|
|
|
|
|
|
Description
Wetlands include a variety of aquatic habitats such as swamps, marshes, bogs, prairie potholes, flood plains, and fen typically along the edges of streams, rivers, lakes, ponds, and coastlines. Wetlands are covered or at least wet for part of the years and often all year long. If water is the blood of the land, then the wetlands are the kidneys. They filter the land of excessive pollutants and excessive nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorus (from farming). Wetland plants reduce erosion by binding soil with their roots. They provide shelter for a huge amount of organisms including fish, birds, shellfish, and mammals. Wetlands near coastal areas protect the land (including people who might live there) from storm surges and absorb excessive water in freshwater areas. One mile of wetlands can absorb 1 to 3 feet of storm surge. The US looses between 70,000 and 90,000 (about 109 to 140 square miles) acres of wetlands just on non-federal rural areas alone!
Helpful Websites
National Wetlands Inventory (NWI) Restoration, Creation, and Recovery of Wetlands Wetland Functions, Values, and Assessment (USGS) Association of State Wetland Managers
Helpful Reports
Helpful Books and Journals
The Journal of the Society of Wetland Scientists Wetlands by Finlayson and Moser Wetlands by Mitch and Gosselink Wetlands in Danger: A World Conservation Atlas by Dugan Wading into Wetlands by the National Wildlife Federation Pantanal: South America's Wetland Jewel by Mittermeier America's Wetland: Louisana's Vanishing Coast by Dunne and Knapp Wetland Ecology by Keddy
|
