But in fact, what is a swamp?

Have you ever been interested in answering the question about what a swamp is? Or, perhaps, it was curious to learn more about the nature of its occurrence and the main features? If yes, I will note that you are by far not the only such inquisitive.

For example, from the very childhood I wanted to understand why so many mysteries and legends are associated with this locality, what is so unusual about it and what plants and animals it inhabits.

Section 1. What is a swamp? The general definition of the concept A swamp is a fairly complex natural formation, which is a different area in area, on which a huge amount of moisture is constantly concentrated, both weakly flowing and stagnant. One can not but note the fact that although the ecosystem of the swamp is in most cases stable and perfectly balanced, it also contains many mysteries. For example, many people do not know that for a given reservoir, such as a typhoon, the presence of the so-called eye, which is a small absolutely pure lake, is characteristic.

Most of the marshes on our planet are located in the tropical and subtropical zones. It is difficult to imagine that their total area is millions of hectares.

Of course, every schoolboy will immediately reply that the most marshy area is the area around the Amazon River in South America. However, Russia can boast of having the largest reservoir of this type in the world - Vasyugan Lake can be seen in Western Siberia.

Section 2. What is a swamp and how is it formed?

At first glance it may seem that all the current swamps were once lakes, but this is not entirely true. How, then, to explain the fact of their occurrence on the ground?

Let's imagine a small massif that suffered from a forest fire. For the sake of clarity, we will mentally draw in front of our eyes the black remains of trees, boughs, ash and burned stumps firmly in the soil.

Nature will at all costs try to heal its wounds, which means that it will be some time, and the first in such a forest will appear plants, for example moss, called in nature cuckoo flax. Because of the lack of foliage on the branches, the lower vegetation will receive more moisture. Gradually, the speed of its growth will gain more and more speed. If the riotous growth continues for a sufficiently long period of time, it will eventually change the nature of the soil itself, making it more moist.

There is another way. According to experts, if, for some reason, a weakly permeable layer is formed underground at a not too deep depth, it will necessarily retain moisture in the upper layers, as a result of which hygrophilous plants will gradually appear , which, like in the first case, will change the character of the soil, Her into the marshy.

Section 3. What is the swamp, its flora and fauna

Strictly speaking, it does not matter which way this or that swamp was formed, in any case it will gradually grow.

Undoubtedly, at first these changes will be subtle, but it will take several years, and even decades, and the peat layer will become stronger. Let's put it this way: approximately 1000 years later, on the site of the burnt forest, it will be ten or even twelve meters long.

There will be trees. For boggy areas, birches, pines, firs or alders are characteristic. If the humidity is high enough, then all plants, as a rule, acquire an unusual shape.

Most of the inhabitants of these territories, say, insects and amphibians, are small enough or very tiny, but there are also large representatives.

If we talk about the entire territory of the planet as a whole, it is on the marshes that predators such as pythons or alligators live, and frequent visitors are also hunting for a smaller prey of crocodiles. Of herbivorous, one can not fail to note the nutria, tapirs, muskrats and beavers. Unfortunately, draining swamps leads to a significant reduction in their numbers.

Large ungulates also adapt to this semi-aquatic lifestyle. Nature has taken care of the hooves, for example, of Asian buffalo were expanded. This greatly increases the area of the support, and heavy animals, although they can roam the swamp, plunging over the chest, but will never completely get bogged down.