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86-642: The Forest of Braydon (anciently Bradon ) is an historic royal hunting forest in Wiltshire , England, the remnant of which lies about 6 miles north-west of Swindon . In medieval times it encompassed about 30,000 acres. In the year 688 Caedwalla , king of the West Saxons, granted to Abbot Aldhelm of Malmesbury Abbey in Wiltshire, thirty hides on the eastern side of Braydon Wood ( de orientali parte silve Bradon ). At its greatest extent, Braydon Forest covered about

172-627: A kingswood ( Latin : silva regis ), is an area of land with different definitions in England , Wales , Scotland and Ireland . The term forest in the ordinary modern understanding refers to an area of wooded land; however, the original medieval sense was closer to the modern idea of a "preserve" – i.e. land legally set aside for specific purposes such as royal hunting – with less emphasis on its composition. There are also differing and contextual interpretations in Continental Europe derived from

258-711: A sink or a source of carbon, depending on the specific wetland. If they function as a carbon sink, they can help with climate change mitigation . However, wetlands can also be a significant source of methane emissions due to anaerobic decomposition of soaked detritus , and some are also emitters of nitrous oxide . Humans are disturbing and damaging wetlands in many ways, including oil and gas extraction , building infrastructure, overgrazing of livestock , overfishing , alteration of wetlands including dredging and draining, nutrient pollution , and water pollution . Wetlands are more threatened by environmental degradation than any other ecosystem on Earth, according to

344-621: A "deer forest" generally has no trees at all. Marshlands in Lincolnshire were afforested. Upland moors too were chosen, such as Dartmoor and Exmoor in the South West, and the Peak Forest of Derbyshire . The North Yorkshire moors , a sandstone plateau, had a number of royal forests. William the Conqueror , a great lover of hunting, established the system of forest law. This operated outside

430-472: A court of justice-seat (Forest Eyre) seems to have been in about 1635, in an attempt to raise money. By the Tudor period and after, forest law had largely become anachronistic, and served primarily to protect timber in the royal forests. James I and his ministers Robert Cecil and Lionel Cranfield pursued a policy of increasing revenues from the forests and starting the process of disafforestation. Cecil made

516-433: A deputy. He supervised the foresters and under-foresters, who personally went about preserving the forest and game and apprehending offenders against the law. The agisters supervised pannage and agistment and collected any fees thereto appertaining. The nomenclature of the officers can be somewhat confusing: the rank immediately below the constable was referred to as foresters-in-fee, or, later, woodwards , who held land in

602-402: A frequency and duration to support, and that under normal circumstances do support, a prevalence of vegetation typically adapted for life in saturated soil conditions. Wetlands generally included swamps, marshes, bogs, and similar areas.' For each of these definitions and others, regardless of the purpose, hydrology is emphasized (shallow waters, water-logged soils). The soil characteristics and

688-606: A number of West Country forests, including Gillingham, Braydon and Dean, known as the Western Rising. Riots also took place in Feckenham, Leicester and Malvern. The riots followed the physical enclosure of lands previously used as commons, and frequently led to the destruction of fencing and hedges. Some were said to have had a "warlike" character, with armed mobs numbering hundreds, for instance in Feckenham. The rioters in Dean fully destroyed

774-1248: A polar climate, wetland temperatures can be as low as −50 °C (−58 °F). Peatlands in arctic and subarctic regions insulate the permafrost , thus delaying or preventing its thawing during summer, as well as inducing its formation. The amount of precipitation a wetland receives varies widely according to its area. Wetlands in Wales , Scotland , and western Ireland typically receive about 1,500 mm (59 in) per year. In some places in Southeast Asia , where heavy rains occur, they can receive up to 10,000 mm (390 in). In some drier regions, wetlands exist where as little as 180 mm (7.1 in) precipitation occurs each year. Temporal variation: Surface flow may occur in some segments, with subsurface flow in other segments. Wetlands vary widely due to local and regional differences in topography , hydrology , vegetation , and other factors, including human involvement. Other important factors include fertility, natural disturbance, competition, herbivory , burial and salinity. When peat accumulates, bogs and fens arise. The most important factor producing wetlands

860-540: A portion of the overall water cycle, which also includes atmospheric water (precipitation) and groundwater . Many wetlands are directly linked to groundwater and they can be a crucial regulator of both the quantity and quality of water found below the ground. Wetlands that have permeable substrates like limestone or occur in areas with highly variable and fluctuating water tables have especially important roles in groundwater replenishment or water recharge. Substrates that are porous allow water to filter down through

946-521: A range of offences within the forests; by the mid-17th century, enforcement of this law had died out, but many of England's woodlands still bore the title "Royal Forest". During the Middle Ages , the practice of reserving areas of land for the sole use of the aristocracy was common throughout Europe. Royal forests usually included large areas of heath , grassland and wetland  – anywhere that supported deer and other game . In addition, when an area

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1032-505: A separate concept. Trespasses against the vert were extensive: they included purpresture , assarting , clearing forest land for agriculture, and felling trees or clearing shrubs, among others. These laws applied to any land within the boundary of the forest, even if it were freely owned; although the Charter of the Forest in 1217 established that all freemen owning land within the forest enjoyed

1118-422: A strong influence on wetland water chemistry, particularly in coastal wetlands and in arid and semiarid regions with large precipitation deficits. Natural salinity is regulated by interactions between ground and surface water, which may be influenced by human activity. Carbon is the major nutrient cycled within wetlands. Most nutrients, such as sulfur , phosphorus , carbon , and nitrogen are found within

1204-453: A third of the area of the county of Wiltshire, but over the centuries most of it was gradually cleared. A 108-acre (44 ha) remnant south of Minety , known as Ravensroost Wood , was notified as a Site of Special Scientific Interest in 1989 and is managed as a nature reserve by Wiltshire Wildlife Trust . Persons holding the office of "Keeper of the Forest of Bradon" include: Royal forest A royal forest , occasionally known as

1290-410: A unique kind of wetland where lush plant growth and slow decay of dead plants (under anoxic conditions) results in organic peat accumulating; bogs, fens, and mires are different names for peatlands. Variations of names for wetland systems: Some wetlands have localized names unique to a region such as the prairie potholes of North America's northern plain, pocosins , Carolina bays and baygalls of

1376-508: A wetland is "an ecosystem that arises when inundation by water produces soils dominated by anaerobic and aerobic processes, which, in turn, forces the biota, particularly rooted plants, to adapt to flooding". Sometimes a precise legal definition of a wetland is required. The definition used for regulation by the United States government is: 'The term "wetlands" means those areas that are inundated or saturated by surface or ground water at

1462-422: A wetland system includes its plants ( flora ) and animals ( fauna ) and microbes (bacteria, fungi). The most important factor is the wetland's duration of flooding. Other important factors include fertility and salinity of the water or soils. The chemistry of water flowing into wetlands depends on the source of water, the geological material that it flows through and the nutrients discharged from organic matter in

1548-403: A wetland) affects hydro-periods (temporal fluctuations in water levels) by controlling the water balance and water storage within a wetland. Landscape characteristics control wetland hydrology and water chemistry. The O 2 and CO 2 concentrations of water depend upon temperature , atmospheric pressure and mixing with the air (from winds or water flows). Water chemistry within wetlands

1634-558: A whole. To replace these wetland ecosystem services , enormous amounts of money would need to be spent on water purification plants, dams, levees, and other hard infrastructure, and many of the services are impossible to replace. Floodplains and closed-depression wetlands can provide the functions of storage reservoirs and flood protection. The wetland system of floodplains is formed from major rivers downstream from their headwaters . "The floodplains of major rivers act as natural storage reservoirs, enabling excess water to spread out over

1720-577: A wide area, which reduces its depth and speed. Wetlands close to the headwaters of streams and rivers can slow down rainwater runoff and spring snowmelt so that it does not run straight off the land into water courses. This can help prevent sudden, damaging floods downstream." Notable river systems that produce wide floodplains include the Nile River , the Niger river inland delta, the Zambezi River flood plain,

1806-589: Is a remnant of an older, much larger, royal hunting forest, which derived its name from its status as the shire (or sher) wood of Nottinghamshire, which extended into several neighbouring counties (shires), bordered on the west along the River Erewash and the Forest of East Derbyshire . When the Domesday Book was compiled in 1086, the forest covered perhaps a quarter of Nottinghamshire in woodland and heath subject to

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1892-440: Is determined by the pH , salinity , nutrients, conductivity , soil composition, hardness , and the sources of water. Water chemistry varies across landscapes and climatic regions. Wetlands are generally minerotrophic (waters contain dissolved materials from soils) with the exception of ombrotrophic bogs that are fed only by water from precipitation. Because bogs receive most of their water from precipitation and humidity from

1978-629: Is either freshwater , brackish or saltwater . The main types of wetland are defined based on the dominant plants and the source of the water. For example, marshes are wetlands dominated by emergent herbaceous vegetation such as reeds , cattails and sedges . Swamps are dominated by woody vegetation such as trees and shrubs (although reed swamps in Europe are dominated by reeds, not trees). Mangrove forest are wetlands with mangroves , halophytic woody plants that have evolved to tolerate salty water . Examples of wetlands classified by

2064-412: Is hydrology, or flooding . The duration of flooding or prolonged soil saturation by groundwater determines whether the resulting wetland has aquatic, marsh or swamp vegetation . Other important factors include soil fertility, natural disturbance, competition, herbivory , burial, and salinity. When peat from dead plants accumulates, bogs and fens develop. Wetland hydrology is associated with

2150-451: Is the only place in the world where both crocodiles and alligators coexist. The saltwater crocodile inhabits estuaries and mangroves. Snapping turtles also inhabit wetlands. Birds , particularly waterfowl and waders use wetlands extensively. Mammals of wetlands include numerous small and medium-sized species such as voles , bats , muskrats and platypus in addition to large herbivorous and apex predator species such as

2236-545: Is usually saturated with water". More precisely, wetlands are areas where "water covers the soil , or is present either at or near the surface of the soil all year or for varying periods of time during the year, including during the growing season". A patch of land that develops pools of water after a rain storm would not necessarily be considered a "wetland", even though the land is wet. Wetlands have unique characteristics: they are generally distinguished from other water bodies or landforms based on their water level and on

2322-623: The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle is little more than propaganda. William Rufus , also a keen hunter, increased the severity of the penalties for various offences to include death and mutilation. The laws were in part codified under the Assize of the Forest (1184) of Henry II . Magna Carta , the charter forced upon King John of England by the English barons in 1215, contained five clauses relating to royal forests. They aimed to limit, and even reduce,

2408-562: The Carolingian and Merovingian legal systems. In Anglo-Saxon England , though the kings were great huntsmen, they never set aside areas declared to be "outside" (Latin foris ) the law of the land. Historians find no evidence of the Anglo-Saxon monarchs (c. 500 to 1066) creating forests. However, under the Norman kings (after 1066), by royal prerogative forest law was widely applied. The law

2494-492: The Millennium Ecosystem Assessment from 2005. Methods exist for assessing wetland ecological health . These methods have contributed to wetland conservation by raising public awareness of the functions that wetlands can provide. Since 1971, work under an international treaty seeks to identify and protect " wetlands of international importance ." A simplified definition of wetland is "an area of land that

2580-623: The New Forest in 1877. Since the conquest of England, the forest, chase and warren lands had been exempted from the common law and subject only to the authority of the king, but these customs had faded into obscurity by the time of The Restoration . William I , original enactor of the Forest Law in England, did not harshly penalise offenders. The accusation that he "laid a law upon it, that whoever slew hart or hind should be blinded ," according to

2666-857: The New Forest , three others in Hampshire , Windsor Forest in Berkshire , the Forest of Dean in Gloucestershire, Waltham or Epping Forest in Essex, three forests in Northamptonshire , and Wychwood in Oxfordshire. Some of these no longer had swainmote courts thus no official supervision. They divided the remaining forests into two classes, those with and without the Crown as major landowner. In certain Hampshire forests and

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2752-666: The Pantanal in South America, and the Sundarbans in the Ganges - Brahmaputra delta. Wetlands contribute many ecosystem services that benefit people. These include for example water purification , stabilization of shorelines, storm protection and flood control . In addition, wetlands also process and condense carbon (in processes called carbon fixation and sequestration ), and other nutrients and water pollutants . Wetlands can act as

2838-748: The South West of England, forests extended across the Upper Jurassic Clay Vale. In the Midlands , the clay plain surrounding the River Severn was heavily wooded. Clay soils in Oxfordshire , Buckinghamshire, Huntingdonshire and Northamptonshire formed another belt of woodlands. In Hampshire , Berkshire and Surrey , woodlands were established on sandy, gravelly, acid soils. In the Scots Highlands,

2924-444: The atmosphere , their water usually has low mineral ionic composition. In contrast, wetlands fed by groundwater or tides have a higher concentration of dissolved nutrients and minerals. Fen peatlands receive water both from precipitation and ground water in varying amounts so their water chemistry ranges from acidic with low levels of dissolved minerals to alkaline with high accumulation of calcium and magnesium . Salinity has

3010-576: The beavers , coypu , swamp rabbit , Florida panther , jaguar , and moose . Wetlands attract many mammals due to abundant seeds, berries, and other vegetation as food for herbivores, as well as abundant populations of invertebrates, small reptiles and amphibians as prey for predators. Invertebrates of wetlands include aquatic insects such as dragonflies , aquatic bugs and beetles , midges, mosquitos , crustaceans such as crabs, crayfish, shrimps, microcrustaceans, mollusks like clams, mussels, snails and worms. Invertebrates comprise more than half of

3096-508: The common law , and served to protect game animals and their forest habitat from destruction. In the year of his death, 1087, a poem, " The Rime of King William ", inserted in the Peterborough Chronicle , expresses English indignation at the forest laws. Offences in forest law were divided into two categories: trespass against the vert (the vegetation of the forest) and trespass against the venison (the game). The five animals of

3182-407: The hare , coney , pheasant , and partridge . In addition, inhabitants of the forest were forbidden to bear hunting weapons, and dogs were banned from the forest; mastiffs were permitted as watchdogs, but they had to have their front claws removed to prevent them from hunting game. The rights of chase and of warren (i.e. to hunt such beasts) were often granted to local nobility for a fee, but were

3268-412: The 11th century, and at the height of this practice in the late 12th and early 13th centuries, fully one-third of the land area of Southern England was designated as royal forest. At one stage in the 12th century, all of Essex was afforested. On accession Henry II declared all of Huntingdonshire to be a royal forest. Afforestation , in particular the creation of the New Forest , figured large in

3354-598: The 1630s. Each disafforestation would start with a commission from the Exchequer, which would survey the forest, determine the lands belonging to the crown, and negotiate compensation for landowners and tenants whose now-traditional rights to use of the land as commons would be revoked. A legal action by the Attorney General would then proceed in the Court of Exchequer against the forest residents for intrusion, which would confirm

3440-558: The Court of Verderers. A further Act was passed in 1964. This forest is also managed by Forestry England . A forest since the end of the Ice Age (as attested by pollen sampling cores ), Sherwood Forest National Nature Reserve today encompasses 423.2 hectares, (1,045 acres) surrounding the village of Edwinstowe , the site of Thoresby Hall . The core of the forest is the Special Area of Conservation named Birklands and Bilhaugh . It

3526-563: The Delimitation of Forests Act 1640 ( 16 Cha. 1 . c. 16, also known as Selden 's Act) to revert the forest boundaries to the positions they had held at the end of the reign of James I. The Forest of Dean was legally re-established in 1668 by the Dean Forest Act 1667 . A Forest Eyre was held for the New Forest in 1670, and a few for other forests in the 1660s and 1670s, but these were the last. From 1715, both surveyors' posts were held by

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3612-606: The Forest lands described in Domesday Book as within the forest. Successive kings tried to recover the "purlieus" excluded from a forest by the Great Perambulation of 1300. Forest officers periodically fined the inhabitants of the purlieus for failing to attend Forest Court or for forest offences. This led to complaints in Parliament. The king promised to remedy the grievances, but usually did nothing. Several forests were alienated by Richard II and his successors, but generally

3698-568: The Forest of Dean, most of the soil belonged to the Crown and these should be reserved to grow timber, to meet the need for oak for shipbuilding . The others would be inclosed, the Crown receiving an "allotment" (compensation) in lieu of its rights. In 1810, responsibility for woods was moved from Surveyors-General (who accounted to the Auditors of Land Revenue) to a new Commission of Woods, Forests, and Land Revenues . From 1832 to 1851 "Works and Buildings" were added to their responsibilities. In 1851,

3784-503: The King's sole rights as enshrined in forest law. The clauses were as follows (taken from translation of the great charter that is the Magna Carta ): After the death of John, Henry III was compelled to grant the Charter of the Forest (1217), which further reformed the forest law and established the rights of agistment and pannage on private land within the forests. It also checked certain of

3870-619: The Okavango River inland delta, the Kafue River flood plain, the Lake Bangweulu flood plain (Africa), Mississippi River (US), Amazon River (South America), Yangtze River (China), Danube River (Central Europe) and Murray-Darling River (Australia). Groundwater replenishment can be achieved for example by marsh , swamp , and subterranean karst and cave hydrological systems. The surface water visibly seen in wetlands only represents

3956-511: The Southeastern US, mallines of Argentina, Mediterranean seasonal ponds of Europe and California, turloughs of Ireland, billabongs of Australia, among many others. Wetlands are found throughout the world in different climates. Temperatures vary greatly depending on the location of the wetland. Many of the world's wetlands are in the temperate zones , midway between the North or South Poles and

4042-494: The US, the best known classifications are the Cowardin classification system and the hydrogeomorphic (HGM) classification system. The Cowardin system includes five main types of wetlands: marine (ocean-associated), estuarine (mixed ocean- and river-associated), riverine (within river channels), lacustrine (lake-associated) and palustrine (inland nontidal habitats). Peatlands are

4128-610: The United States' commercial fish and shellfish stocks depend solely on estuaries to survive. Amphibians such as frogs and salamanders need both terrestrial and aquatic habitats in which to reproduce and feed. Because amphibians often inhabit depressional wetlands like prairie potholes and Carolina bays, the connectivity among these isolated wetlands is an important control of regional populations. While tadpoles feed on algae, adult frogs forage on insects. Frogs are sometimes used as an indicator of ecosystem health because their thin skin permits absorption of nutrients and toxins from

4214-551: The activities of the Freeminers . The sale of cordwood for charcoal continued until at least the late 18th century. Deer were removed in 1850. The forest is today heavily wooded, as is a substantial formerly privately owned area to the west, now treated as part of the forest. It is managed by Forestry England . Epping and Hainault Forest are surviving remnants of the Royal Forest of Waltham. The extent of Epping and Hainault Forests

4300-545: The commissioners again became a Commissioner of Woods, Forests and Land Revenues . In 1924, the Royal Forests were transferred to the new Forestry Commission (now Forestry England ). The Forest of Dean was used as a source of charcoal for ironmaking within the Forest from 1612 until about 1670. It was the subject of a Reafforestation Act in 1667. Courts continued to be held at the Speech House , for example, to regulate

4386-430: The enclosures surrounding 3,000 acres in groups that numbered thousands of participants. The disturbances tended to involve artisans and cottagers who were not entitled to compensation. The riots were hard to enforce against, due to the lack of efficient militia, and the low-born nature of the participants. Ultimately, however, enclosure succeeded, with the exceptions of Dean and Malvern Chase. In 1641, Parliament passed

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4472-622: The equator. In these zones, summers are warm and winters are cold, but temperatures are not extreme. In subtropical zone wetlands, such as along the Gulf of Mexico , average temperatures might be 11 °C (52 °F). Wetlands in the tropics are subjected to much higher temperatures for a large portion of the year. Temperatures for wetlands on the Arabian Peninsula can exceed 50 °C (122 °F) and these habitats would therefore be subject to rapid evaporation. In northeastern Siberia , which has

4558-416: The extortions of the foresters. An "Ordinance of the Forest" under Edward I again checked the oppression of the officers and introduced sworn juries in the forest courts. In 1300 many (if not all) forests were perambulated and reduced greatly in their extent, in theory to their extent in the time of Henry II . However, this depended on the determination of local juries, whose decisions often excluded from

4644-682: The first steps towards abolition of the forests, as part of James I's policy of increasing his income independently of Parliament. Cecil investigated forests that were unused for royal hunting and provided little revenue from timber sales. Knaresborough Forest in Yorkshire was abolished. Revenues in the Forest of Dean were increased through sales of wood for iron smelting. Enclosures were made in Chippenham and Blackmore for herbage and pannage. Cranfield commissioned surveys into assart lands of various forests, including Feckenham, Sedgemoor and Selwood, laying

4730-465: The folk history of the " Norman yoke ", which magnified what was already a grave social ill: "the picture of prosperous settlements disrupted, houses burned, peasants evicted, all to serve the pleasure of the foreign tyrant, is a familiar element in the English national story .... The extent and intensity of hardship and of depopulation have been exaggerated", H. R. Loyn observed. Forest law prescribed harsh punishment for anyone who committed any of

4816-494: The following areas: According to the Ramsar Convention: The economic worth of the ecosystem services provided to society by intact, naturally functioning wetlands is frequently much greater than the perceived benefits of converting them to 'more valuable' intensive land use – particularly as the profits from unsustainable use often go to relatively few individuals or corporations, rather than being shared by society as

4902-407: The forest and apprehending offenders. The forests also had surveyors , who determined the boundaries of the forest, and regarders . These last reported to the court of justice-seat and investigated encroachments on the forest and invasion of royal rights, such as assarting. While their visits were infrequent, due to the interval of time between courts, they provided a check against collusion between

4988-428: The forest in exchange for rent, and advised the warden. They exercised various privileges within their bailiwicks . Their subordinates were the under-foresters, later referred to as rangers . The rangers are sometimes said to be patrollers of the purlieu. Another group, called serjeants -in-fee, and later, foresters-in-fee (not to be confused with the above), held small estates in return for their service in patrolling

5074-415: The forest into them were permitted to be killed if causing damage. Payment for access to certain rights could provide a useful source of income. Local nobles could be granted a royal licence to take a certain amount of game. The common inhabitants of the forest might, depending on their location, possess a variety of rights: estover , the right of taking firewood; pannage , the right to pasture swine in

5160-736: The forest laws. Only one royal forest is known to have been formed in the Lordship of Ireland . In 1282, William le Deveneys was granted 12 oaks from the King's forest of Glencree. William de Meones was keeper of the forest and of "the Queen's timber works" in 1290. It is last mentioned in the reign of Edward I and is believed to have been destroyed during the Bruce campaign in Ireland (1315–18). Podzol , oak trees Wetland Wetlands exist on every continent , except Antarctica . The water in wetlands

5246-426: The forest protected by law were given by Manwood as the hart and hind (i.e. male and female red deer), boar , hare and wolf . (In England, the boar became extinct in the wild by the 13th century, and the wolf by the late 15th century.) Protection was also said to be extended to the beasts of chase , namely the buck and doe ( fallow deer ), fox, marten , and roe deer , and the beasts and fowls of warren :

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5332-457: The forest; turbary , the right to cut turf (as fuel); and various other rights of pasturage ( agistment ) and harvesting the products of the forest. Land might be disafforested entirely, or permission given for assart and purpresture . The justices of the forest were the justices in eyre and the verderers . The chief royal official was the warden. As he was often an eminent and preoccupied magnate, his powers were frequently exercised by

5418-408: The foresters and local offenders. Blackstone gives the following outline of the forest courts , as theoretically constructed: In practice, these fine distinctions were not always observed. In the Forest of Dean , swainmote and the court of attachment seem to have been one and the same throughout most of its history. As the courts of justice-seat were held less frequently, the lower courts assumed

5504-473: The foundations of the wide-scale abolition of forests under Charles I . The commissioners appointed raised over £25,000 by compounding with occupiers, whose ownership was confirmed, subject to a fixed rent. Cranfield's work led directly to the disafforestation of Gillingham Forest in Dorset and Chippenham and Blackmore in Wiltshire. Additionally, he created the model for the abolition of the forests followed throughout

5590-464: The interface between truly terrestrial ecosystems and aquatic systems, making them inherently different from each other, yet highly dependent on both." In environmental decision-making, there are subsets of definitions that are agreed upon to make regulatory and policy decisions. Under the Ramsar international wetland conservation treaty , wetlands are defined as follows: An ecological definition of

5676-462: The known animal species in wetlands, and are considered the primary food web link between plants and higher animals (such as fish and birds). Depending on a wetland's geographic and topographic location, the functions it performs can support multiple ecosystem services , values, or benefits. United Nations Millennium Ecosystem Assessment and Ramsar Convention described wetlands as a whole to be of biosphere significance and societal importance in

5762-832: The plants and animals controlled by the wetland hydrology are often additional components of the definitions. Wetlands can be tidal (inundated by tides) or non-tidal. The water in wetlands is either freshwater , brackish , saline , or alkaline . There are four main kinds of wetlands – marsh , swamp , bog , and fen (bogs and fens being types of peatlands or mires ). Some experts also recognize wet meadows and aquatic ecosystems as additional wetland types. Sub-types include mangrove forests , carrs , pocosins , floodplains , peatlands, vernal pools , sinks , and many others. The following three groups are used within Australia to classify wetland by type: Marine and coastal zone wetlands, inland wetlands and human-made wetlands. In

5848-466: The power to fine offenders against the forest laws, according to a fixed schedule. The courts of justice-seat crept into disuse, and in 1817, the office of justice in eyre was abolished and its powers transferred to the First Commissioner of Woods and Forests . Courts of swainmote and attachment went out of existence at various dates in the different forests. A Court of Swainmote was re-established in

5934-623: The preceding 20 years. In 1875 and 1876, the corporation bought 3,000 acres (12 km ) of open wasteland. Under the Epping Forest Act 1878 , the forest was disafforested and forest law was abolished in respect of it. Instead, the corporation was appointed as Conservators of the Forest. The forest is managed through the Epping Forest Committee. The New Forest is home to the British cultural minority known as New Forest Commoners . An Act

6020-422: The rights of agistment and pannage . Under the forest laws, bloody hand was a kind of trespass by which the offender, being apprehended and found with his hands or other body part stained with blood, is judged to have killed the deer, even though he was not found hunting or chasing. Disafforested lands on the edge of the forest were known as purlieus ; agriculture was permitted here and deer escaping from

6106-464: The same person. The remaining royal forests continued to be managed (in theory, at least) on behalf of the Crown. However, the commoners' rights of grazing often seem to have been more important than the rights of the Crown. In the late 1780s, a royal commission was appointed to inquire into the condition of crown woods and those surviving. North of the Trent it found Sherwood Forest survived, south of it:

6192-418: The settlement negotiated by the commission. Crown lands would then be granted (leased), usually to prominent courtiers, and often the same figures that had undertaken the commission surveys. Legal complaints about the imposed settlements and compensation were frequent. The disafforestations caused riots and Skimmington processions resulting in the destruction of enclosures and reoccupation of grazing lands in

6278-429: The soil and underlying rock into aquifers which are the source of much of the world's drinking water . Wetlands can also act as recharge areas when the surrounding water table is low and as a discharge zone when it is high. Mangroves , coral reefs , salt marsh can help with shoreline stabilization and storm protection. Tidal and inter-tidal wetland systems protect and stabilize coastal zones. Coral reefs provide

6364-537: The soil of wetlands. Anaerobic and aerobic respiration in the soil influences the nutrient cycling of carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, and nitrogen, and the solubility of phosphorus thus contributing to the chemical variations in its water. Wetlands with low pH and saline conductivity may reflect the presence of acid sulfates and wetlands with average salinity levels can be heavily influenced by calcium or magnesium. Biogeochemical processes in wetlands are determined by soils with low redox potential. The life forms of

6450-412: The soils and plants at higher elevations. Plants and animals may vary within a wetland seasonally or in response to flood regimes. There are four main groups of hydrophytes that are found in wetland systems throughout the world. Submerged wetland vegetation can grow in saline and fresh-water conditions. Some species have underwater flowers, while others have long stems to allow the flowers to reach

6536-515: The sources of water include tidal wetlands , where the water source is ocean tides ); estuaries , water source is mixed tidal and river waters; floodplains , water source is excess water from overflowed rivers or lakes; and bogs and vernal ponds , water source is rainfall or meltwater . The world's largest wetlands include the Amazon River basin , the West Siberian Plain ,

6622-406: The spatial and temporal dispersion, flow, and physio-chemical attributes of surface and ground waters. Sources of hydrological flows into wetlands are predominantly precipitation , surface water (saltwater or freshwater), and groundwater. Water flows out of wetlands by evapotranspiration , surface flows and tides , and subsurface water outflow. Hydrodynamics (the movement of water through and from

6708-709: The surface of the water. When trees and shrubs comprise much of the plant cover in saturated soils, those areas in most cases are called swamps . The upland boundary of swamps is determined partly by water levels. This can be affected by dams Some swamps can be dominated by a single species, such as silver maple swamps around the Great Lakes . Others, like those of the Amazon basin , have large numbers of different tree species. Other examples include cypress ( Taxodium ) and mangrove swamps. Many species of fish are highly dependent on wetland ecosystems. Seventy-five percent of

6794-490: The surface. Submerged species provide a food source for native fauna, habitat for invertebrates, and also possess filtration capabilities. Examples include seagrasses and eelgrass . Floating water plants or floating vegetation are usually small, like those in the Lemnoideae subfamily (duckweeds). Emergent vegetation like the cattails ( Typha spp.), sedges ( Carex spp.) and arrow arum ( Peltandra virginica ) rise above

6880-457: The surrounding environment resulting in increased extinction rates in unfavorable and polluted environmental conditions. Reptiles such as snakes , lizards , turtles , alligators and crocodiles are common in wetlands of some regions. In freshwater wetlands of the Southeastern US, alligators are common and a freshwater species of crocodile occurs in South Florida. The Florida Everglades

6966-556: The system decayed. Henry VII revived "Swainmotes" (forest courts) for several forests and held Forest Eyres in some of them. Henry VIII in 1547 placed the forests under the Court of Augmentations with two Masters and two Surveyors-General. On the abolition of that court, the two surveyors-general became responsible to the Exchequer. Their respective divisions were north and south of the River Trent . The last serious exercise of forest law by

7052-440: The types of plants that live within them. Specifically, wetlands are characterized as having a water table that stands at or near the land surface for a long enough period each year to support aquatic plants . A more concise definition is a community composed of hydric soil and hydrophytes . Wetlands have also been described as ecotones , providing a transition between dry land and water bodies. Wetlands exist "...at

7138-449: Was designed to protect the " venison and the vert". In this sense, venison meant "noble" animals of the chase – notably red and fallow deer , the roe deer , and wild boar – and vert meant the greenery that sustained them. Forests were designed as hunting areas reserved for the monarch or (by invitation) the aristocracy . The concept was introduced by the Normans to England in

7224-447: Was greatly reduced by inclosure by landowners. The Hainault Forest Act 1851 was passed by Parliament, ending the Royal protection for Hainault Forest. Within six weeks 3000 acres of woodland was cleared. The Corporation of London wished to see Epping Forest preserved as an open space and obtained an injunction in 1874 to throw open some 3,000 acres (12 km ) that had been inclosed in

7310-523: Was initially designated forest, any villages, towns and fields that lay within it were also subject to forest law. This could foster resentment as the local inhabitants were then restricted in the use of land they had previously relied upon for their livelihoods; however, common rights were not extinguished, but merely curtailed. The areas that became royal forests were already relatively wild and sparsely populated, and can be related to specific geographic features that made them harder to work as farmland. In

7396-570: Was passed to remove the deer in 1851, but abandoned when it was realised that the deer were needed to keep open the unwooded "lawns" of the forest. An attempt was made to develop the forest for growing wood by a rolling programme of inclosures. In 1875, a Select committee of the House of Commons recommended against this, leading to the passage of the New Forest Act 1877 , which limited the Crown's right to inclose, regulated common rights, and reconstituted

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