What are some characteristics of a bog wetland?

Bogs are one of North America’s most distinctive kinds of wetlands. They are characterized by spongy peat deposits, acidic waters and a floor covered by a thick carpet of sphagnum moss. Bogs receive all or most of their water from precipitation rather than from runoff, groundwater or streams.

Are bog lands wetlands?

Bogs are a type of freshwater wetland. A bog is a freshwater wetland of soft, spongy ground consisting mainly of partially decayed plant matter called peat. Bogs are generally found in cool, northern climates. They often develop in poorly draining lake basins created by glaciers during the most recent ice age.

Are bogs and wetlands the same?

While other types of wetlands are very nutrient-rich, bogs are clearly defined by their lack of nutrients and their relative inability to support large plant life. A bog is created over hundreds or thousands of years, formed when plant matter decays in a lake and fills it.

What is the difference between a bog and a swamp?

1. Swamps are low wetlands; bogs are generally higher than the surrounding land. Swamps receive water from rivers or streams and have some drainage; bogs receive water from precipitation and have no outflow; water is held by seepage. Swamps have muddy soil; bogs have peat formed by dead and decaying vegetation.

What lives in a peat bog?

Specialized bugs and butterflies, as well as their caterpillars, and several spider species can be found on the bog vegetation. Unicellular animals live in bog water or within hyalocytes of peat moss. Amphibians, particularly the moor frog (Rana arvalis), live and/or spawn in bogs; snakes enter bogs to hunt them.

What is the definition of freshwater wetlands?

A freshwater wetland is an area of land covered or saturated with water for extended periods of time. The supply of fresh water can come from a nearby body of water, such as a creek or river. In some cases, the land mass may sit on an underground supply of water, called an aqueduct.

What is bog land?

A bog or bogland is a wetland that accumulates peat, a deposit of dead plant material—often mosses, and in a majority of cases, sphagnum moss . It is one of the four main types of wetlands.

What is a wetland article?

Article 1.1: “…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.”