(low) wetlands in which standing water does not usually cover the surface, apart from scattered pools or fringes of lakes and rivers, and form a semi-aquatic (half water, half land) habitat. Thus a marsh forms an ecosystem of continuously waterlogged soil dominated by waterplants, without a surface accumulation of decomposing plant material (peat). Another name is fresh-water swamp.

Alternative forms for marsh : marshes, marshy.