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By that definition could you have a swamp bog, a swamp fen, a marsh bog, and a marsh fen?
Wildlife biologist here, Absolutely.
Oddly enough I usually see/write it fen/bog marsh. There are tons of other qualifiers too, like salt marsh, tidal marsh and such.
The same applies for all 4 examples if it’s needed. Salt swamps and fresh water swamps and such.
I’ll have a tidal salt fen marsh, with extra tide.
Oddly enough I usually see/write it fen/bog marsh.
I was going to ask about the order of adjectives, actually, since I find esoteric grammar rules oddly interesting and have been on a bit of a “adjectives hierarchy” kick lately.
I find this definition a lot more compelling than the one in the meme.
In other words it’s more to do with geology and how the wetland has formed from groundwater vs water flow, than it is to do with characteristics like ph and trees - those things sort of proceed from the basic structure.
Usually what happens is whoever needs to know has their own specific way of determining the thing.
As a wildlife biologist, the meme description is pretty good and would suffice for just about anything I need. The present or recent past circumstances are the most important to my work.
If I were interested in the geology, or say ground water, earth studiesor, or even the more distant past then this definition you share becomes more useful.
There are going to be even more criteria that apply for different groups, and even sometimes none of these definitions we’ve seen would matter because you only care if it sustains a specific species or something even less obvious.
Are any of the combinations more prevalent than others? E.g. do bogs/fens encourage or discourage trees from growing?
I don’t specialize in that particular area so I couldn’t say honestly.
My primary focus when I did was just dealing with the Everglades and surroundings for the most part.
Worldwide I’m not sure I could even guess what should be more common.
Canada has those prairie potholes which are usually marshes and Canada is huge, so maybe sheer numbers it could be something like that, but by size you get things like the Everglades. I’m sure someone knows though, just not me.
I’m also curious. Can’t find a way to subscribe to a thread, so I’m leaving a comment to check back later
That’s mind bog-gling
I just think it’s fenny
As non-native english speaking person that’s highly fascinating.
I think this is more to do with scientists’ definitions than English in general. See also: what is and isn’t a nut, what is and isn’t a vegetable, is there such thing as a fish.
How am I supposed to estimate the pH value of a given wetland area without specialised equipment?
- Take a sip. Did you trip balls? Acid.
- Take a red wire, black wire, and a clock. Can you power the clock? Alkaline.
Duh.
Just call it something online, if people don’t immediately pop out of nowhere to correct you, then you’re probably right.
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Determine whether it’s a swamp or a marsh.
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Tell someone else you did your part, now it’s their turn.
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What, you don’t carry pH test strips around as a matter of routine? /s
Learn botany. You can tell the approximate pH from the species of plants growing there.
Neat! Didn’t know that.
Lick it. Just a little bit. Just a little snaky lick…
Maybe you can find some red cabbage growing nearby?
Help, I’m stuck in a wetland, but I didn’t bring my litmus test!
Sorry, I’m looking for you in the bog but you’re not there
So what do you call a wetland that has a neutral pH and mixed vegitation?
Just from what I found, swamps are wetlands with woody vegetation being what DOMINATLY inhibits it. So if it’s mixed, find out what there is more of. If it’s 50/50, I guess the universe collapses.
And a wetland with a neutral ph is just called a neutral wetland.
Everything is a wetland.
I never knew the fen/bog part! The only reason I knew swamps from marshes is from labeling them in OpenStreetMap
It feels so liberating to hear it just said out loud
I’ve never heard of a Fen before
Fen the wetland type or fen the plural of (sci fi/fantasy) fan? Or had you heard of neither?
Sounds like it could be the name of a Hobbit. But no, never heard the word used before. I’m from Georgia and live in Virginia. Never been to a mountain wetland or to middle earth
I think I have only heard the term in:
- The plural of fan: sci fi stories set in the distant future of 1990, also in early internet fandom
- The wetland: stories from the UK, embedded in British place names, having a British parent
I wonder what sort of wetland my local one is, and the nearby swampy grasslands. Both are watered by rain or snowmelt. Both are marked as wetlands on maps
That’s cuz ya basic like one :)
I forgot already before I started writing this comment
So, it would be a swampy bog and a marshy fen, but not a boggy swamp or a fenny marsh?
PREACH! MUTHAFUKA!!!
LOUDER, FOR THE PEOPLE IN THE BOG!
Huh, TIL
How does this make you feel:
https://www.ywt.org.uk/nature-reserves/fen-bog-nature-reserve
Pretty hecking neutral
And me still not giving a Fuck…
i love when scientists take a swamp of arbitrary language terms and decide to impose some arbitrary specific meanings on them for purposes of their specific discipline and then convince people who don’t really get how language works (i.e. most people) that the definitions are authoritative. it’s fun to watch the cognitive dissonance when this collides with actual usage and people get all angry and righteous.
