Have you ever wondered what wetlands are? Why are so many different organizations interested in them?? We can see how this happens if you begin to see what wetlands are within the overall landscape.
Wetlands are land areas in-between upland (drier areas or less saturated soils area) and along a lower gradient to an area that is about 3 meters (6.6 feet) deep with water.
Water plays the important role in it's different forms in the hydrologic cycle. The water goes up and it comes down. And whether it flows or seeps or gravitates to different places, it's form is often the driving ingredient in the lifeblood of wetlands.
Associatively, there are animals that call these places home or visit these areas for food and drinking needs. You may have heard of the word 'food chain'? This is the way I often like to think of wetlands and the 3rd member of the SWAMPY acronymn! Alot of people don't initially consider these residents or visitors!- and because of their mobility it may often be difficult to locate & identify them.
The plants in my wetlands are very different than typical drier sites? Why? Because often they have to 'hold their breath' when water fills the soils for longer times! Sometimes they are holding in the air and just looking at one another!(get out- are you serious?) I tell them they are just being 'anaerobic' (an-A-er-O-bic) during this part of the year. I call them just what they are - a bunch of hydrophytes! You can really check them out some time if you want to get some plant keys and get into plant systematics!
When all is said and done, whether you are a: young person looking for the basics of wetlands and watersheds - ask your teacher about getting in touch with Swampy, or someone in a government agency - Swampy is available to discuss your job in protecting wetlands and letting helping folk do what they want in an environmentally friendly manner, or a business trying to make some sense of it all so that you can get done what you want to do on your projects or "green" up your company image, or you might be a non-profit/environmental organization trying to better understand and protect these sensitive lands, or perhaps a private landowner with questions about wetlands & h20sheds and how to delineate these areas and make the best use of your property and include these areas as amenities to your neighborhood and community - let me know and I will help you in wetland & watershed land use services.
