WETLAND FACTS:

Wetlands are pieces of land that are filled with water for at least part of the year.

Marshes are wetlands that show the beginnings of aquatic vegetation such as grasses, sedges and rushes.

Swamps are wetlands dominated by wooded vegetation

Peatlands are wetlands characterised by an accumulation of peat

Bogs are wetlands that depend on rain or snow for their moisture. They are usually mossy and peat-covered or peat-filled and have very poor drainage and their environment is nutrient deficient and acidic.

Bog plants are extremely interesting, and include several species of Sphagnum moss, Reindeer Moss lichen, orchids and insect-eating plants.

Amphibians, such as frogs and toads, depend on wetlands for survival. They live half in the water and half on land - so they need to live on the edge of water. When wetlands are polluted, amphibians suffer. They breathe through their skin. When water is polluted, the chemicals soak through their skin, causing deformities and extinction.

Many of the animals that visit or live in wetlands are endangered. In fact about 35 percent of all endangered species live in wetlands.

A man who fell into a bog and died about 2000 years ago was found in the 1950s in an almost perfectly preserved state!