Have you ever been interested in the answer to the question of what is a swamp? Or, perhaps, it was curious to learn in more detail about the nature of its occurrence and the main features? If so, I note that you are far from the only ones inquisitive.
For example, since childhood I wanted to understand why there are so many secrets and legends associated with this area, what is so unusual in it and what plants and animals inhabit it.
Section 1. What is a swamp? General definition of the concept
A swamp is a rather complex natural formation, which is a site of various sizes, on which a huge amount of moisture is constantly concentrated, both low-flow and stagnant. It should also be noted that although the swamp ecosystem is, in most cases, stable and perfectly balanced, it is fraught with many mysteries. For example, many do not know that for a given reservoir, such as for a typhoon, the presence of the so-called eye, which is a small absolutely clear lake, is characteristic.
Most of the marshes on our planet are located in the tropical and subtropical zones. It is hard to imagine that their total area is millions of hectares.
Of course, every student will immediately answer that the most wetland is the area around the Amazon in South America. However, Russia can boast of having the largest reservoir of this type in the world - Vasyugan Lake can be seen in Western Siberia.
Section 2. What is a swamp and how is it formed?
At first glance, it might seem that all the current swamps were once lakes, but this is not entirely true. How then to explain the fact of their occurrence on the land?
Let's imagine a small massif that suffered from a forest fire. For the sake of greater clarity, we mentally draw before our eyes the black remains of trees, branches, ashes and stumps that are burnt firmly in the soil.
Nature, by all means, will try to heal its wounds, which means that some time will pass, and the first plants to appear in such a forest, for example moss, called in nature cuckoo flax. Due to the lack of foliage on the branches, lower vegetation will receive more moisture. Gradually, its growth rate will gain more and more speed. If violent growth continues for a sufficiently long period of time, it will eventually change the nature of the soil itself, making it more humid.
There is another way. According to experts, if for some reason a poorly permeable layer is formed underground at a not too great depth, it will necessarily retain moisture in the upper layers, as a result of which moisture-loving plants will gradually appear, which, as in the first case, will change the nature of the soil, turning her in the swamp.
Section 3. What is a swamp, its flora and fauna
As a matter of fact, it doesn’t matter in what way a particular swamp was formed; in any case, it will gradually grow.
Undoubtedly, at first, these changes will be subtle, but several years or even decades will pass, and the peat layer will strengthen. Let's just say this: after about 1000 years, on the site of a burned-out forest, it will already be ten-, or even twelve-meter.
Trees will appear here. Wetlands are characterized by the presence of birches, pines, spruce or alder. If the humidity is high enough, then all plants, as a rule, acquire an unusual shape.
Most of the inhabitants of these territories, say, insects and amphibians, are quite small or very tiny, but large representatives are also found.
If we talk about the entire territory of the planet as a whole, it is in the swamps that such predators as pythons or alligators live, and crocodiles hunting smaller prey are frequent guests. Of the herbivores it is impossible not to mention nutria, tapirs, muskrats and beavers. Unfortunately, the drainage of swamps leads to a significant reduction in their numbers.
Large ungulates also adapt to such a semi-aquatic lifestyle. Nature made sure that the hooves of, for example, Asian buffalo were expanded. This significantly increases the area of support, and heavy animals, although they can wander through the swamp, plunging across the chest, will never completely get bogged down.
