Horse and lowland are. Types of swamps and their characteristics. Reasons for the formation of swamps

Fauna

The species composition of the fauna of raised bogs depends on the climatic zone in which the bog is located and the type of bog complex.

Populations of rotifers and sphagnophilic crustaceans develop in swamp reservoirs, and the larval stage of the life cycle of a number of insects also passes: caddis flies, dragonflies, dipterans. In hollows and lakes, there are aquatic species of coleoptera.

Some species of frogs, snakes and lizards live in the swamps.

The birds found in swamps are divided by ecologists into two groups:

• Breeding regularly.
• Sporadically breeding, using swamps as food base during nesting period or during migration.

The golden plover, gray shrike, medium curlew, and ptarmigan nest exclusively in raised bogs. Other representatives of the Charadriiformes order also gravitate to the swamps: curlew, greece, lapwing. Some representatives of Anseriformes nest in the swamps of the tundra zone. Among the regularly nesting birds in the bogs, there are birds that gravitate towards open spaces: meadow chisel, field lark, yellow and white wagtails. Some of the species of regularly nesting birds are associated with trees. These are black grouse, forest horse, nightjar, golden eagle.

Among the irregularly nesting tits, starling, wood grouse, oriole. Barn swallow, meadow and marsh harrier, some species of gulls forage in the swamps.

Large mammals can also be found in the swamps: wild boars, bears, elks.

The problems of bog conservation in Russia

Ecosystems of bogs are very vulnerable, a special threat to them comes from human economic activities. The greatest danger is posed by:

• drainage;
• development of peat deposits;
• damage to vegetation during geological exploration with the use of heavy tracked vehicles;
• trampling and other damage to the vegetation cover when picking berries and harvesting medicinal plant materials;
• fire damage caused by improper handling of fire. Therefore, it is very important

The marshlands have never been credible to me. There are frequent cases when these natural reservoirs became the cause of death of people and animals. But not all of them are so dangerous, it all depends on their type.

Lowland swamps - characteristics of reservoirs

This type includes grassy or those swamps that feed on soil and are called hypnum-grassy. They contain most of all mineral salts. This subspecies is characterized by dense thickets of wax forests together with willows. A required low-lying attribute is a thick layer of grass, which is presented in the form of:

• sedges;
• saber;
• marigold;
• three-leaf watch.

In addition to all of the above plants, you can also find yellow iris, elderberry valerian and euphorbia (quite rarely).

Features of raised bogs

Such reservoirs are also called oligotrophic. Unlike lowland ones, horsebacks do not feed on groundwater, but on precipitation from the atmosphere. Only such nutrition is distinguished by the fact that the swamps receive a small amount of mineral salts (since there are few of them in the sediments). The formation of upstream occurs when surface water stagnates in places where there is a waterproof rock (clay, etc.) under them. This species is rich in peat, so it is often mined on its territory. I found information on the Internet that now they are actively beginning to protect raised bogs, since they are accumulators of moisture and are home to many animals and plants.

The relationship between lowland and upland types

They are similar in that they are involved in the formation of peat. The difference is only in the size of the produced mineral. With its accumulation, more and more isolation of the reservoir from groundwater is observed. In essence, raised bogs are gradually formed from the lowland stage (in this regard, they are also connected). More often you can observe cases of animals and people getting stuck in raised bogs than in low-lying ones, due to the greater amount of peat (water movement is difficult in peat).

They arise in depressions of the relief when the land is swamped by hard groundwater. Under these conditions, a relatively favorable plant nutrition regime is created. In low-lying bogs, a rather diverse moisture-loving vegetation develops - sedges, grasses, green mosses, and from tree species - willow, black alder, birch, etc. When the peat layer grows, its upper part gradually detaches from the 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 the composition of vegetation, it occupies an intermediate position between lowland and highland.

Swamp soils can also be formed by overgrowing water bodies (lakes, saplings, etc.) and the formation of peat. This process is long and complex. At the same time, the reservoir is constantly filled with mineral silt, zoophytoplankton - an organo-mineral mass is formed - sapropel. An active role in the overgrowing of water bodies is played by aquatic and coastal aquatic vegetation - its remains fill the shallow water; floating plants form a rather powerful dense sofa-float. When water bodies are peaty, the thickness of the peat bogs can reach 15 m.

Bog soil profile:
Ad (Pts) + T + G.
Ad - sod of moisture-loving forbs or sphagnum moss (Och) of strawy-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. It can be subdivided into T1, T2, etc.
G - bluish-gray gley horizon.
Depending on the thickness of the peat layer, the pods are divided into peaty-gley (peat thickness up to 30 cm), peat gley (up to 50 cm), peaty into shallow (up to 100 cm), medium (100-200 cm) deep (> 200 cm) peat.

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

Swamp soils are a valuable land fund. After draining, carrying out technical and agrochemical measures, they can be transformed into highly productive lands - arable land, hayfields, pastures. They need phosphorus, potash and copper-containing fertilizers. In the early years of the development of marsh soils, nitrogen fertilizers must also be applied.

In terms of the potential level, peat-bog high soils are significantly inferior to peat-bog low-lying ones. In agriculture, they can be used only after indigenous reclamation - drainage, liming, the introduction of a full set of mineral fertilizers and biologically active substances. High moor peat is widely used as a bedding material in livestock buildings. Growing large-fruited cranberries in raised bogs is promising.

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

Ecologically, swamps in their natural state are a complex natural complex (ecosystem) with a specific bank of flora and fauna biodiversity. They are reservoirs of moisture, they affect the water regime of often large areas. Swamps are stores of organic matter - the carrier of potential soil fertility.

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 biocenosis change. The processes occurring after drainage and leading to a decrease in the thickness of the peat deposit are called peat drawdown. It is associated with mineralization and deflation of peat. The average amount of peat production from drained soils in Belarus can reach several centimeters of its thickness annually. Mineralization is especially vigorous when tilled crops are cultivated on peat soils. For agricultural use of drained peat-boggy low-lying soils, peatlands with a peat thickness of less than 1 m are recommended to be occupied only for sowing perennial grasses. It is advisable to use other variants of peat soils in the system of grain-grass crop rotations, in the structure of the sown area of ​​which perennial grasses should occupy at least 50%.

Prevention of possible undesirable effects of drainage on nature is one of the most important environmental tasks. Therefore, an integral part of any land reclamation project is the section "Nature Protection".

Methods for increasing the biological productivity of agrophytocenoses.

Agrocenosis(from the Greek ἀγρός, read agros - "field", κοινός, read koinos - "general") - a 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 the intensive technology of selection of high-yielding plants and fertilizers.

When creating agrocenoses a person uses a set of agrotechnical methods: various methods of soil cultivation (plowing, harrowing, disking and others), reclamation (with excessive soil moisture), sometimes artificial irrigation, sowing (planting) high-yielding plant varieties, feeding, combating weeds, pests and plant diseases ...

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

Swamp(also swamp, quagmire) - land area (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. The swamp is characterized by the deposition of incompletely decomposed organic matter on the soil surface, which subsequently turns into peat... The layer of peat in bogs is not less than 30 cm, if less, then it is 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. An indispensable condition for the formation of bogs is constant excess moisture. One of the reasons for excessive moisture and the formation of a swamp is in the features of the relief - the presence of lowlands, where precipitation and groundwater flow down; on flat areas, the lack of runoff - all these conditions lead to the formation of peat.

- excessively humid land areas with a kind of marsh vegetation and a peat layer of at least 0.3 m, therefore, they are characterized by a difficult exchange of gases. Bogs usually contain 87 to 97% water and only 3-13% dry matter (peat).

With a lower peat thickness or its absence, excessively humid areas are called wetlands.

Swamps are formed when water bodies are overgrown or when the area is swamped.

The main way of formation of bogs is waterlogging, which begins with the appearance of periodic and then permanent waterlogging of soil. This is facilitated by the climate. Excess moisture due to the abundance of precipitation or weak evaporation, as well as a high level of groundwater, the nature of the soil is poorly permeable rocks; "Permafrost", relief - flat areas with shallow drainage or depressions with slow runoff; prolonged floods on rivers, etc. Forests under conditions of excess moisture, which means anaerobic conditions and oxygen starvation, die, which contributes to greater waterlogging due to reduced transpiration.

On waterlogged lands, moisture-loving vegetation settles, adapted to a lack of oxygen and mineral nutrition - moss, etc. Moss sod, which absorbs and retains moisture well, resembling a wet sponge, contributes to even greater waterlogging of the land. So in the future, it is the vegetation that plays the leading role in waterlogging. In conditions of a lack of oxygen, incomplete decomposition of plant residues occurs, which, accumulating, form peat. Therefore, waterlogging is almost always accompanied by peat accumulation.

The most favorable conditions for the accumulation of peat exist in the forests of the temperate zone, especially in Western Siberia, where, within the forest-bog zone, swampiness sometimes makes up more than 50% of the territory, the thickness of peat is 8-10 m. To the north and south of the forest zone, the thickness of the peat deposit decreases: to the north due to a decrease in the increase in plant mass in cold climates, to the south - due to the more intensive decomposition of plant residues in warm climates. In a hot, humid climate, a huge increase in biomass is compensated by the intense decay of dead plants, and there are few swamps, although the evergreen equatorial forests are waterlogged.

The structure of peat deposits of bogs that have arisen on the site of lakes or dry lands is different. Peat bogs formed as a result of waterlogging of lakes have lacustrine silt under the layer of peat - sapropel, and when land is swamped, peat lies directly on the mineral soil.

Bogs develop in different climatic conditions, but they are especially characteristic of the forest zone of the temperate zone and tundra. Their share in Polesie accounts for 28%, in Karelia - about 30%, and in Western Siberia (Vasyugane) - over 50% of the territory. Swampiness sharply decreases in steppe and forest-steppe zones, where there is less precipitation, and evaporation increases. The total area occupied by swamps is about 2% of the Earth's land area.

Swamp types

By the nature of water supply and vegetation, bogs are divided into three types: lowland, upland and transitional.

Lowland swamps are formed on the site of former lakes, in river valleys and in depressions, which are constantly or temporarily flooded with water. They feed mainly on groundwater rich in mineral salts. The vegetation cover is dominated by green mosses, various sedges and grasses. On older swamps, birch, alder, and willow appear. These bogs are characterized by low peat content - the thickness of the peat does not exceed 1 — 1 , 5 m.

Upland swamps They form on flat watersheds, feed mainly on atmospheric precipitation, the vegetation is characterized by a limited species composition - sphagnum mosses, cotton grass, wild rosemary, cranberries, heather, and from woody ones - pine, birch, less often cedar and larch. The trees are heavily depressed and undersized. Sphagnum moss grows best in the middle of a bog massif, on the outskirts it is oppressed by mineralized waters. Therefore, raised bogs are somewhat convex, their middle rises by 3-4 m. The peat layer reaches 6-10 m and more.

Transitional swamps, or mixed represent a transitional stage between lowland and highland. In low-lying bogs, the accumulation of plant residues occurs, the surface of the bog rises. As a result, the salt-rich groundwater ceases to feed the swamp. Herbaceous vegetation dies off and is replaced by mosses.

Thus, low-lying bogs turn into high bogs, and the latter are then covered with bushes or meadow vegetation, turning into dry meadows. Therefore, in nature, moss or grassy bogs are rarely found in their pure form.

Swamps are of great economic importance. Thus, peat bogs are a source of fuel for industry. The first thermal power plant in the world, powered by peat, was built in Russia in 1911 (in the town of Elektrougli).

Lowland peat is a good organic fertilizer. Therefore, partly low-lying bogs are drained and turned into fertile lands. But not all swamps are subject to drainage, some of them must be preserved so as not to disrupt the relationships that have developed in nature.

Bogs humidify the air of the area, are the habitat of valuable plant species (cranberries, cloudberries, blueberries) and the habitat of many species of animals, especially birds, are natural reservoirs of water that feed the rivers.