1. Freshwater Wetlands By Caulay Vermeulen

2. Global Map I could not find a global map specific to freshwater wetlands but this map shows global reservoirs and wetlands. Wetlands can be found in any continent across the globe, with the exception of Antarctica. The largest wetland spans throughout South America, covering Brazil, Bolivia, and Paraguay; its called “Pantanal.”

3. Biome Physical Characteristics Salinity effects the wetlands water chemistry. Salinity is changed by the interaction of the ground and surface water, this can be influenced by human activity. Salinity varies throughout the many wetland locations. Due to the wide range of possible locations for a wetland, there is a large scale of temperatures for wetland biomes. There are wetlands in polar regions that can get below -60 degrees Fahrenheit, as well as tropic zones that can reach up to 120 degrees.

4. Depth and Water Flow Wetlands tend to have very shallow depths due to their origin. They are created by the overflow of major rivers so the water can spread out across great distances.

5. As you can see from the image to the left, mosquitoes, water boatman, and freshwater snails are primarily at the base of the food web. Food Web and Animals

6. Background Info Generally, wetlands are lands where saturation with water is the dominant factor determining the nature of soil development and the types of plant and animal communities living in the soil and on its surface. Wetlands vary widely because of regional and local differences in soils, topography, climate, hydrology, water chemistry, vegetation, and other factors, including human disturbance. Indeed, wetlands are found from the tundra to the tropics and on every continent except Antarctica. For regulatory purposes under the Clean Water Act, the term wetlands means "those areas that are inundated or saturated by surface or groundwater at a frequency and duration sufficient to support, and that under normal circumstances do support, a prevalence of vegetation typically adapted for life in saturated soil conditions. Wetlands generally include swamps, marshes, bogs and similar areas."