Wetlands

Wetlands come in many types and sizes. They can be inland, coastal, fresh, or saltwater and are found on all continents except Antarctica.

They appear as inland lakes, coastal wetlands, river deltas, ocean estuaries, grass ponds, bush/tree swamps, blanket fens, wet meadows, prairie pots, savannas, marshes, and bogs, fens, swamps, sloughs, and pools!

Wetlands of all types are essential to the freshwater resources of our earth. Less than 1% of freshwater is usable and 0.3% is found in river and lake wetlands. They create alluvial soils and collect and filter rainwater, providing crucial clean water and wetness to the land, plants, animals, insects, and humans. In addition, they store carbon and filter toxins out of the water providing water in times of drought, preventing erosion, protecting coastlines from waves and wind, and sequestering carbon. Wetlands cover 3% of the earth yet store 30% of land-based carbon.

Research and draw or photograph three different types of wetlands and label them.

Take a metal or glass cooking pan and find some felt, sponge sheet, and/or carpet piece, some modeling clay, and a cup or two of dirt and pebbles. Put the carpet at the bottom, the sponge sheet net, then the clay; sprinkle the dirt and rocks over the clay. Using a stream of water from your faucet, start to trickle water down your stream from the top of the clay hill. Watch water wander its way onto the sponge and carpet, collecting at the bottom. Add animals and birds, and insects that might populate your wetland. Respray your swamp. What happens? Where is soil collecting? And Why?

Upload a photo of your wetland to the Gallery!

A single acre of wetland, saturated to one foot, retains 330,000 gallons of water – enough to flood thirteen average-sized homes thigh-deep. Wetlands absorb excess seasonal water until it drains away, preventing erosion and flooding. In drier periods, wetlands hold precious water after open water has disappeared. They act as natural filtering systems, trapping silt, waste, and pollutants, absorbing nutrients from sedimented areas, cycling them through the food web, and cleansing the waters’ nutrient concentrations of toxic levels. Through photosynthesis, plants return oxygen to the environment and provide food to other organisms. Wetlands also provide us with fresh water. They help control floods. They create a buffer for shorelines. They invite us to float, paddle board, kayak, fish, and bird watch. Billions of people fish, recreate, and enjoy wetland sceneries. Rice is still grown in wetlands around the world. Wetlands shield coastal communities in times of extreme weather. An acre of wetland can absorb up to 1.5 million gallons of floodwater. Wetlands act as sponges in blue green cities.Take a look at the World Wetland Maps. We need them and need to take care of them. What percentage of the world was covered by wetlands before humans arrived on the scene?

Wetlands along our rivers and streams are essential because they benefit plants, animals, humans, and the total natural environment. Most wetlands are rich and diverse in wildlife because of the abundance of food, shelter, and water. Thousands of migratory ducks, geese, herons, cranes, and swans breed, rest, and winter in wetlands. Many fish and shellfish species spend part or all of their life cycle in fertile wetlands. Thousands of reptiles, amphibians, insects, and crustaceans also live and breed in wetland habitats. Draw a riverine freshwater wetland complete with fish, plants, birds, animals, and insects.

The Mississippi Delta provides 40% of the wetlands of the 48 southern states! A delta is an area of sediment carried down a river over thousands of years that continues to deposit plant and sediment layers. Since the last sea rise 5,000 years ago, the deposits have pushed sediments from 15 to 50 miles further from their shoreline into the Gulf of Mexico. As a result, the Mississippi delta accounts for 1/3 of all coastal wetlands of the United States. The Mississippi Delta presents an ever-shifting series of 521,000 acres of land with 420,000 acres of open estuarine waters, and 101,100 acres of natural channel banks and river passes with dredged material disposal. In addition, coastal marshes make up approximately 61,650 acres or about 61 percent of the total land area in the Mississippi River Delta Basin. Eighty-one percent of this marsh is fresh, 17 percent is intermediate, and 2 percent is brackish-saline. Draw a Map of the Meandering Missississippi River and its delta.

Wetlands meet land with water comprising swamps, marshes, and bogs. Like lowland forests that collect water, swamps are forested with hardwoods, cedars, Cypress, and mangrove trees. On the other hand, marshes usually do not have trees but have grasses, herbaceous, and perennial and biennial plants. Plants that grow in marshes bind to the muddy soil, slowing the flow of the water. Marshes can be tidal freshwater, tidal saltwater, or inland freshwater marshes. Tidal marshes follow the ebb and flow of the tides. Inland tidal freshwater marshes contain mostly freshwater along rivers and lakes but can tolerate low saltwater content. The most famous inland marsh in the United States is the Everglades. The massive national park — the third biggest in the United States — is home to nine distinct types of habitat, including marshes, according to the Department of the Interior. Many people think of the Everglades as a swamp, but it is not. It is a wetland with the Big Cypress, 700,000 acres of nearby swampland. Big Cypress is critical to the health of the Everglades. Bogs are different from marshes and swamps as they are highly acidic with low oxygen levels. Bogs accumulate organic matter faster than they can decay. Know your wetlands!

Draw a Bog, a lake marsh, and a treed swamp!

In the 1600 hundreds, when settlers descended on native indigenous peoples, the area now known as the United States had more than 221 million acres of wetlands. Over the next 4 centuries, swamps, bogs, and fens were drained to build the cities and towns of the 21st century. By 1900, over half of the world’s wetlands had disappeared. Six States lost 85 percent or more of their original wetland acreage. Twenty-two states lost 50 percent or more (Dahl, 1990). Today wetlands in Indonesia and Malaysia are being drained for agriculture, as is the world’s largest mangrove forest, across India to southwestern Bangladesh. Once considered uninhabitable and undesirable areas, wetlands are now highly valued and essential for carbon sequestering and, in turn, climate change protection. Wetlands can sequester more carbon per square meter than tropical rainforests. Mapping their size, health, and location is key to protecting continents from flooding. Peatlands are the world’s most carbon-rich soils with decomposed plant material from thousands of years.

Make a map of the world’s wetlands in the 21st century.

Wetlands are the Earth’s most threatened ecosystem. Since the 1700’s, more than 80% of the world’s wetlands have been drained, filled, and developed. The speed of wetland dismantling is accelerating. Since 1970 , at least 35% of wetlands have been removed. They are drained for agriculture or filled with urban development. Overfishing and water pollution harm our wetlands. Invasive species challenge their existence. Wetlands are a precious world resource. They host 40% of the world’s species and their biodiversity of life is part of our food chain and that of wetland wildlife. They are natural filters, removing pollutants and boosting our supply of fresh water. Wetlands are sponges for rainstorms and flooding, protecting communities and coastlines in times of extreme weather. Many populations depend on wetlands for fishing and aquaculture, reeds and grasses. Being beside water is a relaxing experience. Find and visit a wetlands in your area. What is being done to preserve them and the biodiversity of non human life forms that they support?

Draw and label a map of your local wetland and the diversity of life that it supports. Don’t forget humans!

• What is the difference between a Swamp and a Marsh?
  • A swamp has trees whereas a marsh usually has plants
  • A marsh has trees wheareas a swamp has plants
  • Only Marshes are coastal
  • Only swamps are tropical
• Which US State has the most wetlands?
  • FLorida
  • Louisiana
  • California
  • Alaska
• What is the largest Inland
  • Rio Negra Black River Wetlands Brazil
  • The Kankakee
  • The Pantanal (Brazil, Bolivia and Paraguay)
  • Horicon Marsh, WI
• What percentage of the world's wetlands have been drained or lost to development since the 1700's?
  • more than 20%
  • more than 40%
  • more than 60%
  • more than 80%
• Which are disappearing faster...Wetlands or Forests?
  • Forests- three times faster
  • Wetlands- three times faster
• What percentage of the world's population lives and works in coastal areas?
  • 15%
  • 30%
  • 45%
  • 60%
• Wetlands store more carbon than forests.
  • True
  • False
• 3% of the earth is covered with peatlands, a form of wetlands. What percentage the world's carbon do peatlands store?
  • 3%
  • 10%
  • 20%
  • 30%
• Wetlands help cope with stormwater flooding.
  • true
  • false
• Wetlands are disappearing due to
  • Human development
  • draining or filling in for agriculture
  • urban construction
  • all of the above