Ponds are not wetlands: They are small water bodies (less than 11 acres in size) and are often man-made, newly flooded areas by beavers, or seasonally wet areas so that organic spongy or mucky soils have not had time to develop and lead to the growth of wetland plants.
Marshes are wetlands that may look similar to ponds, however they may be large or small, in pockets on the landscape or adjacent to rivers and lakes, but are often shallow areas where sunlight can reach the bottom of the basin resulting in lots of plant growth, and where water remains for many months resulting in the formation of organic spongy soils. Marshes often have lots of emergent plants such as grasses, sedges, and cattails and/or areas of floating plants such as white or yellow water lilies or duckweed.
Almost all turtles in The Land Between, like to live in marshes.
