page_title: Marsh
section_title: Freshwater marshes
hierarchical_section_title: Marsh / Types of marshes / Freshwater marshes
caption_attribution_description: English: A wet meadow adjacent to Big Bear Lake, San Bernardino Mountains, CA, USA.
context_page_description: A marsh is a wetland that is dominated by herbaceous rather than woody plant species. Marshes can often be found at the edges of lakes and streams, where they form a transition between the aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems. They are often dominated by grasses, rushes or reeds. If woody plants are present they tend to be low-growing shrubs, and then sometimes called carrs. This form of vegetation is what differentiates marshes from other types of wetland such as swamps, which are dominated by trees, and mires, which are wetlands that have accumulated deposits of acidic peat.
context_section_description: Ranging greatly in both size and geographic location, freshwater marshes make up the most common form of wetland in North America.  They are also the most diverse of the three types of marsh. Some examples of freshwater marsh types in North America are:
caption: A wet meadow adjacent to Big Bear Lake, San Bernardino Mountains, California
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