Lesson Essential Question

1. What is a wetland?

2. Why are wetlands important to their ecosystem?

What is a wetland?

Water Classification• Wetlands are areas that are

covered by water or have waterlogged soils for long periods during the growing season.

• Plants growing in wetlands are capable of living in saturated soil conditions for at least part of the growing season.

• Sometimes may be unrecognizable as these areas will dry out.

• Wetlands are found from the tundra to the tropics and on every continent except Antarctica.

What is a wetland?• There are three characteristics that describe a

wetland:1. Hydrology

– There must be water at or near the surface of the land for a designated amount of time.

2. Soils – Must be hydric or saturated with water to create an

anaerobic (oxygen-free environment).3. Plants

– Must be “wetland plants,” meaning that they require lots of water and the anaerobic conditions that the hydric soil creates. (Smith & Smith, 2001)

Hydrologyis at the surface or within the soil root zone during all or part of the growing season

Hydric Soil Classification

• Soils are characterized by frequent, prolonged saturation and low oxygen content, which lead to anaerobic chemical environments where reduced iron is present.

Hydrophylic Plant Classification

• Plants adapted for growing in standing water or saturated soils, such as moss, sedges, reeds, cattail and horsetail, rice, mangroves, cypress, cranberries, etc.

United State and Wetlands

Importance of Wetlands: Hydrologic•Long term and short

term water storage–Wetlands protect land from damage caused by flooding, storms and tidal damage

Importance of Wetlands: Water Filtration

•Wetlands remove nutrients from surface and ground water by filtering and by converting nutrients to forms that won’t harm the environment

Importance of Wetlands: Habitat

• There are a number of plant and animal species that can only survive in a wetland ecosystem

What happens when wetlands are destroyed?

• Destruction of wetlands can cause many problems such as:– Increased floods– Water quality problems– Population decrease in plants and animals

that live in wetlands

Can builders destroy wetlands?• Section 401and 404 of the Clean Water

Act require developers that are going to destroy a wetland to do three things:– Avoid changing wetlands when possible– When a wetland is impossible to avoid, they

must do as little damage as possible.– If a wetland is destroyed, they must rebuild a

wetland in another place unless they pay into a special fund to restore streams and wetlands.

Wetland Improvements•Wetland Restoration

•Wetland Creation

•Wetland Enhancement

Wetland Restoration

• A degraded wetland or former wetland is returned to its previous condition as much as possible

Wetland Creation•A non-wetland area is converted into a wetland

Wetland Enhancement•A function of the wetland is improved upon