Offwell Wetland Survey

Areas within The Wetland

Diagram of the Wetland     Wetland Description    Plant zonation in wetlands


The Wetland area is typical of wetlands in general, in that there is a transition from open water, through swamp and marsh zones to dry land. This is called a hydrosere. These four areas, or zones, each differ substantially from the others. The differences between them are largely due to variations in the amount of standing water in  particular areas.

The regions detailed below have been separated on the basis of the plant communities occurring there. Each region in the wetland is described with the aid of pictures and plant species lists. Click on the links below to go to pages dedicated to each specific area.

 

wpeA3.jpg (248988 bytes)

wpe42.jpg (36651 bytes)

wpe41.jpg (34522 bytes)

wpe3E.jpg (30837 bytes)
Dry Land Marsh Swamp Open Water
Area A usually dry Area B 0-10cms Area C emergent zone Area D up to 1m deep
None of the four main regions defined above are totally uniform. Some parts of them may be significantly different. These are separated out below.

Area A2 
Central Island Zone

 Area B2
Marginal Marsh 		Area C2
Marginal stagnant standing water		 Area E
Ponds within the marsh zone

          

Wetland Survey Contents