Editing Swamp (section)

{{Short description|Forested wetland}}
{{Redirect|Swampland|the theoretical-physics concept|Swampland (physics)|other uses|Swamp (disambiguation)}}
{{split|Swamp (wetland)|Swamp (woodland)|discuss=Talk:Swamp#Swamp,_Marsh_or_Forested_Wetland?|date=July 2023}}
[[File:Florida freshwater swamp usgov image.jpg|thumb|A freshwater swamp in [[Florida]], United States]]
A '''swamp''' is a forested [[wetland]].<ref name="Keddy, P.A 2010">Keddy, P.A. 2010. Wetland Ecology: Principles and Conservation (2nd edition). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. 497 p.</ref> Swamps are considered to be transition zones because both land and water play a role in creating this environment.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=http://www.nationalgeographic.org/encyclopedia/swamp/|title=swamp|date=2011-01-21|website=National Geographic Society|language=en|access-date=2019-09-26|archive-date=2021-03-03|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210303151031/https://www.nationalgeographic.org/encyclopedia/swamp/|url-status=live}}</ref> Swamps vary in size and are located all around the world. The water of a swamp may be [[fresh water]], [[brackish water]], or [[seawater]]. '''Freshwater swamps''' form along large rivers or lakes where they are critically dependent upon rainwater and seasonal flooding to maintain natural water level fluctuations.<ref name=":0" /><ref name="Hughes, F.M.R. 2003">Hughes, F.M.R. (ed.). 2003. The Flooded Forest: Guidance for policy makers and river managers in Europe on the restoration of floodplain forests. FLOBAR2, Department of Geography, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK. 96 p.</ref> '''Saltwater swamps''' are found along tropical and subtropical coastlines.<ref name=":1" /> Some swamps have [[hammock (ecology)|hammocks]], or dry-land protrusions, covered by [[aquatic vegetation]], or vegetation that tolerates periodic inundation<ref>[http://www.nwrc.usgs.gov/fringe/glossary.html Swamp] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070610150754/http://www.nwrc.usgs.gov/fringe/glossary.html |date=2007-06-10 }} (from glossary web page of the [[United States Geological Survey]])</ref> or soil saturation. The two main types of swamp are "true" or [[Freshwater swamp forest|swamp forest]]s and "transitional" or [[shrub swamp]]s. In the [[Boreal ecosystem|boreal]] regions of Canada, the word swamp is colloquially used for what is more formally termed a [[bog]], [[fen]], or [[muskeg]]. Some of the world's largest swamps are found along major rivers such as the [[Amazon River|Amazon]], the [[Mississippi River|Mississippi]], and the [[Congo River|Congo]].<ref>Keddy, P.A., L.H. Fraser, A.I. Solomeshch, W.J. Junk, D.R. Campbell, M.T.K. Arroyo and C.J.R. Alho. 2009. Wet and wonderful: the world's largest wetlands are conservation priorities. BioScience 59: 39–51.</ref>