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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) Hydrology is 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 nonwetland area is converted into a wetland Wetland Enhancement •A function of the wetland is improved upon