AndrewMarshes

=**Marshes**=



A marsh is a type of wetland that has a constant, or continuous floods in the area, it's filled with many types of grasses, rushes, and cattails. Cattails, also known as Typhas and corn dog grass, are flowering plants that grow on the banks of marshes and ponds. Marshes are different from Swamps, it has less open water surface and is usually shallower than swamps. There are about three different types of marshes; Salt marshes, where the water is like sea water, Brackish Marshes, where the water is only semi-salty, and then Freshwater marshes.

__//**Value:**//__ The best use of marshes for humans is during floods. So that the town streets don't get flooded, they run off the excess water into real and artificial wetlands for flood control.

__//**Threats:**//__ With that water sometimes they run sewage water into the real and artificial marshes. That can cause damage to the ecosystem. It can poison the wild life that lives in and around the marsh as well as kills the plant life which doesn't leave food for some of the animals.

It's a valuable for us to use in floods but what's saving us is killing the environment.

There are marsh wetlands in many parts of the world, below is a map showing the greatest concentrations around the globe.

__//**Concentrations of the most marshes in the world:**//__



Famous marsh: The Everglades The Everglades is the larges fresh water marsh in the United States

__//**Wild life:**//__

There's a variety of wildlife in fresh water marshes like snapping turtles, crayfish, and other fresh water aquatic life.



There are many other organisms that reside in marshes that are not mentioned in the food web like:

__//**Microscopic organisms:**//__ Zooplankton - canibalistic -use chlorophyll from what they eat to get energy from the sunlight Phytoplankton -eaten by whales and small fish __//**Plant life:**//__ Cattails -also called Typhas -grow on the banks of the marshes Reeds -grow on the banks

__//**Free swimming:**//__ Copepod -small crustacean -live in fresh and salt water Snapping Turtle -Strong jaws -long tails -eat plants, small fish, even dead animals

__//**Benthic:**//__ Crayfish -crawls on the bottom -eat fish shrimp and water plant Shrimp -kills prey by making a loud sound with it's claws.



__//**Citations**//__

Many authors. "Marsh." //Wikipedia the free encyclopedia//. Wikimedia Foundation, n.d. Web. 9 Sept. 2010. .

Mullahay, J. Jefferey, George W. Tanner, and Stephen Coates. "Salt Water Marsh." //Florida Rangelands//. University of Florida/ West florida Research and Education Center, n.d. Web. 7 Sept. 2010. .

Multiple Authors. "Constructed wetlands ." //Wikipedia//. Wikimedia Foundation, n.d. Web. 9 Sept. 2010. .

Multiple authors. "Fresh Water Marsh." //Wikipedia//. Wikimedia Foundation, n.d. Web. 9 Sept. 2010. .

Multiple Authors. "Marsh." //Wikipedia//. Wikimedia foundation, n.d. Web. 9 Sept. 2010. .

Unknown Author. "Brackish Marsh." //Division of Forest and Lands//. Division of Forest and Lands, n.d. Web. 7 Sept. 2010. .

Unknown author. "Brackish Marsh." //Division of Forests and Lands//. Division of forests and lands, n.d. Web. 9 Sept. 2010. .

Unknown Author. "Fresh water Marshes." //Nature Works//. Nature works, n.d. Web. 7 Sept. 2010. .

- - -. "Fresh Water Marsh Life Animal Printouts ." //Enchanted Learning//. Enchanted Learning, n.d. Web. 7 Sept. 2010. .

- - -. "Marhses." //United states Enviormental Protection Agency//. United states Enviormental Protection Agency, n.d. Web. 9 Sept. 2010. .