What Are the Producers of a Wetland Habitat?
The producers, or plants, in a wetland habitat include rushes, mahogany trees, reeds, aquatic macrophytes and algae. Other wetland producers are seagrasses, algae and mosses.
The types of producers in a wetland depend largely on the drainage, water and soil of the area. For instance, the producers in swamp wetlands require fresh water and include swamp she-oak, mahogany and swam paperbark trees. There are ferns and a variety of shrubs, such as tea-trees and swamp banksia. Producers in estuaries need brackish or slightly salty water and include mangroves.
Salt marshes, another type of wetland, contain plants that are adapted to saltwater, such as pigface. Pigface is a species of coastal plants with fleshy leaves. The round-leaved pig face is a succulent plant found along salt marshes and coastal rocks. It has thick, club-shaped leaves and light-colored petals. Seagrasses are a prominent producer found in marine wetlands.
The producers found in inland wetlands depend on whether the wetland is permanent, semi-permanent or ephemeral. For instance, permanent wetlands have ribbon weed and wavy marshwort, while an emphemeral wetland contains producers more commonly found on dry land, such a black box and coolabah. Semi-permanent wetlands are areas that flood regularly. The producers include sedges, forbs, rushes and primrose.
