Wetland ecosystems are transitional habitats between terrestrial and aquatic systems that are characterized by periodic or permanent inundation, hydric soils, and vegetation adapted to water-saturated conditions. They encompass diverse types such as marshes, swamps, bogs, and fens, each defined by hydrological regime, nutrient status, and dominant plant functional groups. Wetlands exhibit high biogeochemical activity, particularly in carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus cycling, driven by redox gradients and microbial processes under anoxic or fluctuating oxygen conditions. They support high biodiversity, act as sinks or sources of greenhouse gases (e.g., CO₂, CH₄, N₂O), regulate hydrology via water storage and attenuation, and are focal systems in research on ecosystem services, climate feedbacks, and landscape connectivity.
The wetlands found across the Rocky Mountains of Colorado just below tree line are magical places. Dripping with mosses and deep green sedges, these open expanses flanked by evergreens are a breathtaking sight for passing ...
Earth Sciences
Aug 23, 2025
1
61
A new study led by William & Mary's Batten School & VIMS shows that tidal marshes, including both natural wetlands and man-made living shorelines, generate approximately $90 million annually in economic value for communities ...
Environment
Aug 20, 2025
0
36
Teasing apart the sources of organic carbon stored in coastal wetland soils around the world was the "grand challenge" Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS) scientists successfully tackled in a seminal blue carbon ...
Environment
Aug 19, 2025
0
32
In San Francisco Bay, salt ponds created more than a century ago are reverting to marshland. Along the New York and New Jersey coasts, beaches ravaged by Superstorm Sandy underwent extensive restoration. In Alabama, a rebuilt ...
Environment
Aug 17, 2025
0
75
As the climate warms and regional drying becomes more frequent, peatlands—some of the planet's most important carbon sinks—are increasingly under threat. But a study led by an international team including scientists from ...
Earth Sciences
Aug 4, 2025
0
21
Wetlands are among the most efficient ecosystems for carbon sequestration, storing more than 30% of global soil carbon in only 3%–13% of Earth's land surface. However, the spatiotemporal patterns of wetland carbon uptake ...
Earth Sciences
Jul 28, 2025
0
22
Though Canada is often known as a land of lakes, it is also a country of wetlands. Stretching like a necklace of emeralds, sapphires and rubies across the Canadian landscape, wetlands cover 14% of the Canadian land mass, ...
Environment
Jul 23, 2025
0
17
Efforts to enhance peat accumulation in European peatlands, which contain around half of Europe's soil carbon, will require a combination of warm temperatures and a specific depth of the water table, according to a study ...
Environment
Jul 23, 2025
0
50
Seagrass meadows, salt marshes, and marine sediments sequester carbon dioxide, mitigating climate change while increasing local marine biodiversity and providing coastal protection. The carbon sequestration capacity of Germany's ...
Environment
Jul 23, 2025
0
18
More than 300 million years ago, during the Carboniferous Period, much of northern Illinois outside Chicago—including what is now the Mazon Creekfossil site—was alive with ancient creatures thriving in lush, tropical swamps, ...
Evolution
Jul 21, 2025
0
195
