MARSHLAND
This is waterlogged land with springs or streams, or thin soils over rock where the water can’t drain away. This land is an important refuge for all wild animals and some birds, such as the woodcock and snipe. It is home to wetland plants which include the marsh orchid, water parsnip, ragged robin, royal fern, equisetum, meadow sweet and bog thistle. The wetlands are a very important habitat because as plants rot down their Carbon is locked away as soil, muds and peat and not released into the atmosphere. In the past wetlands were drained for cultivation, so they are now rare habitats.
Marshland food chain:
Red deer
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Young shoots, willow bark, rushes, marsh heather