Abstract EN:

The Souche and Cessieres-Montbavin marsh areas (3,000 hectares and 300 hectares respectively) characteristic of the laonnois wetlands in the Aisne departement of France consist of acidic peat bog and alkaline fens, particularly rich in flora and fauna. Forming part of a region which has long been exploited by human society, they are now threatened by abandonment or destruction. They may be studied by an overall geographic approach focussing on the subject of water. This approach examines the physical factors underlying hydrological and ecological systems in permanent relation with the forms and intensity of the human impact to which they have been subject over many centuries. In areas where the physical constraints have been substantial, such a dual approach demonstrates that the present functioning and dynamism of wetlands depends mainly on the uses to which they have been put historically. Human society is thus found to have played a decisive role in the bringing about the diversity of marshy areas in the french plains and low tablelands. These areas have often wrongly been considered to be remnants of true nature. Such an overall approach also points the way to a better management of these wetlands. This has become more urgent considering their current deterioration. The solution lies in adapting the needs of society's various components to the preservation of a rich and diversified ecological system.