Question

What role do native plant species in marshes play in filtering organic waste? Provide the name of some common marsh plants, and their role in the marsh Explain how the plants you have chosen work together to filter water such as excess nutrients from agricultural run off.

Answer 1

1. A marsh is a wetland that consists of herbaceous plants. they are formed near lakes and streams which is the junction between aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems. There are different types of marshes depending on whether the wetlands have fresh, salty or brackish water and whether the wetlands are always wet or dry. These marshy wetlands have different significant role in nature.They aid in improving water quality, store floodwaters during drought conditions. As water moves slowly through a marsh, heavy organic particles (sediments) and other chemical pollutants settle on the bed of marsh. in addition, microbes and marsh vegetation utilize extra nutrients (such as chemical fertilizers) for their own growth which thereby helps in reduction of organic content.  

2. There are various kinds of marsh plants depending on their environment where they grow. Examples of salt to brackish marsh plants include Spartina alterniflora (Saltmarsh cordgrass), Spartina patens (Saltmeadow cordgrass) and Distichlis spicata (Spike grass). Freshwater marshes and swamps include Elodea canadensis (Water-weed), Myriophyllum spp. (Water-milfoil), Najas spp. (Waternymph). Peatland plants consists of Andromeda polifolia (Bog rosemary), Betula pumila, Chamaedaphne calyculata (Leatherleaf). S. alterniflora acts as an environmental cleaner. it is found to grow in the water at the seaward edge of a salt marsh where it helps in sedimentation of waste and also various species such as mussels, to settle. This helps in building up the level of the land at the seaward edge and further growth of marsh species to the new land.