Wetlands
 Since time before the Romans up until recently humans
have thought of wetlands as useless, mosquito breeding grounds and a
great place to dispose of old refrigerators, tires and cars. When the
United States was first settled there was 215 million acres of wetlands existing
in the lower 48 states. Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota,
Ohio and Wisconsin has lost more than 35 million acres of wetlands. An
estimated 80 percent of Minnesota's wetlands have been drained since
the United States' settlement. Before 1985 landowners were
encouraged to drain wetlands and convert them to farmland. Humans didn't
realize how valuable wetlands were.
 Wetlands, what exactly are wetlands? Wetlands are natural
habitats where water is the primary factor controlling the environment
and the associated plant and animal life. When most people think of wetlands
Why Do We Need Wetlands
Why do we need wetlands? There are many reasons why
we need wetlands. Many plants and animals that are classified as
threatened or endangered are on that list mainly because their preferred
habitat has already suffered severe losses. Wetlands are home to
one-third of such species in the United States. Ducks, geese and
grebes require a variety of different wetlands, for wintering and breeding.
Bird census indicates as wetland decreases, bird populations suffer
a corresponding drop. Freshwater fish require shallow water for
breeding, food and refuge from predators. Draining wetlands causes
frogs, toads, fish, waterfowl and other living things to lose there homes.
Wetlands help prevent flooding by acting like a natural sponge. When
for floodwaters enter a wetland there speed is reduced. Wetlands act like
trapped in the sediment of wetlands.
The nutrients are used later by wetland plants, by recycling nutrients
and filtering sediments. Wetlands are also good for the recreational uses of
bird watching, hunting and fishing.
How Do We Save the
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 Disappearing Wetlands
The best way to try and
save the wetlands is to restore the damaged ones. Restoring wetlands
is often easier than creating because the history of the wetland may
be know. Restoring doesn't always work though. Creating takes
more monitoring and testing of the hydrology and the soil. Restoring is
usually done to return the site to its pre-settlement conditions for habitat
for ducks and other game birds. Because of present day boundary
limitations, water control structures are necessary to restore wetland
water levels.
they assume there is water, but
during certain times of the year some wetlands have no visible water.
They provide flood control, ground water recharge, erosion control, water
for quality improvements, habitat and food for wildlife. Wetlands range
in size from less than an acre to thou
Wetlands = Flood Control Continued
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To determine if there is a possibility for a restoration site,
look for soils that are hydric. Wetland (hydric) soils become anaerobic
within a few days and develop characteristics such as mottles and gray
coloration. These soils are poorly drained, moderately poorly drained, or
very poorly drained. Ditching, tiling and
by drainage. The Fish and
Wildlife Service in cooperation with private land owners have restored
200,000 acres of wetlands. By buying "Duck Stamps" 3.5 million acres of
wetlands have been preserved. The Wetland Reserve Program is a voluntary
program offering landowners a chance to receive payments for restoring and
life cycle of exotic plants. The
good parts of burning are it makes room for reed canary grass(desirable
for birds to nest and breed), it improves bird habitat, removes brush, it promotes the growth of native grasses and burning is part of the natural
cycle of wetlands.
 Grazing is another popular restoring method. By allowing
cattle to graze in wetland areas the cattle open dense vegetation. Grazing
is done best in the early part of the growing season, allowing the
new vegetation a lot of growing time.
Mowing is sometimes done to open dense vegetation in
wetlands. Mowing is similar to grazing. Mowing is usually done to
attract wildlife or to provide more variety in habitat types.
 Created wetlands are a good way to produce or
replace natural habitat. The creation of wetlands involves confining water
with dikes, dams, by excavating fill. Water control structures provide
the ability to create wetlands where they now can not naturally form.
Disappearance of wetlands is a problem all over the world. Educating people is the best prevention. |