4.4. Marshes

The main plants you see growing in marshes are grasses, bulrushes and cattails. Marshes provide food sources for many different wildlife species and are important habitat. There are basically three kinds of marshes:

1. Marshes that have formed in a basin that catches water. These are usually surrounded by a lot of vegetation and have small brooks coming into them.

 

WHAT'S HAPPENING TO WETLANDS?

Wetlands cover 14% of Canada's land surface.

But these wetlands are disappearing. 71% of Prairie wetlands and 68% of Southern Ontario's wetlands have disappeared.

65% of the marshes along the Atlantic Canada coast are gone.

2. Marshes that have formed near rivers because of seasonal flooding and the movement of silt. These generally have many different forms of vegetation.

3. Marshes that have formed on coastlines. These marshes are formed when sand, gravel, and soil are deposited into basins, which trap run-off.

 

 

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