distinguished by their hydrological
regime
• bogs receive water mainly from
precipitation,
• fens are supplied with water
mostly from surface and
groundwater sources

15. Wetland Types
• Ecologically similar types of wetlands
are referred to by different names
through out the world
• Swamps in North America refers-
wetland with trees or shrub
• In Europe-Carrs
• Pocosin(Indian word for swamp on hill) is
south-eastern costal plain of US

16. • The "traditional terminology" has the
significant disadvantage
• Two main scientifically-based and in a way
comprehensive wetlands classification
systems,
• Developed for the purpose of wetlands
inventory and management
• The first of them has been developed by
Cowardin and co-workers for the needs of
the US government
• Second has been adopted by the
Convention on Wetlands

17. Cowardin classification system
• In tribute to the "traditional terminology",
• In their system they distinguish between
"wetlands" and "deepwater habitats",
• Because "traditionally the term wetland has
not included deep permanent water" (Cowardin
et al, 1979).
• Nevertheless,the scientists recognize the
importance of the holistic approach to
classification of wetlands
• Therefore in their classification they have
included both types.
• Defines five main Systems (Marine, Estuarine,
Riverine, Lacustrine, and Palustrine),
• Which are further divided into smaller
Subsystems, Classes, Subclasses, and
Dominance Types

19. • Cowardin and co-workers (1979) did
not include many wetland types that
have resulted from human
activities.
• To avoid the weak point of Cowardin
et all’s classification system, the
Convention on Wetlands developed a
new and more comprehensive
wetland classification system
(adopted in 1990 and modified in
1996)

20. Ramsar Classification System for
Wetland Type
1) Marine/Coastal Wetlands
• A – Permanent shallow marine waters in most
cases less than six metres deep at low tide;
includes sea bays and straits.
• B – Marine subtidal aquatic beds; includes kelp
beds, sea-grass beds, tropical marine meadows.
• C – Coral reefs.
• D – Rocky marine shores; includes rocky offshore
islands, sea cliffs.
• E – Sand, shingle or pebble shores; includes sand
bars, spits and sandy islets; includes dune systems
and humid dune slacks.
• F – Estuarine waters; permanent water of
estuaries and estuarine systems of deltas.

21. • G – Intertidal mud, sand or salt flats.
• H – Intertidal marshes; includes salt marshes,
salt meadows, saltings, raised salt marshes;
includes tidal brackish and freshwater marshes.
• I – Intertidal forested wetlands; includes
mangrove swamps, nipah swamps and tidal
freshwater swamp forests.
• J – Coastal brackish/saline lagoons; brackish to
saline lagoons with at least one relatively narrow
connection to the sea.
• K – Coastal freshwater lagoons; includes
freshwater delta lagoons.
• Zk(a) – Karst and other subterranean
hydrological systems, marine/coastal

22. Inland Wetlands
• L – Permanent inland deltas.
• M – Permanent rivers/streams/creeks; includes waterfalls.
• N – Seasonal/intermittent/irregular rivers/streams/creeks.
• O – Permanent freshwater lakes (over 8 ha); includes large
oxbow lakes.
• P – Seasonal/intermittent freshwater lakes (over 8 ha); includes
floodplain lakes.
• Q – Permanent saline/brackish/alkaline lakes.
• R – Seasonal/intermittent saline/brackish/alkaline lakes and
flats.
• Sp – Permanent saline/brackish/alkaline marshes/pools.
• Ss – Seasonal/intermittent saline/brackish/alkaline
marshes/pools.
• Tp – Permanent freshwater marshes/pools; ponds (below 8 ha),
marshes and swamps on inorganic soils; with emergent vegetation
water-logged for at least most of the growing season

23. • Ts – Seasonal/intermittent freshwater marshes/pools on
inorganic soils; includes sloughs, potholes, seasonally flooded
meadows, sedge marshes.
• U – Non-forested peatlands; includes shrub or open bogs,
swamps, fens.
• Va – Alpine wetlands; includes alpine meadows, temporary waters
from snowmelt.
• Vt – Tundra wetlands; includes tundra pools, temporary waters
from snowmelt.
• W – Shrub-dominated wetlands; shrub swamps, shrub-dominated
freshwater marshes, shrub carr, alder thicket on inorganic soils.
• Xf – Freshwater, tree-dominated wetlands; includes freshwater
swamp forests, seasonally flooded forests, wooded swamps on
inorganic soils.
• Xp – Forested peatlands; peatswamp forests.
• Y – Freshwater springs; oases.
• Zg – Geothermal wetlands
• Zk(b) – Karst and other subterranean hydrological systems,
inland

24. • Human-made wetlands
• 1 – Aquaculture (e.g., fish/shrimp) ponds
• 2 – Ponds; includes farm ponds, stock ponds, small tanks; (generally
below 8 ha).
• 3 – Irrigated land; includes irrigation channels and rice fields:
• 4 – Seasonally flooded agricultural land (including intensively
managed or grazed wet meadow or pasture).
• 5 – Salt exploitation sites; salt pans, salines, etc.
• 6 – Water storage areas; reservoirs/barrages/dams/impoundments
(generally over 8 ha).
• 7 – Excavations; gravel/brick/clay pits; borrow pits, mining pools.
• 8 – Wastewater treatment areas; sewage farms, settling ponds,
oxidation basins, etc.
• 9 – Canals and drainage channels, ditches.
• Zk(c) – Karst and other subterranean hydrological systems,
human-made

25. Classification characters
• Source of water
• Ecological similarities
• Topographic positions

26. Based on Source of Water
• Precipitation
• Ground water discharge
• Surface and near-surface in flow

27. Based on source of water
Peat Bogs and
pocosin peatland
Fringe Marshes
Riverine swamps
Mangroove
swamps
Tidel
marshes
Interior (nontidel)
marshes
Forest graminoid
fens
Surface flow
100%
0%
100%0%
100%
0% 33% 67%
33%
67%33%
67%

28. • Bogs and Pocosins receive their water
almost from rainfall-such as are nutrient
poor
• Fen and some marsh type are controlled
by ground water-nutrient rich
• The surface flow dominated wetland
types are very diverse and would include
swamps,marshes,and wetland found along
the fringe of lakes and streams

29. Wetland Formation

30. • Any process that produce a hollow or
depression in the landscapes and holds
sufficient water may result in wetland
formation
• Climatic process and water condition
which formed the swampy environment of
the carboniferous period
• Most of current peat land form the past
12000 years(pleistocene ice ages)

31. • Wetland found in desert springs &
high rain fall or runoff area of
mountain
• Many of Northern bogs of Western
US were formed in depression left
by buried ice block(Kettle hole)
• Along rivers and streams, periodic
flooding lays down alluvial deposits
along the banks and flood plain
creating swamp forests

32. • A major flood in Mississippi created new
wetland along the Atchafalaya delta
(1973)
• Anthropogenic activities also contribute
wetland formation
• Cutting of forest in Europe and Britain
caused water table rise form peat lands
• Peat extraction for fuel in Netherland
and building fish pond in Bohemia
created wetlands

33. Factors Related to Wetland formation
• Geomorphology
• Hydrology
• Climate
• Precipitation

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