ENV100Y5 Lecture Notes - Lecture 37: Ramsar Convention, Enbridge Northern Gateway Pipelines, Oxbow Lake

• School: UTM
• Department: Environment
• Course: ENV100Y5
• Professor: Monika Havelka

Document Summary

We are really rich in them, but we are losing them at a fast pace and we have wetlands in the marine environment as well. Wetlands tends to be partially covered or completely covered by shallow pools of water. Wetlands are mostly water saturated, thus the soil is usually anaerobic and there are lots of organic matter, so the matter does not decompose; or if it does, it takes a long time to do so. Marsh, swamps, etc are different types of wetlands. A marsh is an area where shallow water allows plants to grow above the water surface. Bogs and fens tend to be associated with northern and colder environments; they tend to be low productivity and nutrient limited. Peats form in acidic conditions and it can go down meters and meters, but the problem is that we"re draining it, thus we"re releasing carbon in the atmosphere.