Topics Water Wetlands Plants and animals in wetlands Plants Plants in wetlands Several thousand plant species grow in wetlands, ranging from mosses and grasses to shrubs and trees. Slide controls:. Page last updated 29 November The following buttons will open a feedback form below Was this page helpful? Yes No. Thank you for your feedback. Would you like to tell us more? Your comments required Tell us what you liked about the page or how it could be improved.
I would like EES to contact me in the future for help improving services and to share information about national parks or other environmental activities. More Information Endangered wetland communities Wetlands research Threatened species Water for the environment Threats to wetlands.
Where particular plants live is determined by the amount of water that is present. Marshes and swamps usually have a gradient that moves from open water and saturated soils to drier upland soils. These are some zone characteristics:. Wetland habitats present challenging conditions, so some plants have adaptations that help them survive.
Wetland soils are saturated and become anaerobic — lacking in oxygen. Plants need oxygen for respiration. Known as aerenchyma, these channels move oxygen from the parts of the plant that are above water to the parts of the plant that are submerged. Pukatea Laurelia novae-zelandiae and swamp maire have special breathing roots called pneumatophores. These specialised roots stick out of the swampy soil and supply air to the submerged roots.
Pukatea, swamp maire and kahikatea trees develop buttresses flared trunks at the base of the tree that support the trees in the swampy ground. Many emergent wetland plants have elongated stems to ensure that a portion of the plant is above the water. Cope with water up to 15cm deep : yellow iris, water mint, water plantain, purple loosestrife, brooklime, water forget-me-not, lesser spearwort, bur-reed, marsh marigold.
With erect leaves and stems that grow up out of the water : bog bean, greater spearwort, flowering rush, bogbean, burr reed, lesser reedmace. Where the plant has leaves or fronds that float on the surface of the water : white waterlily, yellow waterlily, fringed waterlily, broad-leaved pondweed, amphibious bistort, water crowfoot. Where the plant has its leaves under the surface of the water , e.
Well-established trees can stabilise and protect fragile earth riverbanks with their extensive root systems and also provide ideal habitat for many invertebrates, birds and mammals that in turn will attract other wildlife to feed on them. Typical riverside trees you would expect to find include alder, willow and sallow, which are able to grow in the wetter conditions that other trees would find hostile. You may see the dead trunks of riverside alders still standing that have suffered from the Phtyophora disease.
Their slowly rotting hulks will attract Greater Spotted Woodpeckers to feed on the invertebrates within and several bat species will find a good home in the cracks and holes developing.
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