Final answer:
Wetlands are environments saturated with water and support emergent vegetation. They have shared characteristics of hydrology, hydrophytic vegetation, and hydric soils.
Step-by-step explanation:
Wetlands are environments that are either permanently or periodically saturated with water. They are shallow bodies of water and differ from lakes in terms of depth. Wetlands support aquatic plants, known as emergent vegetation, which have portions of leaves, stems, and flowers extending above the water's surface. Wetlands include various types such as marshes, swamps, bogs, mudflats, and salt marshes. The three shared characteristics among these types, making them wetlands, are their hydrology, hydrophytic vegetation, and hydric soils.