Humbug Marsh, a

wetland A wetland is a distinct semi-aquatic ecosystem whose groundcovers are flooded or saturated in water, either permanently, for years or decades, or only seasonally. Flooding results in oxygen-poor ( anoxic) processes taking place, especially ...

in southeastern

Wayne County, Michigan Wayne County is the most populous County (United States), county in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of 2020, the United States census placed its population at 1,793,561, making it the List of the most populous counties in the United States, 19th ...

, is a constituent element of the

Detroit River International Wildlife Refuge The Detroit River International Wildlife Refuge is the only international wildlife refuge in North America. Established in 2001 and managed jointly by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service and the Canadian Wildlife Service, it is located ...

. It is listed as a Ramsar wetland of international importance. Although Humbug Marsh is located within heavily populated

Metro Detroit Metro Detroit is a major metropolitan area in the U.S. state of Michigan, consisting of the city of Detroit and over 200 municipalities in the Southeast Michigan, surrounding area. There are varied definitions of the area, including the officia ...

, it is acclaimed as a high-quality remnant of the wetlands that once lined both sides of the international

Detroit River The Detroit River is an List of international river borders, international river in North America. The river, which forms part of the border between the U.S. state of Michigan and the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ont ...

. This slow-flowing river was a hotspot of

biological diversity Biodiversity is the variability of life on Earth. It can be measured on various levels. There is for example genetic variability, species diversity, ecosystem diversity and phylogenetic diversity. Diversity is not distributed evenly on Eart ...

, particularly as a location for fish spawning. The remnant marsh is classified as a place of "importance to threatened, endangered, and vulnerable

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

and ecological communities." Humbug Marsh is located on the

Downriver Downriver is a region of the Detroit metropolitan area in the U.S. state of Michigan covering 18 municipalities in Wayne County, south of Detroit, along the western shore of the Detroit River. Etymology The name derives from the fact that the ...

shoreline of the Detroit River, straddling the boundary line between

Gibraltar Gibraltar ( , ) is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory and British overseas cities, city located at the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula, on the Bay of Gibraltar, near the exit of the Mediterranean Sea into the A ...

and Trenton in southeastern

. A small offshore island ( Humbug Island) is included within the official boundaries of the marsh. The Humbug Marsh parking lot is located at 5437 West Jefferson Avenue, Trenton, Michigan.

References

{{Ramsar sites in the United States Detroit River Protected areas of Wayne County, Michigan Wetlands of Michigan Ramsar sites in the United States Landforms of Wayne County, Michigan