HeadsUp Newsletter - Vol 3.09: September 2006

A wetland is an area in which water is in close proximity to land. It is a transitionary location between a dry area and deep water. Wetlands are also called giant sponges because they absorb water during wet seasons and release it during dry seasons. By acting as a sponge, they help to reduce flooding, ease droughts, and replenish groundwater. Some wetlands are able to sustain water all year round. Despite this, most of the water found in wetlands is shallow and when exposed to the summer sun can dry up, therefore able to only hold water for a couple of months. This shallow water moistens soil layers underneath it, making wetlands very conducive to plant growth.

Wetlands are made up of a three-part system. One of these parts is known as the uplands, which is the surrounding dry land that grows vegetation. The second component in a wetland is the riparian zone, which is heavily vegetated. This zone is between the higher upland and the shallow wet areas of the wetland. The third part of a wetland is the aquatic area, which is an open, deep body of water.

The wetland system is a natural purification process for wastewater. For instance, water flowing into a wetland from higher ground must move through the upland and riparian areas. These areas serve as “screens” that filter waters as they pass through. The plants and soil in these areas absorb chemicals, nutrients and sediments as well as contaminants that come from the water passing through them. Such chemicals and nutrients include phosphorus and nitrogen that enter the water through agriculture and industrial development. Although wetlands are beneficial to people and wildlife, they are rapidly being destroyed and replaced by new developments and such.

With much appreciation of nature’s purification system, we would like to share interesting, fun facts about wetlands:

• Wetlands receive water from groundwater, water runoff from spring melts, streams, rivers, lakes and precipitation
• Wetlands can be found all over the world except for Antarctica.
• Canada homes more than 1,270,000 square kilometers, or nearly 25% of all the wetlands in the world
• Wetlands and surrounding uplands are home for roughly 600 species, including plants, animals and insects
• For over 50 years Europeans used specially constructed wetlands to treat wastewater
• The water that is deposited into wetlands seeps gradually back into the ground where it is purified and used to supply people with potable water
• The United States has lost more than half of its original wetlands, from 220 million acres to less than 110 million acres in the past 60 years
• At one time, wetlands covered almost one-quarter of Illinois; today less than 3% of the state retains this rich habitat
• The general attitude to wetlands has changed in the twentieth century. People often viewed wetlands as dangerous, dark, damp horrible places full of snakes that can kill you and swarmed with mosquitoes that spread diseases
• There are many different types of wetlands: marshes, swamps, bogs, and fens

To find out more information about Wetlands and how to protect them, please log on to:
http://www.epa.gov/owow/wetlands/