Wetlands Edge

  Environmental Center

 
 
What are Wetlands?


Wetlands are lands where water covers the soil or is present either at or near the soil's surface all year or for varying parts of the year including during the growing season.  The amount of water saturation (hydrology) is the main determining factor of how the soil develops and the types of plant and animal communities living in and on the soil (Cowardin, December 1979).

There is great variation among types of wetlands because of soil differences both regionally and locally, topography, climate, hydrology, water chemistry, vegetation, and other factors including human disturbance. Wetlands support both aquatic and terrestrial species--many of which are both numerous and unusual--because the prolonged presence of water creates conditions that favor the growth of specially adapted plants (hydrophytes) and promotes the development of characteristic wetland (hydric) soils (Mitch and Gosselink, 1993).  Amphibians and reptiles are especially dependent on healthy wetlands because they need both wet and dry areas to breed. Waterfowl rest in wetlands as they migrate.  Many endangered species needs wetlands to survive.

Wetlands come in all shapes and sizes, may be coastal or inland, and are found in all temperate zones on every continent except Antarctica.  Generally wetlands include swamps, bogs, marshes, and similar areas. Wetlands help regulate water levels within a watershed, improve water quality, reduce flood and storm damage, provide habitat for fish and wildlife, and support hunting, fishing, and other recreational activities (EPA, 1972).


Humans, the key agents of change on our planet, have perhaps the most significant impact on the presence and quality of wetlands worldwide.  According to Judy Braus, Editor of the National Wildlife Federation's Nature Scope magazine, "Most people never really think much about wetlands, and if they do, their thoughts often focus on how to change a wetland to make it more 'productive.'


In fact, if you look back on the history of people's relationships with wetlands, we seem to have been following a policy of 'the only good wetland is a filled-in, dredged, or channelized one.' But wetlands are tremendously productive habitats and are most valuable in their natural state.  "Although many people's negative attitudes about wetlands are finally slowly changing, the old 'wetlands are wastelands' mindset is difficult to get rid of. Unfortunately, thousands of acres of wetlands are being lost every year worldwide because many people never got a good "wetland education" to begin with (Braus, 1989).

According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, more than half of the wetlands in the lower 48 states have been destroyed, not including Alaska. Without wetlands, our communities suffer from more flooding, lower fish stocks, and polluted drinking water supplies.  Despite the fact that wetlands are of unique value to our society, a 1997 survey by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Survey reports that roughly 58,500 acres of wetlands are being destroyed annually (Sierra Club, 2002).

America's wetlands provide something for everyone, and their restoration and protection are necessary for the good of us all. Learning all the positives about wetlands will encourage each of us to be better stewards of our environment.


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