A wetland is where the land is covered by water, either salt, fresh, or a blending of both. These areas typically consist of low-lying areas that are frequently flooded and provide an abundant array of ecosystem services such as water filtration, storm protection, flood control and recreation; things we would otherwise have to pay for if wetlands did not exist. For example, without wetlands providing water filtration or protection from devastating storms, cities would have to pay to have water filtered and residents would be severely impacted by storm flooding.
America’s wetlands are also home to nearly 5,000 species of plants, one-third of all birds, 190 different species of amphibians, and all ducks and geese need wetlands to live. These diverse areas also provide habitat for many endangered species such as the whooping crane, bald eagle, red wolf, fat mucket mussel and more. One-third of the United States threatened and endangered species live exclusively in wetlands while nearly half use wetlands at some point throughout their lives. Wetlands are among the most productive ecosystems in the world comparable to rainforests and coral reefs. Without them, a large variety of microbes, plants, insects, amphibians, reptiles, birds, fish and mammals would all be at risk.
Threats to this important ecosystem include industry, invasive species, pollution, climate change, and dams. Since 1990, over half of the world’s wetlands have disappeared and future development continues to pose a threat to existing wetlands.
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