Lowland and raised bogs. Types of swamps and their characteristics. How to visually distinguish peat from ordinary soil

Based on the method of water supply, three main types of swamps are usually distinguished: lowland, transitional and raised.

Lowland marshes They are located mainly in lowlands and other depressions in the relief: along the banks of lakes, rivers and in stream valleys. Many lowland bogs have keystone origins; they are usually located on the slopes (and in the mountains, sometimes near the peaks) where groundwater or part of the surface runoff comes to the surface. The most important difference between lowland swamps is the way they are fed with water. There are two main types of nutrition for lowland swamps. The first type is pressure ground, which occurs mainly due to the release of groundwater, rich in minerals and saturated with oxygen. Such swamps are often located on slopes, in ancient floodplains or flowing depressions. Surface runoff and precipitation are often added to groundwater here. Another type of feeding of lowland swamps is stagnant waters. These are the rafting swamps on some continental and floodplain lakes.

Lowland swamp in the floodplain of the river. Dubny, Taldomsky district, Moscow region. Photo by S. Skorodumova

Based on the nature of the vegetation among lowland swamps, they are divided into forest (black alder forests and mari with coniferous species), reed, sedge and spring.

Compared to other bogs, the flora of lowland bogs has a relatively high species diversity. Here grow those representatives of the plant world that are demanding on the content of nutrients. In forest swamps - these are black and gray alder, various sedges, marsh whitewing, stinging nettle, black currant, meadowsweet, hops and others, and in spring and grass swamps - forest reeds, some types of sedges, special, specific types of hypnotic mosses , rich forbs (bitter and serrated hearts, marsh geranium, marsh myrtle, many species of our orchids). Based on the type of nutrition, lowland swamps are classified as eutrophic (from the Greek words ephto- meager, trophe- nutrition), that is, rich in nutrients. The peat in these swamps is mainly formed by dead plant roots and the remains of trunks and branches, since leaf litter on the surface of such a swamp decomposes quite quickly due to the flow regime and the relative richness of the upper layers in oxygen. The thickness of the peat layer here usually does not exceed 1 meter, although the age of the swamp can reach 9-10 thousand years.

Transitional swamps often formed when the hydrological regime of lowland swamps changes. As poorly rotted plant remains accumulate and a peat deposit forms, groundwater relatively rich in mineral nutrition elements stops flowing to the roots of bog plants. This leads to the fact that some types of plants are replaced by others, which are not so demanding in terms of the content of these nutrients. Green and then sphagnum mosses settle in, due to which peat accumulation is further enhanced. And the swamp takes on a different look. Transitional swamps, the water of which, compared to lowland ones, is relatively poor in nutrients, have their second name - mesotrophic (from the Greek words mesos- middle, trophe- nutrition).

Raised bogs are formed as a result of the progressive growth of peat deposits in lowland and transitional bogs. In appearance, a raised bog differs sharply from a lowland one. Low pines, shrubs with leathery leaves and moss hummocks - you will not see this in lowland swamps. If you look at the raised bog from a great distance and somewhat from the side, it will have a somewhat convex shape. That is, in fact, it is a swamp-hill! How can water not flow from this “hill”? Water in raised bogs is held by a thick cushion of hygroscopic peat and sphagnum moss, which completely covers their entire surface. Sphagnum moss is capable of holding 100 times its weight in water. Through such a thick layer of peat, groundwater no longer penetrates to the roots of plants, and such a swamp receives all its nutrition only from atmospheric precipitation - snow and rain, and this is practically distilled water. Therefore, the type of nutrition of raised bogs is called oligotrophic (from the Greek words oligos- few, insignificant, trophe- nutrition).Sphagnum releases humic acids into swamp water, which strongly acidify it. But the plants of raised bogs (cranberry, wild rosemary, myrtle, white grass, cotton grass, etc.) over many years of evolution have adapted to live in conditions of an acidic environment and a lack of nutrients in the soil.

High bog. Sanctuary "Crane Homeland". Taldomsky district, Moscow region. Photo by I. Podgorny

Text by T. Minaeva. Based on materials from the collection “Excursions to the swamp. Materials to help teachers"

For practical purposes, it is now common to divide swamps into three types: lowland, upland and transitional.

The lowland type includes all swamps, the vegetation of which is sufficiently provided by ash substances coming either directly from the mineral bottom of the swamp, or from ground, alluvial and deluvial waters. Raised bogs are swamps in most cases with a convex surface; their vegetation is supplied by atmospheric and sometimes groundwater, which is poor in ash substances. Transitional swamps are formations of an intermediate nature.

When identifying the type of bog, the vegetation cover (an indicator of the current stage of bog development) and the nature of the peat deposit (an indicator of the evolution of bog formation) are taken into account. Therefore, when deciding what type of bog to classify, it is necessary to simultaneously study the vegetation cover and structure of the peat deposit with a layer-by-layer characteristic of the properties of peat.

Lowland swamps are located mainly in floodplains of rivers, in flowing lowlands, in places where groundwater pinches out on slopes and terraces, in depressions when lakes are overgrown, etc. The surface of these swamps is almost always flat or even somewhat concave, surface and groundwater flowing into the swamp, wash the entire surface and enrich the soil with lime and other minerals. Key lowland swamps located on slopes where springs emerge may also have a somewhat convex surface.

There are grass, green moss (hypnum) and forest lowland swamps.

Grassy bogs are covered with herbaceous vegetation: sedges, reeds, reed grass, reeds, cattails, horsetails, etc. Depending on the composition of the predominant peat-forming plants, the bogs are given a name (sedge, reed, horsetail-sedge, etc.). These swamps are formed in conditions of rich mineral nutrition of plants. In most cases, peat has a medium to high degree of decomposition.

Hypnum bogs are characterized by the development of hypnum mosses in the ground cover, often together with sedges and other herbaceous plants. They are formed both in conditions of highly mineralized waters (spring swamps) and when the soil is moistened with relatively soft waters (cuckoo flax swamps). In this regard, hypnum bogs differ sharply in ash content and degree of peat decomposition. In most cases, they contain little woody residues (stumps, roots and tree trunks) in the peat deposit.

Forest lowland bogs are usually represented by alder, sedge-willow and sedge-birch bogs. The first group of forest swamps is formed under conditions of rich water-salt nutrition, mainly in zones of pinching out of soil and groundwater. Other groups of the same swamps are confined mainly to the edges of transitional swamps and swampy lowlands washed by less mineralized waters. Forest bog peat has a medium or good degree of decomposition and is almost always heavily contaminated with buried woody debris.

Favorable properties and high content of some nutrients make the soils of drained lowland swamps valuable objects for agricultural use in the non-chernozem zone.

Raised bogs develop on watersheds with atmospheric feeding. They are most common in the taiga zone of the non-chernozem zone; in the forest-tundra and in the zone of broad-leaved forests their proportion drops sharply.

The peat of raised bogs consists mainly of the remains of sphagnum moss, which affects all the properties and characteristics of the soils of these bogs. Remains of cotton grass, sedges, marsh shrubs, Scheuchzeria, sundews, pine and some other plants are most often found as impurities.

The upper layers of peat in raised bogs are usually weakly decomposed and turn into moss in the very surface layer. They are very poor in nutrients and have a pronounced acidic reaction. The low ash content of high-moor peat (2-4%) makes it a good fuel; comb and slightly decomposed sphagnum peat are the best bedding material for livestock.

The characteristics of raised bogs make their agricultural development difficult and less effective compared to other types of bogs.

Currently, these swamps are developed in cases where there are no other, better lands near cities and large settlements, or when they are interspersed with newly developed swamp masses, consisting mainly of other, better types of swamps - lowland and transitional.

Transitional swamps occupy an intermediate position between lowland and highland ones. These swamps have mixed atmospheric and soil nutrition. Sedges, green mosses, and deciduous trees (willow, birch, etc.) still grow on them, but along with this, sphagnum and its companions appear.

In transitional bogs, peat is deposited only in the surface layers of the deposit. The thickness of these deposits varies - from a few centimeters to a meter or more. The surface of such bogs is usually covered with sphagnum-moss moss of varying thickness (continuous in transitional bogs and discontinuous in complex bogs).

When bogs develop under conditions of depleted mineral nutrition, from the very beginning of their formation, the entire depth of the peat bog can be composed of transitional peats. The surface of such a peat bog is covered with sphagnum-moss moss.

In the transitional type of swamps, groups are distinguished that, in their natural properties, are closer to the lowland or upland types or occupy an intermediate position. The main criterion for this division is the degree of severity of “transition”, characterized by varying thickness of the peat-moss layer on the surface of the bog, the structure of the peat deposit and the properties of the composing peat.

The peat of transitional bogs is deposited under conditions of depleted mineral nutrition, and therefore is characterized by lower ash content, greater poverty in nutrients and increased acidity compared to lowland peat.

Transitional swamps are widespread in the northern half of the non-chernozem zone, where, with proper agricultural technology, they are successfully involved in agricultural use.

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They occur in depressions of the relief when the land becomes swamped with hard groundwater. Under these conditions, a relatively favorable plant nutrition regime is created. In lowland swamps, quite a variety of moisture-loving vegetation develops - sedges, grasses, green mosses, and from tree species - willow, black alder, birch, etc. As the peat layer grows, its upper part is gradually separated from hard groundwater, and plant nutrition deteriorates. This leads to a change in the composition of vegetation, to the evolution of the type of swamp - lowland turns into transitional. In terms of vegetation composition, it occupies an intermediate position between lowland and upland.

Bog soils can also be formed through the overgrowing of water bodies (lakes, seedlings, etc.) and the formation of peat. This process is long and complex. In this case, the reservoir is constantly filled with mineral silt and zoophytoplankton - an organo-mineral mass is formed - sapropel. Aquatic and coastal aquatic vegetation plays an active role in the overgrowing of reservoirs - its remains fill the shallow waters; floating plants form a rather powerful dense sofa-floating structure. When reservoirs are covered with peat, the thickness of peat bogs can reach 15 m.

Structure of the marsh soil profile:
Ad (Och) + T + G.
Ad – turf of moisture-loving forbs or sphagnum moss (Och) of straw-yellow color, up to 10–15 cm thick.
T – peat horizon of brown-black or yellowish-brown color depending on the type of bog, different degrees of decomposition and different botanical composition. Can be divided into T1, T2, etc.
G – gley horizon of bluish-gray color.
Depending on the thickness of the peat layer, they are divided into peat-gley (peat thickness up to 30 cm), peat-gley (up to 50 cm), shallow peat (up to 100 cm), medium (100–200 cm) deep (>200 cm) peat

As can be seen from Table 1, bog soils are closely dependent on the type of bog. Thus, the soils of a lowland swamp are characterized by a slightly acidic or close to neutral reaction, contain significant amounts of nitrogen, and are high in ash. The peat of raised bogs is highly acidic, with a low ash content, but has a high moisture capacity. Transitional bogs occupy an intermediate position in their properties between the soils of highland and lowland bogs.

Swamp soils are a valuable land fund. After drainage, technical and agrochemical measures can be transformed into highly productive land - arable land, hayfields, pastures. They need phosphorus, potassium and copper-containing fertilizers. In the first years of development of bog soils, it is necessary to apply nitrogen fertilizers.

In terms of potential, peat-bog high soils are significantly inferior to lowland peat-bog soils. In agriculture they can be used only after radical reclamation - drainage, liming, application of a full range of mineral fertilizers and biologically active substances. High-moor peat is widely used as bedding material in livestock buildings. Growing large-fruited cranberries in high bogs is promising.

Lowland peat is a valuable raw material for the preparation of organic fertilizers - peat manure composts. The peat of these bogs, mixed with phosphorus and potassium fertilizers, is a good reclamation agent for sod-podzolic sandy soils: it increases their moisture capacity, absorption capacity, and reduces water permeability.

In ecological terms, swamps in their natural state represent a complex natural complex (ecosystem) with a specific bank of biodiversity of flora and fauna. They are reservoirs of moisture and often affect the water regime of large areas. Swamps are reserves of organic matter – a carrier of potential soil fertility.

The drainage of swamps for the purpose of their intensive use in agriculture causes fundamental changes in almost all components of this natural complex. First of all, its water-air and thermal properties, composition and structure of the biocenosis change. The processes that occur after drainage and lead to a decrease in the thickness of the peat deposit are called peat depletion. It is associated with mineralization and deflation of peat. The average yield of peat from drained soils in the conditions of Belarus can annually reach several centimeters of its thickness. Mineralization occurs especially vigorously when row crops are cultivated on peat soils. When using drained peat-boggy lowland soils for agricultural purposes, it is recommended to occupy peat bogs with a peat thickness of less than 1 m only for sowing perennial grasses. It is advisable to use other variants of peat soils in a system of grain-grass crop rotations, in the structure of the sown area of which perennial grasses should occupy at least 50%.

Preventing possible undesirable impacts of drainage on nature is one of the most important environmental tasks. Therefore, an integral part of any land reclamation project is the “Nature Conservation” section.

Lowland marshes- These are those swamps that are located in low-lying places: river valleys, on the site of former lakes or in other depressions of the earth's surface. In such places, groundwater rises very close to the surface. The water and mineral nutrition of the swamps is carried out precisely at their expense. Although they do not neglect other sources of moisture (precipitation, for example).
Lowland swamps are formed, as a rule, as a result of long-term presence of water on areas of the earth's surface. That is, swamping of territories occurs.

Since swamps are fed by groundwater containing large amounts of mineral salts, their vegetation is very developed. Both herbaceous plants and shrubs grow here, and trees, mosses, lichens, etc. are also often found. But still, there are plant species that are found more often than others: sedge, green moss, reed, and among trees - willow, alder and birch.
In general, the flora of lowland swamps is a developed grass cover, giving way in some places to mosses and forest areas.

But there is very little peat in such swamps. Usually the thickness of its layer does not exceed a meter. And this, of course, is not very good, since peat is not only a valuable mineral, but also plays an important role in nature.

Conclusion

Lowland swamps are heavily flooded areas of the earth's surface on which a large number of plants grow, especially herbaceous ones. These swamps are considered the most dangerous in existence, since their surface is extremely unstable and the swamps themselves are changeable.

Types of swamps

A swamp is an area of the earth's surface with excessive moisture and stagnant water regime, in which organic matter accumulates in the form of undecomposed remains of vegetation. Swamps exist in all climate zones and on almost all continents of the Earth. They contain about 11.5 thousand km 3 (or 0.03% - note from biofile.ru) of fresh waters of the hydrosphere. The most swampy continents are South America and Eurasia.

There are highland, lowland and transitional swamps. Based on the predominant vegetation, forest, shrub, grass, and moss swamps are distinguished; According to the microrelief, hummocky, flat and convex swamps are distinguished. Swamp soils are soils that form under conditions of prolonged or constant excess moisture (swamping) under moisture-loving swamp vegetation. Typically, bog soils form in the forest zone of temperate zones. After drainage, crops are grown on the swamp soils and peat is extracted. Swamp soils are common in the Russian Federation, Belarus, Ukraine, Canada, USA, Brazil, Argentina, Indonesia, etc. Swamp soils are divided into peat and peat-gley soils.
Swamp waters are waters contained in swamps. Swamp waters are enriched with natural organic substances. A swamp massif is a part of the earth's surface occupied by a swamp, the boundaries of which represent a closed contour and are drawn along the line of zero depth of the peat deposit. Swamp microlandscape is a part of a swamp massif, homogeneous in the nature of the vegetation cover, surface microrelief and water-physical properties of the active horizon and represented by one plant association, a group of plant associations similar in floristic composition and structure, or a complex of different plant associations, regularly alternating in space.

In their hydrological properties, swamps differ from both reservoirs and dry lands, however, it is impossible to draw a sharp boundary between a swamp and a dry valley, as well as between a swamp and a lake, just as it is impossible to draw a sharp boundary between a middle-aged person and an old man - the transition is carried out gradually. Hydrologically, a swamp is characterized in two ways: it is either a lake, but with bound water, or land, but containing more than 90% water and less than 10% dry matter. This dual nature of swamps arouses interest in them among specialists from many scientific disciplines (swamp scientists, geobotanists, soil scientists, geologists, hydrologists, hydrogeologists, geographers, ecologists, land reclamation specialists, etc.). This basically explains the large number of definitions of the concept “swamp”. The most capacious of them and reflecting the essence of the swamp-forming process is the following: “... a swamp is a growing peat bog.”

Its characteristics:

1) abundant stagnant or low-flow moisture in the upper soil horizons;

2) specific swamp vegetation with a predominance of species adapted to conditions of abundant moisture and lack of oxygen in the soil substrate;

3) the process of peat accumulation and the thickness of the deposited peat is such that the living roots of the bulk of plants do not reach the underlying mineral soil

The bog is considered as a kind of living organism, which, while the process of peat accumulation occurs, grows and develops, increasing in size.

How to visually distinguish peat from ordinary soil?

The process of peat accumulation stops, and the swamp “dies” and turns into a peat bog (peat deposit).

Water exchange processes and physical patterns of water movement in swamps are studied by swamp hydrology. The runoff and evaporation from swamps, the water balance of swamp massifs, and their water-thermal regime are studied. Based on the nature of vegetation, location and nutritional regime, swamps are distinguished into lowland (eutrophic), raised (oligotrophic) and transitional (mesotrophic). Lowland swamps are usually located along river valleys and lake shores; groundwater rich in mineral salts comes close to them; the vegetation on them is, as a rule, rich (various types of sedges, broad-leaved cattail, common reed, marsh whitewing, green mosses, gray alder and other species).

Raised bogs on the territory of our country prevail in area and peat reserves over all other types of bogs (40% of all peat bogs in the world). In raised bogs, vegetation is separated from the soil by an already accumulated layer of peat; it receives scant mineral nutrition only from precipitation, and precipitation prevails over evaporation; water is retained and accumulated by sphagnum mosses; groundwater is located close to the surface. The thickness of the peat layer in a raised bog can reach 3–4 m or even more. Typically, as peat accumulates, a low-lying bog gradually turns into a raised bog. At the same time, the peat deposit grows slowly - on average by 1 mm per year.
The peat deposit of bogs is divided into upper (active) and lower (inert) horizons, differing in water-physical properties. The high water conductivity of the active layer determines its special role in all hydrological processes. The share of runoff from raised bogs through the active horizon is up to 99% of the total runoff. It is in this horizon that the processes of moisture and heat exchange with the environment, and primarily with the atmosphere, most actively occur. Therefore, it is so important to study the water-physical properties of this particular horizon. A classification of swamp areas that are homogeneous in structure and genesis has been developed. These bog microlandscapes are homogeneous in the nature of the vegetation cover, surface microrelief, physical properties of the upper horizons of the peat deposit and water regime. By the nature of the vegetation cover, reflecting the conditions of the plants' habitat, one can judge their water-mineral nutrition, water level relative to the bog surface and flow, about the thermal regime, which is at the same time a characteristic of the hydrological regime of a given marsh microlandscape.

The water and thermal regimes of swamp microlandscapes correlate well with the meteorological regime even on the dry lands adjacent to them. Therefore, using the data obtained at dry weather stations, it is possible to calculate the level of swamp waters, the temperature of the peat deposit, heat flow, freezing, evaporation and runoff from the swamp. In the Hydrometeorological Service system, stationary observations are carried out at swamp stations and posts located in different swamp zones on natural and drained massifs:

– water levels in intra-marsh lakes;
– the flow of water from streams and rivers flowing into and out of the swamp;
– evaporation from the main marsh microlandscapes and intra-swamp lakes;
– temperature regime of the peat deposit;
– freezing and thawing of peat deposits in various bog microlandscapes;
– precipitation and snow cover;
– meteorological regime of the swamp and the adjacent dry land;
– components of the radiation, heat and water balances of the swamp;
– chemical composition of swamp waters;
– changes in marsh microlandscapes under the influence of natural processes and anthropogenic impact;
– vibration of the swamp surface.

In all studied massifs, the water-physical properties of the active layer of peat deposits are studied (filtration coefficients, water yield and level rise, capillary properties, dry matter density). Agrometeorological observations and microclimatic surveys are also carried out on swamps drained for agricultural use. The results obtained from studies of vast wetlands based on the landscape-hydrological approach extend to similar microlandscapes of unexplored wetlands, primarily in sparsely populated and inaccessible regions, such as Western Siberia. Materials from studies of the structure and regime of wetlands served as a reliable basis for the hydrological substantiation of projects for the development of oil and gas fields in Western Siberia.

The following types of swamps are also distinguished:

1. Soil and alluvial-soil nutrition, the richest in lime and other ash substances are eutrophic. Due to the fact that swamps of this type usually occur in low-lying relief elements (river valleys, lakeside depressions, ravine-gully networks, etc.), they are usually called lowland.

2. Mixed atmospheric-soil nutrition, depleted in calcium and other ash elements - mesotrophic. Swamps of this type are called transitional.

3. Atmospheric nutrition, the poorest in calcium and other elements of ash plant nutrition are oligotrophic. Since oligotrophic swamps are characterized by a convex surface profile and they lie mostly on elevated elements of the relief, they are called upland swamps.

4. Different types of nutrition, when elevated and low areas naturally combined in swamps are in different conditions of water supply: the first - atmospheric and the second - groundwater. Such swamps can be called heterotrophic or complex. These include, for example, aapa-type bogs, which are characterized by a combination of highly moist, flat or concave spaces covered with eutrophic vegetation, with elevated hillocks and ridges occupied by oligotrophic sphagnum mosses and accompanying plants. The same type should also include hummocky peat bogs, widespread in our north, where frozen, dry peat mounds are covered with oligotrophic mosses, lichens and shrubs, and (the depressions between them are usually occupied by very wet lowland or transitional bogs.

Swamp water balance, Lake water balance

For practical purposes, it is now common to divide swamps into three types: lowland, upland and transitional.

Swamps. Types of swamps and their regime

Therefore, when deciding what type of bog to classify, it is necessary to simultaneously study the vegetation cover and structure of the peat deposit with a layer-by-layer characteristic of the properties of peat.

There are grass, green moss (hypnum) and forest lowland swamps.

Favorable properties and high content of some nutrients make the soils of drained lowland swamps valuable objects for agricultural use in the non-chernozem zone.

The characteristics of raised bogs make their agricultural development difficult and less effective compared to other types of bogs.

Transitional swamps are widespread in the northern half of the non-chernozem zone, where, with proper agricultural technology, they are successfully involved in agricultural use.

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Since ancient times, people's imagination has populated swamps with goblins, kikimoras and other evil spirits. And this is understandable: what is good in a swamp? A dead place, useless. However, some swamps are rich in berries, waterfowl, peat... But immediately one remembers swamps, bogs, damp, unhealthy air, clouds of mosquitoes... No, after all, there is little good in a swamp.

This opinion prevailed until man created powerful technology that helped drain vast territories in a short time and extract large quantities of peat. Since that time, mainly in our century, the number and size of swamps began to decrease noticeably. In their place, agricultural land and engineering structures began to emerge.

But calls for the protection of swamps began to be heard more and more often. It turned out that they play a very important role in the lives of many birds, animals, and plants. Here you can get good harvests of herbs, berries and medicinal plants (cranberries, blueberries, wild rosemary, etc.). Reeds and reeds are used for paper production and construction. Sphagnum mosses are good antiseptics, and they are also used as bedding for livestock. The swamps are home to muskrats and otters, moose and wild boars, ducks and cranes, black grouse and wood grouse. In addition, studies have shown that the air above the swamps is clean and rich in oxygen.

But the main advantage of swamps is that they serve as natural regulators of surface and groundwater flow. In some cases, draining swamps reduces groundwater levels.

Lowland marshes

reduces soil fertility in elevated areas and contributes to severe floods. However, bountiful crop yields can be harvested from drained wetlands. For example, on drained lands in Belarusian Polesie, the same harvests are sometimes harvested as on the famous Ukrainian black soils.

A swamp is an excessively moist area of land with special vegetation and a peat layer of at least 0.3 m (where there is even less peat - wetlands).

Most often, swamps arise where groundwater comes to the surface, as well as in forest clearings and burnt areas: due to the lack of plants that “suck out” groundwater, the groundwater level rises. There are many swamps in the tundra and forest-tundra, where a layer of permafrost prevents surface water from seeping into the ground; in the mouths and floodplains of rivers that are often flooded during floods (floodlands, oxbow lakes, densely overgrown with reeds, cattails, and sedges).

Swamps are divided into lowland, transitional and raised. Lowland ones are not necessarily located in the lowlands, and highland ones are not necessarily located on the hills. The main difference here is what the swamps feed on - lowland swamps, mainly groundwater, highland swamps - precipitation. The waters of lowland swamps are therefore richer in mineral salts than the waters of transitional and, especially, raised swamps. The acidity of the waters of lowland swamps is increased, and that of upland swamps is low. Low-lying swamps can be found in a watershed if the sub-marsh soils are rich in mineral salts. And the upland ones are also found in depressions located among washed quartz sands.

Swamps usually appear in heavily moist depressions or on the site of overgrown lakes and are mostly lowland. As plants die and peat accumulates, the surface of the bog becomes flat and then slightly convex. The vegetation is first represented mainly by herbs, shrubs, and then increasingly abundant sphagnum mosses. The lower part of the turf, located in water depleted of oxygen, decomposes poorly. Peat begins to accumulate. The peat “cushion” grows, the surface of the swamp rises higher and higher, the vegetation cover becomes more diverse: shrubs, trees, and meadow plants appear. A thick layer of peat serves as a sponge that absorbs water. Accumulating moisture, the swamp feeds the plants with plenty of it. Now it can exist without using groundwater, only due to precipitation. This is how the transformation of a lowland swamp, the surface of which is concave, like a saucer, into a raised swamp with a convex surface.

The famous Soviet scientist and naturalist M. M. Prishvin called the swamps “the storeroom of the sun.” Swamp vegetation is rich. But every plant is a battery of solar energy. In swamp water, these batteries are stored for a long time and do not “discharge”, forming peat deposits.

Previously, peat was used mainly for heating. It is now considered a very important complex raw material. Resin and rock wax, medicines and substances that purify oil and water are extracted from it; organic fertilizers, feed mixtures, as well as insulating building materials, etc. are prepared on its basis. The “Pantry of the Sun” has stored many excellent, valuable gifts for people .

Peat bogs are of great scientific importance. Based on the change in swamp vegetation (this is evidenced by plant remains, buried spores and pollen), it is possible to restore the patterns of changes in natural conditions (climate, groundwater fluctuations) in a given area.

Of course, swamps are different from swamps. The vast swampy expanses of Western Siberia or the Arctic must be largely drained, and peat bogs must be developed. The situation is not so simple with the swamps of the European part of the Union. Intensive agriculture, the growth of cities and industrial enterprises, and the reduction of forest area - all this makes it necessary to conserve and rationally use ground and surface water. For this purpose, hydrological reserves are set up (for example, in Belarusian Polesie), where swamps are protected - storage tanks and water regulators. In the Ivanovo region, 20 forest swamps have been taken under protection. It is expected in the coming years to significantly increase the number of protected wetlands in our country. Swamps are an interesting object of local history research.

Raised moss bogs are the most in need of protection. They perform particularly important functions in nature: like giant sponges, they retain and regulate moisture; feed streams, rivers, lakes, groundwater, soils; serve as a shelter for many birds and animals; have large reserves of the most valuable berry - cranberries; store some rare or endangered plants, and among them are psilophytes, which have lived on earth for more than 300 million years.

But it's not only that. As practice has shown, on the site of such swamps, after draining, a good harvest is harvested for only a few years, and then the lands become waste and are subject to erosion. That is why the reclamation of swamps requires preliminary serious research and economic calculations.

The swamp is an interesting, original and, in its own way, beautiful natural object. Studying his life and history is not an easy and very exciting task, requiring good knowledge, observation, the ability to overcome difficulties and - it is very important to remember this - caution.

Swamp- this is an area of the earth's surface that has excessive moisture, high acidity and low soil fertility, which is a consequence of the rise of groundwater to the surface, which, however, does not form a permanent layer of water. The word itself means "dirt". This is true, because swamps are a mixture of soil, water, and semi-decomposed organic matter (mainly of plant origin) located on the surface. The characteristic smell arises precisely because of them. Over time, these substances, by the way, turn into a useful resource - peat.

Reasons for the formation of swamps

Most swamps occur due to natural causes, but some are also caused by humans.

Characteristics of the main types of swamps

In general, the reasons for their formation can be divided into 2 groups: overgrowing of water bodies and waterlogging of the soil.

In the first case, various bodies of water (lakes, ponds, reservoirs) become so overgrown with algae that any significant water exchange in them practically stops, which is why over time they turn into such an incomprehensible mess. This fate awaits many lakes, and it’s no one’s fault, you can’t stop plants from growing.

In the second case, swamps arise, in fact, from scratch. The most common option is when they form in lowlands. And this happens if the area experiences heavy precipitation, a low (or simply insufficient) level of moisture evaporation, and there is also groundwater located quite close to the surface. In this case, the water simply has nowhere to go, and over the years the area turns into a swamp.

Also, these reservoirs can be formed due to the construction of dams or the activity of beavers.

Properties of swamps

The most interesting of the swamp effects is mummification. The fact is that almost all the water in these reservoirs contains a large amount of acids from decomposed plant matter. This greatly slows down the growth of bacteria, and in this case it is they who act as decomposers (process organic substances). As a result, organic bodies that fall into a swamp can remain in such a solution for thousands of years.

Thus, the oldest discovered human mummy is about 2500 years old. And it was preserved surprisingly well.

Another interesting property of swamps is glow. It represents bright lights and glows appearing without any system and flickering here and there. Some of them can be explained simply - these are phosphorescent organisms that live in a given area. Another part of the glow is caused by rotting plants, of which there are a lot in the swamps. And sometimes glows arise due to spontaneous combustion of swamp gas, methane. And these are just the most common reasons for the formation of a glow. Although they can be caused by radioactive mineral fallout and other reasons.

Classification of swamps

Depending on the properties by which swamps are compared, different classifications are used. Thus, according to the conditions of water and mineral nutrition, they are divided into 3 types: lowland, upland and transitional. Lowland ones have good water and mineral nutrition, since they are located near various water sources: near lakes, in river floodplains, close to groundwater sources, and simply in low places where water flows. Raised bogs have poor water supply, which is based on precipitation. Well, transitional ones are something in between these two types.

Also, the classification of wetlands can be based on the type of vegetation that predominates there. There are only 4 types of swamps: moss, grass, shrub and forest. I think no explanation is required of what each of these swamps is.

Depending on the microrelief of the area, swamps are divided into flat, hilly, convex, and concave. But this is if we consider the shape of the swamps, and if we consider only the terrain, then they can be slope, valley, floodplain, watershed, etc.

But the main interest, of course, is the swamps, which stand out among others. We will tell you about the largest swamps.

The role of swamps in nature

Swamps are the “lungs of the planet”. The benefits they provide are comparable to the benefits of forests. They just have a slightly different effect. Wetlands reduce the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. This happens due to the burial of undecomposed plant (and not only) organic matter, because during its decomposition, carbon dioxide is released in large quantities. But in swamps, this organic matter turns into coal over time.

Oddly enough, swamps are good water filters, as well as orderlies of agrarian (agricultural) ecological systems. They are also valuable for the natural resources extracted from them. First of all, this is peat, the use of which is very wide. But the plants growing in these places are also of great importance. For example, cranberries, blueberries, cloudberries.

Unfortunately, swamps bring not only benefits. Methane, produced here in large quantities, enters the atmosphere, and this is not very good. Methane is classified as a greenhouse gas. That is, to those who caused global warming.

Conclusion

Swamps bring both benefits and harm. However, many things in nature play an equally ambiguous role. And for humans, in fact, this is not very good, since it is difficult to predict how certain actions will affect the balance in nature. So, draining swamps carried out by people can bring a lot of problems in the future, or it can save us, or it won’t have a significant impact at all - time will tell. But if you seriously think about it, it becomes a little uncomfortable how often a person interferes with a well-functioning natural mechanism, relying on luck. Although in this case, there were no special options. The territories obtained from the drainage of swamps are used in agriculture, which is very important.

In addition, not all swamps undergo this procedure. Many of them are left untouched, and some are even declared protected areas. Although this is done, rather, for the sake of preserving the rare species of animals and plants located there. But still, this gives hope. Man knows how not only to destroy, but also to create, as well as preserve what already exists.

Methods for increasing the biological productivity of agrophytocenoses.

Agrocenosis(from the Greek ἀγρός, read agros - “field”, κοινός, read koinos - “common”) - biogeocenosis created by man (artificial ecosystem). It has a certain species composition and certain relationships between the components of the environment. Their high productivity is ensured by intensive technology for selecting high-yielding plants and fertilizers.

When creating agrocenoses people use a set of agrotechnical techniques: various methods of soil cultivation (ploughing, harrowing, disking and others), land reclamation (in case of excessive soil moisture), sometimes artificial irrigation, sowing (planting) high-yielding plant varieties, fertilizing, control of weeds, pests and plant diseases .

Increasing the productivity of agrocenoses. Agroecosystems are created - planned territories in which, in addition to agrocenoses, high biological diversity is maintained through the alternation of fields, meadows, forests, copses, shelter belts, and reservoirs. Maximum adherence to environmental laws in agricultural practice is necessary.

Swamp(Also swamp, quagmire) - a piece of land (or landscape), characterized by excessive moisture, increased acidity and low fertility soil, exit to the surface of standing or flowing groundwater, but without a permanent layer of water on the surface. A swamp is characterized by the deposition on the soil surface of incompletely decomposed organic matter, which later turns into peat. The peat layer in swamps is at least 30 cm; if less, then these are wetlands. Swamps are an integral part of the hydrosphere. Swamps arise in two main ways: due to waterlogging of the soil or due to overgrowing of water bodies. A prerequisite for the formation of swamps is constant excess moisture. One of the reasons for excess moisture and the formation of a swamp is the peculiarities of the relief - the presence of lowlands where precipitation and groundwater flow; in flat areas there is a lack of drainage - all these conditions lead to the formation of peat.

Lowland (eutrophic)	Transitional (mesotrophic)	Horse (oligotrophic)
a type of swamp with rich water and mineral nutrition, mainly due to groundwater. They are located in floodplains of rivers, along the banks of lakes, in places where springs emerge, in low places. Typical vegetation is alder, birch, sedge, reed, cattail, green mosses.	in terms of the nature of vegetation and moderate mineral nutrition, they are between low-lying and high-moor swamps. The most common trees are birch, pine, and larch. The grasses are the same as in the lowland swamps, but not as abundant; characterized by shrubs; Mosses are found both sphagnum and green.	usually located on flat watersheds, fed only by precipitation, where there are very few minerals, the water in them is sharply acidic, the vegetation is dominated by sphagnum mosses, many shrubs: heather, wild rosemary, cassandra, blueberry, cranberry