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Why
Map Wetlands?
Why are Wetlands Important?
Wetlands are home to thousands of wetland plants and animals, such as
beaver, alligator, crayfish, and insects. Ducks depend on wetlands to
nest, feed, rest, and raise their young. Many fish live, feed and spawn
in wetlands. Frogs and salamanders depend on wetlands for all or most
of their life. Many plants live nowhere else but in wetlands. A recent
analysis suggests that 50 percent of North American birds depend on wetlands.
An estimated 46 percent of U.S. endangered and threatened species need
wetlands to live.
Wetlands soils absorb
water from precipitation, plants slow the waters flow, low wetland
areas hold water, then release the water slowly into streams. Natural
wetlands do filter out chemicals and fertilizer that people have put on
their farms, lawns or discharged from their businesses.
Wetlands provide
food such as fish, rice, cranberries, and clams. Many people make a living
harvesting natural products from wetlands.
You can birdwatch, view
other wildlife, boat, walk, or take photographs in wetlands. Many people fish
or hunt in wetlands. And, of course, wetlands provide openspace for beauty
and can enhance property values.
How many wetlands
do we have?
We estimate there are 105.5 million acres of wetlands, or 5 percent of
the land area, in the lower 48 states. Many of these wetlands are in the
southeastern United States. Alaska is estimated to be about 45 percent
wetland, and Hawaii is 1 percent wetland. From
a high of 458,000 acres lost per year between the 1950s to the 1970s,
today the U.S. is now still losing 58,500 acres a year. Crucial small,
isolated, or temporary wetlands are often lost first.
Many of our remaining
wetlands have been degraded and cannot help reduce floods or serve as habitat
for wildlife or are degraded because of fertilizer, hazardous chemicals, or
the introduction of invasive species.
What happens when
wetlands are lost?
When wetlands are degraded or lost, more animals and plants that rely
on wetlands are harmed or jeopardized. Birds, fish, frogs, and other wetland
creatures are declining. For amphibians, 40 percent of species are imperiled
or vulnerable. It is estimated that 37 percent of all U.S. fish species
are imperiled. Also, there are increases in flood or drought damage. Water
quality gets bad, affecting wildlife, drinking water, water related recreation,
and property values.
How does mapping wetlands
help address problems facing wetlands?
To protect wetlands, you must know what kinds of wetlands you have, where
they are, and what is happening to them, ie, their currrent status and
the trends of losses or gains. Wetlands are mapped to show their current
status, and updated or sampled to show their trends of losses or gains.
Once wetlands are mapped, many types of wetland assessment can be performed.
Wetland assessment is used for many activities: monitoring wetland health,
making permit decisions, targeting voluntary wetland restoration activities,
maintaining biodiversity, restoring species, measuring mitigation success,
undertaking watershed management, developing wetland classifications,
protecting public water supplies, implementing local land use plans and
so on.
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