Wetland Restoration

By:Marcos GonzalezDavid Labra

Wetlands

Wetlands are marshy areas where there is much moisture in the soil. Wetlands are sometimes covered in water. Swamps, marshes, and bogs are some of the names used for wetlands.

Types of Wetlands

There are 42 different types of Wetlands broadly separated into 3 parts Marine and coastal wetlands, Inland wetlands, and man made wetlands.

Restoration Benefits

Wetlands provide food, protection from predators, and other vital habitat factors for many of the nation's fish and wildlife species, including endangered and threatened species.

Rivers transport water, sediment, and nutrients from the land to the sea, play an important role in building deltas and beaches.

Wetlands intercept storm runoff and release floodwaters gradually to downstream systems.

Cost Analysis

Today's wetlands are rapidly disappearing. Wetlands are cheap and flat, which makes them ideal places for development. They are also vulnerable to exotic species and the rising sea level because of global warming. They are being filled, ditched, and built over to more land and its killing species and destroying habitats.

Wetland Locations

How to help?

To help wet land there are many things you can do like Supporting wetlands and watershed protection initiatives by public agencies and private organizations. You can also volunteer and help in the rebuilding of them.

Help

A watershed approach recognizes the inter-connectedness of water, land, and wetlands resources and results in more complete solutions that address more of the factors causing wetland degradation. The government achieves the restoration of former or degraded wetlands under the Clean Water Act Section 404 program as well as through watershed protection initiatives. While regulation, economic incentives, and acquisition programs are important, they alone cannot protect the majority of our remaining wetlands.

Education of the public and efforts in conjunction with states, local governments, and private citizens are helping to protect wetlands and to increase appreciation of the functions and values of wetlands. The rate of wetlands loss has been slowing, but we still have work to do. You can be a part. Approximately 75 percent of wetlands are privately owned, so individual landowners are critical in protecting these national treasures.

Going Extinct

There are roughly 198 threatened and endangered species in Illinois that depend on wetlands during some portion of their life cycle.

Endangered or Threatened:

Least Brook Lamprey (fish)

Spotted Sunfish (fish)

Virginia Snakeroot (plant)

Indiana Bat (mammal)

Short – Eared Owl (bird)

Facts

Wetlands make up 6 percent of the Earth's surface

Hundreds of species of animals make their home in wetlands

Wetlands are also known as marshes, swamps, and bogs

They can be found in all regions of the United States

14 percent of the world's wetlands are located in Canada

Wetlands are not necessarily "wet" all year round

Wetlands can contain fresh water, salt water, or a combination of the two!

Sources

http://www.funtrivia.com/en/subtopics/Midwestern-Wetland-Plants-132888.html

http://www.brevardcounty.us/environmental_management/vnr_wildlife_funfacts.cfm

http://water.epa.gov/type/wetlands/outreach/education_index.cfm

http://books.google.com/books?id=rloblXe2R1IC&pg=PA30&dq=wetlands+fun+facts&hl=en&ei=GTdjTfiBMsq9tgf9mcHqCw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CC4Q6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=wetlands%20fun%20facts&f=false