The latter characteristic distinguishes a swamp from a marsh, in which plant life consists largely of grasses. The swamp ecosystem also acts as a water treatment plant, filtering wastes and purifying water naturally. Swamp, wetland ecosystem characterized by mineral soils with poor drainage and by plant life dominated by trees. When excess nitrogen and other chemicals wash into swamps, plants there absorb and use the chemicals.

Swamps are another type of mineral soil wetland that are located in low lying areas. Swamps are found throughout the world. They all work together. The former is usually found inland while the latter occurs along the coasts. The major parts of an ecosystem are: water, water temperature, plants, animals, air, light and soil. In saturated wetland soils, the soil volume is generally 50% solids and 50% water, while in upland soils as much as 25% of the soil volume can consist of air-filled pore space. Swamps have many of the same characteristics as marshes, but the soil is more stable and able to sustain the growth of larger plants such as trees.

A swamp refers to a land area that is completely filled or is permanently saturated with water.

Swamp forests occupy a specific place in Southeast Asian landscapes and represent a unique and diverse biome with highly specialized, often endemic plants: over 1700 different species were identified in each of two surveys in Borneo and the Malay Peninsula (Yamada, 1997), and over 300 peat swamp tree species have been recorded in eastern Sumatra (Giesen, 2004). Swamp Forest.

If there isn't enough light or water or if the soil doesn't have the right nutrients, the plants will die.

The SWAMP Laboratory is an ultra-clean research facility for studying the sources, transformations, behaviour and fate of trace metals cycling in Soils, Wate r, Air, Manures, and Plants.

An ecosystem can be as large as a desert or as small as a tree. Organic wetland soils differ from mineral wetland soils because they contain over 20% organic matter. In upland soils only the interior of soil aggregates is typically anoxic (Chapter 6) and gases diffuse readily between the soil and the atmosphere.

Saltwater swamps and tidal salt marshes help anchor coastal soil and sand. There are two major types of swamps: freshwater swamps and saltwater swamps. It can be regarded as an intermediate area between land and water.