### soil | wetland:

Marsh
* Some marshes survive the sinking of the land by floating when water rises.
* act as natural filters
  - like sponges absorbing water in heavy rains and floods
* also act as giant sponges during storms and therefore reduce damage from flooding
  - natural filters for pollutants carried by storm water runoff
  - help control sedimentation, eutrophication, and pollution of waterways
* are also common in delta s, where rivers empty into a larger body of water
  - highly productive systems
* are among the most productive wetlands for birds and mammals
  - yet misunderstood habitat types
  - both brackish and fresh, along which a rich alpine meadow community thrives
  - dominated by floating-leafed plants like water lillies and duckweed
  - dry
  - endangered habitats that make for interesting wildlife and bird watching
  - especially attractive to birds, including loons, ducks, geese, herons, and egrets
  - important protectors of the natural environment
  - most common along the edges of ponds and lakes
  - often nurseries for juveniles of commercially important fish species
  - shallow wetlands less than two meters deep
  - some of the most productive areas on earth
  - very productive ecosystems used by a great variety of animals
  - water-saturated, poorly drained areas with both aquatic and grasslike plants
  - wetlands dominated by emergent aquatic vegetation such as grasses, sedges and rushes
* attracts birds
* can form very extensive habitats
  - hold freshwater or saltwater and are mostly grassy areas with shallow water
  - reduce the risk of downstream flooding during heavy storms
* contain mostly grasses with a small number of trees
  - nonwoody emergent plants
* develop along the edges of rivers and lakes.
* differ depending mainly on their location and salinity.
* dominate the coastal wetlands of Georgia and South Carolina.
* function as filters to cleanse water.
* generally contain few if any trees and shrubs
  - grasses and sedges and contain few if any trees and shrubs
* help protect the coastline from storng storm winds and waves which cause coastal erosion.
* is located in forests
  - wets
* occur as part of an integrated complex of wet prairie, marsh, and sedge meadow.
* often fill the basins below the tallest and wettest of the Basin mountain ranges
  - have very spectacular shaped species
* possesses mosquitoes.
* provide food, shelter and water for many animals such as ducks, blackbirds, and muskrats.
* provide the best vegetation for eating and constructing nests and burrows
* recharge groundwater supplies and moderate streamflow by providing water to streams.
* serve as nurseries for young fish.
* supply the red-winged blackbird with aquatic insects as a source of food.
* tend to be formed by river mouths in river delta areas.
* typically are closer to the ocean and contain slightly salted water.
* usually have different bands of vegetation creating high and low zones within the marsh.

### soil | wetland | marsh:

Coastal marsh
* are wetlands with fresh water, brackish water or salt water along tidal shores.
* attract waterfowl and seabirds from around the world.

Fresh marsh
* contain fresh water and have the highest diversity of life.
* support the greatest diversity in plant species of all marsh types.

Freshwater marsh
* are in shallow margins of lakes and slow moving rivers.
* occur in ponds and slow moving streams.
* play similar environmental roles.

Saline marsh
* is characterized by a monotypic stand of smooth cordgrass.
* support a highly specialized set of life adapted for saline conditions.