A wetland is a distinct semi-aquatic ecosystem whose groundcovers are flooded or saturated in water, either permanently, for years or decades, or only seasonally. Flooding results in oxygen-poor (anoxic) processes taking place, especially in the soils. Wetlands form a transitional zone between waterbodies 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.
In ecology, a marsh is a wetland that is dominated by herbaceous plants rather than by woody plants. More in general, the word can be used for any low-lying and seasonally waterlogged terrain. In Europe and in agricultural literature low-lying meadows that require draining and embanked polderlands are also referred to as marshes or marshland.
The Ramsar Convention on Wetlands of International Importance Especially as Waterfowl Habitat is an international treaty for the conservation and sustainable use of Ramsar sites (wetlands). It is also known as the Convention on Wetlands. It is named after the city of Ramsar in Iran, where the convention was signed in 1971.
The terms international waters or transboundary waters apply where any of the following types of bodies of water transcend international boundaries: oceans, large marine ecosystems, enclosed or semi-enclosed regional seas and estuaries, rivers, lakes, groundwater systems (aquifers), and wetlands.
A Ramsar site is a wetland site designated to be of international importance under the Ramsar Convention, also known as "The Convention on Wetlands", an international environmental treaty signed on 2 February 1971 in Ramsar, Iran, under the auspices of UNESCO. It came into force on 21 December 1975, when it was ratified by a sufficient number of nations. It provides for national action and international cooperation regarding the conservation of wetlands, and wise sustainable use of their resources. Ramsar identifies wetlands of international importance, especially those providing waterfowl habitat.
A pond is a small, still, land-based body of water formed by pooling inside a depression, either naturally or artificially. A pond is smaller than a lake and there are no official criteria distinguishing the two, although defining a pond to be less than 5 hectares in area, less than 5 metres (16 ft) in depth and with less than 30% with emergent vegetation helps in distinguishing the ecology of ponds from those of lakes and wetlands. Ponds can be created by a wide variety of natural processes, or they can simply be isolated depressions filled by runoff, groundwater, or precipitation, or all three of these. They can be further divided into four zones: vegetation zone, open water, bottom mud and surface film. The size and depth of ponds often varies greatly with the time of year; many ponds are produced by spring flooding from rivers. Ponds are usually freshwater but may be brackish in nature. Saltwater pools, with a direct connection to the sea to maintain full salinity, may sometimes be called 'ponds' but these are normally regarded as part of the marine environment. They do not support fresh or brackish water-based organisms, and are rather tidal pools or lagoons.
Kanjli Wetland is a man-made Wetland that subsumes the Kanjli Lake, and is located in the Kapurthala district of Punjab state in India. It was created in 1870 by constructing the headworks across the perennial Bien River, a tributary of the Beas River to provide irrigation facilities to the hinterland. The rich biodiversity of the wetland comprising aquatic, mesophytic and terrestrial flora and fauna including some important species of plants and animals was recognized internationally by the Ramsar Convention in 2002 by designating the Kanjli Lake in the List of Wetlands of International Importance. In this context, it is reported that the Punjab State which has 14 wetlands covering an area of 225.76 km2 has the unique position of three of its wetlands viz., the Kanjli Wetland covering an area of 490 ha of which the Kanjli Lake water spread is 184 ha), the Harike Wetland and the Ropar Wetland chosen by the Ministry of Environment and Forest (MoE&F), Government of India for their conservation and management are now also included in the Ramsar list covering a total area of 5650 ha; Kanjli is upstream of Harike wetland located in the Beas river basin while the Ropar wetland is in the Roopnagar district.
Classification of wetlands has been a problematical task, with the commonly accepted definition of what constitutes a wetland being among the major difficulties. A number of national wetland classifications exist. In the 1970s, the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands of International Importance introduced a first attempt to establish an internationally acceptable wetland classification scheme.
The Lake Chad Basin Commission is an intergovernmental organization that oversees water and other natural resource usage in the basin. There are eight member governments—i.e., Cameroon, Chad, Niger, Nigeria, Algeria, the Central African Republic, Libya, and Sudan—chosen for their proximity to Lake Chad.
The Edithvale–Seaford Wetlands is a collection of principally freshwater swamps and marshlands totalling 261 hectares in southeastern Melbourne, Australia, about 30 km (19 mi) southeast of Melbourne CBD. It is the largest natural wetland of its type in the Port Phillip and Western Port basins, and is all that remains of the historic Carrum Carrum Swamp, which once covered more than 4,000 hectares from present-day Mordialloc in the north to Frankston in the south.
Mangrove ecosystems represent natural capital capable of producing a wide range of goods and services for coastal environments and communities and society as a whole. Some of these outputs, such as timber, are freely exchanged in formal markets. Value is determined in these markets through exchange and quantified in terms of price. Mangroves are important for aquatic life and home for many species of fish.
Toolibin Lake is a seasonal fresh to brackish water perched lake or wooded swamp, in south-western Australia. The lake is contained with a 493-hectare (1,218-acre) nature reserve and it is located about 200 kilometres (124 mi) south-east of Perth, in the Shire of Narrogin, and 40 kilometres (25 mi) east of the town of Narrogin, in the Wheatbelt region of Western Australia. The lake is listed by the Australian Government as a threatened ecological community under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999.
Thomsons Lake Nature Reserve is a lake nature reserve around Thomsons Lake in the City of Cockburn, Western Australia, approximately 25 kilometres (16 mi) south of the central business district of Perth, the state capital, and on the southern fringes of the Perth metropolitan area. It is in the suburb of Beeliar, 7 kilometres (4.3 mi) south-west of Jandakot Airport. It is a still largely natural wetland, with adjoining native vegetation, surrounded by land developed for housing and agriculture, that regularly supports large numbers of shorebirds and other waterbirds.
The Forrestdale and Thomsons Lakes Ramsar Site comprises two separate nature reserves, totalling 754 ha in area, protecting two shallow fresh to brackish, seasonal lakes in a suburban and agricultural landscape in south-western Western Australia. It lies in the Swan Coastal Plain bioregion and is used mainly for birdwatching and walking. The site is recognised as being of international importance under the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands, under which it was designated Ramsar Site 481 on 7 June 1990.
The Whangamarino Wetland in the Waikato District is the second largest wetland complex of the North Island of New Zealand. Encompassing a total area of more than 7200 hectares, the Department of Conservation Te Papa Atawhai manages 5,923 hectares of peat bog, swamp, mesotrophic lags, open water and river systems listed as a wetland of international importance under the Ramsar Convention. Fish and Game New Zealand are the second largest landowner, managing 748 hectares of the wetland primarily as gamebird hunting habitat.
The Tana River Delta Ramsar Site is a wetland on the Tana River protected under the Ramsar Convention located in the Coast Province of Kenya. It was gazetted as Kenya's 6th Ramsar Site.
The Point Cook Coastal Park covers an area of 863 hectares and includes the Cheetham Wetlands. The park extends from the RAAF Williams Point Cook Base northeast along the coast to the Laverton creek which comprises its northern boundary. The park is approximately 20 kilometres (12 mi) from Melbourne, Australia in a southwesterly direction along Port Phillip Bay. The park is adjoined by the Point Cook Marine Sanctuary, which extends around the point to the south and the east. The northwestern boundary to the park is residential housing.
For a small country, Albania is characterised by a considerable wealth of terrestrial and marine ecosystems and habitats with contrasting floral, faunal, and fungal species, defined in an area of 28,748 square kilometres. Most of the country is predominantly of Mediterranean character, comprehending the country's center and south, while the alpine affinity is more visible in the northeast.
