this post was submitted on 04 Jun 2024
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Science Memes

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[–] DannyBoy@sh.itjust.works 58 points 2 years ago (3 children)

By that definition could you have a swamp bog, a swamp fen, a marsh bog, and a marsh fen?

[–] oxideseven@lemmy.ca 71 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago) (5 children)

Wildlife biologist here, Absolutely.

Oddly enough I usually see/write it fen/bog marsh. There are tons of other qualifiers too, like salt marsh, tidal marsh and such.

The same applies for all 4 examples if it's needed. Salt swamps and fresh water swamps and such.

[–] NeatNit@discuss.tchncs.de 11 points 2 years ago

I'll have a tidal salt fen marsh, with extra tide.

[–] Pilon23@feddit.dk 2 points 2 years ago (1 children)

Are any of the combinations more prevalent than others? E.g. do bogs/fens encourage or discourage trees from growing?

[–] oxideseven@lemmy.ca 4 points 2 years ago

I don't specialize in that particular area so I couldn't say honestly.

My primary focus when I did was just dealing with the Everglades and surroundings for the most part.

Worldwide I'm not sure I could even guess what should be more common.

Canada has those prairie potholes which are usually marshes and Canada is huge, so maybe sheer numbers it could be something like that, but by size you get things like the Everglades. I'm sure someone knows though, just not me.

[–] NielsBohron@lemmy.world 2 points 2 years ago

Oddly enough I usually see/write it fen/bog marsh.

I was going to ask about the order of adjectives, actually, since I find esoteric grammar rules oddly interesting and have been on a bit of a "adjectives hierarchy" kick lately.

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[–] Pilon23@feddit.dk 12 points 2 years ago

I'm also curious. Can't find a way to subscribe to a thread, so I'm leaving a comment to check back later

[–] sverit@lemmy.ml 4 points 2 years ago (1 children)
[–] 0ops@lemm.ee 2 points 2 years ago

I just think it's fenny

[–] Senseless@feddit.de 29 points 2 years ago (1 children)

As non-native english speaking person that's highly fascinating.

[–] NeatNit@discuss.tchncs.de 14 points 2 years ago

I think this is more to do with scientists' definitions than English in general. See also: what is and isn't a nut, what is and isn't a vegetable, is there such thing as a fish.

[–] SmoothOperator@lemmy.world 16 points 2 years ago (7 children)

How am I supposed to estimate the pH value of a given wetland area without specialised equipment?

[–] dohpaz42@lemmy.world 16 points 2 years ago
  1. Take a sip. Did you trip balls? Acid.
  2. Take a red wire, black wire, and a clock. Can you power the clock? Alkaline.

Duh.

[–] dogsnest@lemmy.world 7 points 2 years ago
  1. Determine whether it's a swamp or a marsh.

  2. Tell someone else you did your part, now it's their turn.

[–] Anticorp@lemmy.world 7 points 2 years ago

Just call it something online, if people don't immediately pop out of nowhere to correct you, then you're probably right.

[–] brap@lemmy.world 5 points 2 years ago

What, you don't carry pH test strips around as a matter of routine? /s

[–] angrystego@lemmy.world 2 points 2 years ago (1 children)

Learn botany. You can tell the approximate pH from the species of plants growing there.

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[–] Mr_Wobble@lemmy.world 2 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago)

Lick it. Just a little bit. Just a little snaky lick...

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[–] essteeyou@lemmy.world 13 points 2 years ago (1 children)

Help, I'm stuck in a wetland, but I didn't bring my litmus test!

[–] chellomere@lemmy.world 4 points 2 years ago

Sorry, I'm looking for you in the bog but you're not there

[–] DaCrazyJamez@sh.itjust.works 13 points 2 years ago (2 children)

So what do you call a wetland that has a neutral pH and mixed vegitation?

[–] scbasteve7@lemm.ee 6 points 2 years ago

Just from what I found, swamps are wetlands with woody vegetation being what DOMINATLY inhibits it. So if it's mixed, find out what there is more of. If it's 50/50, I guess the universe collapses.

And a wetland with a neutral ph is just called a neutral wetland.

[–] Aux@lemmy.world 3 points 2 years ago

Everything is a wetland.

[–] SomeAmateur@sh.itjust.works 12 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago)

I never knew the fen/bog part! The only reason I knew swamps from marshes is from labeling them in OpenStreetMap

[–] buttfarts@lemy.lol 11 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago)

It feels so liberating to hear it just said out loud

[–] ThirdWorldOrder@lemm.ee 9 points 2 years ago (3 children)

I’ve never heard of a Fen before

[–] Grabthar@lemmy.world 3 points 2 years ago

That's cuz ya basic like one :)

[–] psud@aussie.zone 3 points 2 years ago (1 children)

Fen the wetland type or fen the plural of (sci fi/fantasy) fan? Or had you heard of neither?

[–] ThirdWorldOrder@lemm.ee 4 points 2 years ago (1 children)

Sounds like it could be the name of a Hobbit. But no, never heard the word used before. I’m from Georgia and live in Virginia. Never been to a mountain wetland or to middle earth

[–] psud@aussie.zone 2 points 2 years ago

I think I have only heard the term in:

  • The plural of fan: sci fi stories set in the distant future of 1990, also in early internet fandom
  • The wetland: stories from the UK, embedded in British place names, having a British parent

I wonder what sort of wetland my local one is, and the nearby swampy grasslands. Both are watered by rain or snowmelt. Both are marked as wetlands on maps

[–] Chuymatt@beehaw.org 2 points 2 years ago (5 children)

You are not reading enough fantasy books, then.

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[–] NeatNit@discuss.tchncs.de 9 points 2 years ago

I forgot already before I started writing this comment

[–] Dagwood222@lemm.ee 5 points 2 years ago

So, it would be a swampy bog and a marshy fen, but not a boggy swamp or a fenny marsh?

[–] Hello_Kitty_enjoyer@hexbear.net 5 points 2 years ago (1 children)

do alkaline wetlands just almost never exist, because I've never heard the word fen before

[–] livus@mander.xyz 5 points 2 years ago

It's basically a bog with freshwater coming in through the bottom.

There are some in Massachusets, Colorado, Estonia, and this region of the UK called the Fens.

[–] maculata@aussie.zone 4 points 2 years ago (1 children)
[–] Mr_Wobble@lemmy.world 3 points 2 years ago

LOUDER, FOR THE PEOPLE IN THE BOG!

[–] milicent_bystandr@lemm.ee 4 points 2 years ago
[–] Armand1@lemmy.world 4 points 2 years ago (1 children)
[–] kameecoding@lemmy.world 5 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago)

Pretty hecking neutral

[–] Moonworm@hexbear.net 3 points 2 years ago

This is one of my pet trivias :) hard to remember the pH for bogs and fens though. It has something to do with rain vs groundwater.

[–] BurnedDonut@ani.social 3 points 2 years ago

And me still not giving a Fuck...

[–] therealjcdenton@lemmy.zip 2 points 2 years ago

I fucking hate Tumblr users

[–] blackbrook@mander.xyz 2 points 2 years ago

i love when scientists take a swamp of arbitrary language terms and decide to impose some arbitrary specific meanings on them for purposes of their specific discipline and then convince people who don't really get how language works (i.e. most people) that the definitions are authoritative. it's fun to watch the cognitive dissonance when this collides with actual usage and people get all angry and righteous.

[–] Farvana@lemmygrad.ml 2 points 2 years ago

Dale/glen???

[–] xpinchx@lemmy.world 2 points 2 years ago (3 children)

Thanks crossword puzzles!

These come up pretty often for some reason.

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