• wia@lemmy.caEnglish
      70·
      24 days ago

      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.

      • Pilon23@feddit.dkEnglish
        2·
        23 days ago

        Are any of the combinations more prevalent than others? E.g. do bogs/fens encourage or discourage trees from growing?

        • wia@lemmy.caEnglish
          4·
          23 days ago

          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.

      • livus@mander.xyzEnglish
        1·
        23 days ago

        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.

        • wia@lemmy.caEnglish
          2·
          23 days ago

          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.

    • Pilon23@feddit.dkEnglish
      12·
      24 days ago

      I’m also curious. Can’t find a way to subscribe to a thread, so I’m leaving a comment to check back later

    • NeatNit@discuss.tchncs.deEnglish
      11·
      24 days ago

      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.

  • SomeAmateur@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
    11·
    24 days ago

    I never knew the fen/bog part! The only reason I knew swamps from marshes is from labeling them in OpenStreetMap

  • Moonworm [any]@hexbear.netEnglish
    3·
    24 days ago

    This is one of my pet trivias :) hard to remember the pH for bogs and fens though. It has something to do with rain vs groundwater.