Classification of wetlands has been a problematical task, with the commonly accepted definition of what constitutes a
wetland being among the major difficulties. A number of national wetland classifications exist. In the 1970s, the
Ramsar Convention on Wetlands of International Importance introduced a first attempt to establish an internationally acceptable wetland classification scheme.[1]
The Ramsar classification of wetland types is intended as a means for fast identification of the main types of wetlands for the purposes of the convention.[2]
The wetlands are classified into three major classes:
Marine/coastal wetlands
Inland wetlands
Human-made wetlands
These are further subdivided by the type of water:
fresh /
saline /
brackish /
alkaline; and may be further classified by the substrate type of other characteristics.
Permanent freshwater ponds (< 8 ha), marshes and swamps on inorganic soils; with emergent vegetation waterlogged for at least most of the growing season
Seasonal/intermittent freshwater ponds and marshes on inorganic soils; includes
sloughs, potholes; seasonally flooded meadows, sedge marshes