O2 diffuses 10,000 times more slowly in water than in air , so when a soil becomes inundated, it often is low in O2. As we will see, this opens up a diverse array of microbial heterotrophic pathways for breaking down organic matter.
Wetlands are extremely important ecosystems because they influence global carbon accumulation.
Over a long period of time, compression of these soils leads to coal. If wetlands dry out during climate warming, there is potential that these soils will decompose faster and release all this carbon to the atmosphere, thereby speeding up and increasing the CO2 greenhouse warming. Let s begin by defining wetlands and peatlands and then taking a look at wetlands in North America. This is a vague definition and it leads to the question of how frequently a habitat has to be wet in order to be classified as a wetland. Ecosystems like bogs are always wet, so they are easy to identify.