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Biome

Freshwater Swamp Forest

Freshwater and Wetland Biomes

Freshwater swamp forest is a biome of forest standing in freshwater that floods it either permanently or only for part of the year, typically along the lower reaches of rivers and around freshwater lakes, occurring in climates ranging from boreal to tropical. Its water depth varies from a few centimeters to several meters and floods irregularly or seasonally rather than on any fixed cycle, drawing on rain, rivers and groundwater together, which sets it apart from a peat bog, fed by rainfall alone; because its water carries silt from the land, a freshwater swamp forest's soil tends to be comparatively rich in nutrients rather than poor, unlike a bog's. Its trees include mangroves in some settings alongside palms and hardwoods such as mahogany and ebony, forming dense canopies that shade a wet understory, and many of its plants show adaptations such as pneumatophores, aerial roots that let them breathe in waterlogged ground. The biome is found worldwide, in Southeast Asia, tropical Africa and South America, with its largest expanses in the Amazon basin, and further significant stretches along rivers such as the Mekong, the Chao Phraya and the Irrawaddy. It is distinct from a mangrove forest, and despite its wide distribution it remains comparatively understudied next to the more prominent wetland biomes.

Facts
Climate
Annual Precipitation (mm)
1400 1
1400mm sits within the cited 1,300 to 1,500mm range for the Tonle Sap Basin-Mekong Lowlands, where the Tonle Sap freshwater swamp forest lies.
Typical Low Temperature (C)
21 2
General Cambodia seasonal range, representative of the Tonle Sap freshwater swamp forest, the biome's best-documented single example.
Typical High Temperature (C)
35 2
General Cambodia seasonal range; see temperature-low-c for the same caveat.
Connections

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Source Encyclopaedia Britannica
Source World Wildlife Fund
Source Encyclopaedia Britannica
Bald Cypress, Species
Source Encyclopaedia Britannica
Balsam Fir, Species
Source Abies balsamea (Wikipedia)
Source GBIF (Global Biodiversity Information Facility): Aotus nigriceps (GBIF species record)
Source Bouvier's red colobus (Wikipedia)
Source Dayak fruit bat (Wikipedia)
Source De Brazza's monkey (Wikipedia)
Defua rat, Species
Source Defua rat (Wikipedia)
Source Wikipedia: Flat-headed Cat
Source Gambian epauletted fruit bat (Wikipedia)
Source Gotel Mountain soft-furred mouse (Wikipedia)
Source Hairy-nosed otter (Wikipedia)
Source Hammer-headed bat (Wikipedia)
Source Hipposideros kingstonae (Wikipedia)
Source Plants For A Future: Iris pseudacorus
Kahikatea, Species
Source Plants For A Future: Dacrycarpus dacrydioides
Source Linduan rousette (Wikipedia)
Lophira alata, Species
Source Plants For A Future: Lophira alata plant record
Source Nepenthes spathulata (Wikipedia)
Otter civet, Species
Source Otter civet (Wikipedia)
Source Pennant's colobus (Wikipedia)
Source Plants For A Future: Quercus bicolor
Source GBIF (Global Biodiversity Information Facility): Aotus vociferans (GBIF species record)
Source Wikipedia: Sunda leopard cat
Source Wikipedia: Victoria Crowned Pigeon
Water Sprite, Species
Source Ceratopteris thalictroides (Wikipedia)
Source Western Lowland Gorilla (Wikipedia)
Source Wolf's mona monkey (Wikipedia)
Sources
1. Geography of Cambodia (Wikipedia)
WikipediaClimate section
Quote, Climate section
Rainfall from April to September in the Tonlé Sap Basin-Mekong Lowlands area averages 1,300 to 1,500 mm (51.2 to 59.1 in) annually, but the amount varies considerably from year to year.
View the Source
2. Cambodia's Climate: Patterns, Challenges, and Living Realities (Wonders of Cambodia)
Wonders of CambodiaClimate patterns section
Quote, Climate patterns section
temperatures typically ranging between 21C (70F) in cooler periods and 35C (95F) or more in the hot season
View the Source
Encyclopaedia Britannica
Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.
  • Home To: Bald Cypress
  • Home To: American Alligator
  • Home To: Alligator Snapping Turtle
View the Source
World Wildlife Fund
World Wildlife FundHome To: Amazon Varzea ForestView the Source
Wikipedia: Flat-headed Cat
WikipediaHome To: Flat-headed Cat, Wikipedia intro: "Sumatra. It is also native to the Thai-Malay Peninsula and Borneo, and inhabits wetlands like mixed freshwater swamp forests, peat swamp forests and lowland fre..."View the Source
Western Lowland Gorilla (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia FoundationHome To: Western Lowland Gorilla, Wikipedia 'Western lowland gorilla': lives in montane, primary and secondary forest and lowland swampland in central AfricaView the Source
Wikipedia: Sunda leopard cat
WikipediaHome To: Sunda Leopard Cat, Section: Distribution and habitat; begins "In Kalimantan, Sunda leopard cats were recorded"
Quote, Home To: Sunda Leopard Cat, Section: Distribution and habitat; begins "In Kalimantan, Sunda leopard cats were recorded"
In Kalimantan, Sunda leopard cats were recorded in mixed swamp forest and tall interior forest at elevations below 20 m (66 ft) in the vicinity of Sabangau National Park between 2008 and 2018.
View the Source
Hairy-nosed otter (Wikipedia)
Home To: Hairy-nosed otter, Section: Distribution and habitat
Quote, Home To: Hairy-nosed otter, Section: Distribution and habitat
In Thailand, it was recorded in the Pru Toa Daeng peat swamp forest and in areas around the Bang Nara river.
View the Source
De Brazza's monkey (Wikipedia)
Home To: De Brazza's monkey, Lead
Quote, Home To: De Brazza's monkey, Lead
is an Old World monkey endemic to the riverine and swamp forests of central Africa
View the Source
Bouvier's red colobus (Wikipedia)
Home To: Bouvier's red colobus, Description
Quote, Home To: Bouvier's red colobus, Description
lives in swampy forests surrounding the Congo River
View the Source
Pennant's colobus (Wikipedia)
Home To: Pennant's colobus, Lead
Quote, Home To: Pennant's colobus, Lead
It is found in rainforests and marshy forests.
View the Source
Wolf's mona monkey (Wikipedia)
Home To: Wolf's mona monkey, Lead
Quote, Home To: Wolf's mona monkey, Lead
primary and secondary lowland rainforest and swamp forest
View the Source
Otter civet (Wikipedia)
Home To: Otter civet, Distribution and habitat
Quote, Home To: Otter civet, Distribution and habitat
They are believed to prefer peat swamp forests, but have been sighted at low elevations in tropical dry forests.
View the Source
Defua rat (Wikipedia)
Home To: Defua rat, Lead, habitat
Quote, Home To: Defua rat, Lead, habitat
Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, subtropical or tropical swamps, and subtropical or tropical moist montane forests.
View the Source
Gotel Mountain soft-furred mouse (Wikipedia)
Home To: Gotel Mountain soft-furred mouse, Lead, swamp forest
Quote, Home To: Gotel Mountain soft-furred mouse, Lead, swamp forest
It occurs in fern-grassland, montane forest, along streams in forest, gallery forest, and swamp forest
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GBIF (Global Biodiversity Information Facility): Aotus nigriceps (GBIF species record)
GBIF (Global Biodiversity Information Facility)Home To: Black-headed night monkey, Descriptions: Habitat
Quote, Home To: Black-headed night monkey, Descriptions: Habitat
Primary tropical forest, swamp forest, and seasonally flooded forest.
View the Source
GBIF (Global Biodiversity Information Facility): Aotus vociferans (GBIF species record)
GBIF (Global Biodiversity Information Facility)Home To: Spix's night monkey, Descriptions: Habitat
Quote, Home To: Spix's night monkey, Descriptions: Habitat
Tall tropical lowland forest in seasonally flooded forest, swamp forest, and terra firma forest
View the Source
Dayak fruit bat (Wikipedia)
Home To: Dayak fruit bat, Habitat, freshwater swamp forest
Quote, Home To: Dayak fruit bat, Habitat, freshwater swamp forest
Both bats were caught in a mist net placed near fruiting Ficus tree in disturbed peat swamp forest.
View the Source
Gambian epauletted fruit bat (Wikipedia)
Home To: Gambian epauletted fruit bat, Habitat, freshwater swamp forest
Quote, Home To: Gambian epauletted fruit bat, Habitat, freshwater swamp forest
They have also been reported to inhabit areas of partially degraded forest, mangrove, and swamp forest habitats.
View the Source
Hammer-headed bat (Wikipedia)
Home To: Hammer-headed bat, Habitat, freshwater swamp forest
Quote, Home To: Hammer-headed bat, Habitat, freshwater swamp forest
Most records of this species occur in rainforest habitat, including lowland rainforest, swamp forest, riverine forests, and mosaics of forest and grassland.
View the Source
Linduan rousette (Wikipedia)
Home To: Linduan rousette, Habitat, freshwater swamp forest
Quote, Home To: Linduan rousette, Habitat, freshwater swamp forest
It is endemic to Indonesia and is known only from four specimens collected in the swamp forest of Lore Lindu National Park, in central Sulawesi.
View the Source
Hipposideros kingstonae (Wikipedia)
Home To: Hipposideros kingstonae, Article text, habitat
Quote, Home To: Hipposideros kingstonae, Article text, habitat
The species is only found in five main locations across Southeastern Asia; two forests in Thailand, Hala Forest in Yala Province, and Phru To Daeng Swamp Forest in Narathiwat Province, one from Malaysia at Krau Wildlife Reserve in Pahang, and two in Sabah, Borneo at Madai Caves and Gunung Kinabalu.
View the Source
Wikipedia: Victoria Crowned Pigeon
WikipediaHome To: Victoria Crowned Pigeon, Habitat
Quote, Home To: Victoria Crowned Pigeon, Habitat
The Victoria crowned pigeon is distributed in the lowland and swamp forests of northern New Guinea and surrounding islands.
View the Source
Abies balsamea (Wikipedia)
Home To: Balsam Fir, Ecology
Quote, Home To: Balsam Fir, Ecology
They typically grow in the following four forest types: Swamp, swamp forest types never completely dry out, so balsam firs have constant access to water.
View the Source
Plants For A Future: Dacrycarpus dacrydioides
Plants For A FutureHome To: Kahikatea, Habitats
Quote, Home To: Kahikatea, Habitats
Lowland forest, often dominant in swamp forests, North, South and Stewart Islands
View the Source
Plants For A Future: Quercus bicolor
Plants For A FutureHome To: Quercus bicolor, Habitats
Quote, Home To: Quercus bicolor, Habitats
Bottomlands, stream margins and swamps ... Tolerant of poorly drained sites, it is frequently found in heavy mucky soils
View the Source
Plants For A Future: Iris pseudacorus
Plants For A FutureHome To: Iris pseudacorus, Habitats
Quote, Home To: Iris pseudacorus, Habitats
Damp marshy areas, swampy woods and in shallow water or wet ground on the edges of rivers and ditches ... Often found in shady places
View the Source
Plants For A Future: Lophira alata plant record
Plants For A FutureHome To: Lophira alata, Habitats: evergreen and moist deciduous forests, swamp forests, riverbanks
Quote, Home To: Lophira alata, Habitats: evergreen and moist deciduous forests, swamp forests, riverbanks
Evergreen and moist deciduous forests, in freshwater swamp forests, and close to riverbanks
View the Source
Nepenthes spathulata (Wikipedia)
Home To: Nepenthes spathulata, Habitat
Quote, Home To: Nepenthes spathulata, Habitat
Nepenthes spathulata is also known to grow terrestrially in high altitude peat swamp forest near Lake Kerinci, at an altitude of 1,100 m.
View the Source
Ceratopteris thalictroides (Wikipedia)
Home To: Water Sprite, Habitat swamp forest
Quote, Home To: Water Sprite, Habitat swamp forest
Ceratopteris thalictroides is often found near stagnant water or in still pockets along slow flowing rivers in swampy areas, swamp forests, sago swamps, marshes, natural and man-made ponds.
View the Source

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