Wetlands, marshes, and swamps have great natural importance. They have a number of important environmental functions, supporting the water balance of the area and ensuring its high biodiversity. This is reflected in the wide range of ecosystem services provided within this area. At the same time, they are one of the most vulnerable ecosystems on the planet. The study of the carbon cycle, emissions, and absorption in the current climate change and conditions and anthropogenic pressures are important and urgent tasks in terms of refining the climate models and more accurate determination of climate impacts to the environment and society. This study proposes a methodological approach based on the classification methods of remote sensing data to identify different types of land cover. This chapter is focused on the CO2 adsorption by wetlands with the GOSAT satellite data usage. During the 2010-2020 years, the changes in CO2 concentration were estimated.
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Wetlands represent the terrestrial ecosystems where the water level is located close to the Earth’s surface all growing season, forming the separate specific ecosystems with excessive moisture. Such areas grow moisture-loving vegetation, swampy soil types, accumulates peat, where oxygen-free processes prevail (Wetland Ecology, 2010). During the period of water saturation, the ecosystems are covered with active streptophyta. As an important component of ecosystem functionality, the wetlands protect the terrestrial areas from wave actions and floods and absorb pollutants preventing water quality degradation. It is a habitat for animals, plants, and microorganisms that are found nowhere else. They represent the unique landscape where numerous amphibians are accumulated. The living conditions of such organisms are very special – they combine the features of terrestrial and aquatic lifestyles.
Wetlands differ by the high primary productivity of ecosystems. The soil type and hydrological conditions significantly influence wetland productivity. Areas that are less flooded tend to have higher productivity, as periodic drying of the soil leads to its faster mineralization (Schlesinger & Bernhardt, 2020).
This study used a broad definition of the term “wetlands” which includes all natural complexes of swamps and marshes, wet grasslands, bogs, forests, reservoirs, etc. This term is adopted by the Convention of Wetlands of International Importance, especially as Waterflow Habitat (Convention on Wetlands, 1971).
The exploitation of wetlands has led to the formation of changes and the emergence of semi-natural or radically transformed forms of the landscape due to external influences, which are represented by buildings, peat extraction, forests, reservoirs, construction sites, industrial facilities, etc. A number of environmental problems are associated with this.