What is the importance of the "swamp" in the book, Fen, Bog and Swamp?

Like a fen, a swamp is fed by mineral rich water from higher ground. It is the last step in the ecological succession of wetlands and has the shallowest water of any wetland ecosystem designation. The author's study of swamps focuses on the swamplands of North America, and positions these ecosystems as critical habitat to migratory waterfowl.

What makes swamps unique from other wetlands is their ability to support the growth of large tree species. This quality made them vulnerable to the logging industry, who despoiled most American swamplands in the centuries proceeding colonization. Swamplands range in diversity from the everglade regions of the south to the hardwood timber swamps of Ohio and Indiana. Loss of coastal swamps has left vast amounts of coastline unprotected by mangroves and has led to accelerated soil erosion which threatens human communities in Florida and Louisiana.