The Loss of Indiana Wetlands
Did you know that wetlands use to make up 25 percent of Indiana? Now, 86 percent of the wetlands have either been filled or drained (“Miller, Brian K”). Wetlands are all over Indiana as well as all over the United States. I’m sure you’ve been to one before and may not have even known it was considered a wetland. The problem is, is that wetlands have dramatically decreased throughout the state. Wetlands locally and nationally are so beneficial to our environment that the loss of them are doing more harm than good. Not only do they provide numerous functions like helping with flood control and water quality, but they also benefit the wildlife as well. The loss of wetlands needs to become more of an awareness issue
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This is something that’s very important not only in Indiana, but the whole United States. Wetlands help to absorb certain excess organic and inorganic nutrients in the water. Some of the nutrients are “farm fertilizers and septic system runoff, filter sediments such as eroded soil particles, and trap pollutants such as pesticides and some heavy metals” (“Status of Wetlands in Indiana”). Once they absorb these materials, the plants and natural bacteria found in wetlands break up those chemicals to make it less harmful to people (“Protecting Indiana’s Wetlands”). These materials that I just mentioned can do lots of harm to the surface water and groundwater quality so wetlands do a good job of trapping those materials. Without wetlands, our water quality that we get out of the faucet would not only affect us in Indiana, but everyone else nationally as well. This could pose a huge problem if our water became …show more content…
The coastal wetlands are very important too. The loss of coastal wetlands are being destroyed twice as fast than they are being restored (“Coastal Wetlands”). Coastal wetlands include bottomland hardwood and mangrove swamps, salt and freshwater marshes, and shrubby depressions that are called “pocosins” mostly found in the southeast part of the United States. Coastal wetlands have many functions. They play a role in flood protection, erosion control, wildlife food and habitat, commercial fisheries, water quality, recreation, and even carbon sequestration (“Coastal Wetlands”). So as you can see, coastal wetlands have many functions just as any other wetland. There are multiple reasons why the wetlands have continuously had a downfall. Two of the reasons are due to hydrologic alterations and urbanization along with many more reasons such as natural processes. Hydrologic alterations consist of: drainage, dredging, stream channelization, ditching, levees, and deposition of fill material, stream diversion, groundwater withdrawal, and impoundment (“Wetlands Loss and Degradation”). When these changes occur to wetlands, it also cause changes to the animals or plants living there as well as the soil that’s
Fifty percent of the original wetlands doesn’t even exist today. The water supply in the Everglades is changing and that has affected the Everglades in many ways. For one, population is decreasing and mankind needs to restore it somehow. Next, the Everglades are in need of some money to do that restoration, but where will they get it from? Last, the water supply is poisoning the humanity around it with much bacteria and many bad and dangerous elements. The Everglades water supply affected it in fixing the Everglades and wildlife.
The effects of deforestation around my home and throughout my state are becoming more evident every day. When a deer or other wild game loses its home, they move into cities, urban areas, and parks; thus causing issues with the human population. Most people living in Illinois have hit or nearly killed a deer driving on Southern Illinois roadways. This common occurrence could be kept at bay or maybe even avoided if the deer and wild game had more space to reside. There are many points that coincide with this reality but the main issues are the small subtle ones that affect everyday life and are often overlooked. Picture the Illinois we will leave for our children. Do you see a lush green forest or miles and miles of concrete and steel?
Invasive species do not only affect other species in their ecosystem, but also cost the United States more than one hundred and twenty million dollars each year in damages (“Cost” par. 2). Invasive species come in all different forms, and all have a negative impact on the environment. These species can come into a new area without being detected at first, but as time goes on their effects can soon be seen. Efforts are being made to prevent these invasive species from destroying fish population and habitat, but in order to be successful they need to be done on a much larger scale. In order to protect Wisconsin's waters, which are already infected with many invasive species that cause great damage to our bodies of water, more actions need to be taken. It is vital to remove all invasive species from Wisconsin’s waters because it will improve fish habitat, native fish population, and water quality.
This is a result from the new levee system. This system prevents the natural ways of sediment re-depositing along the riverbank and wetlands. The levees lead the sediment to deposit off the continental shelf in the Gulf of Mexico. (15) This adds to the loss of wetlands along the coast. Wetlands are important to the economy in more than one way. They serve as homes for fish which fishermen catch then sell and they protect the mainland from getting the full effect of storm surge during a hurricane. “Every 2.7 miles of wetlands absorbs one foot of storm surge” (1.2). Without wetlands and barrier islands working as a barrier, the mainland could experience even more damage during
They hold pollutants that could be exposed during swimming. Even low levels of pollutant exposure should be avoided. Ecosystems in these ponds can be somewhat fragile and very slim due to the amount of work that is going on through the pond. These ponds can easily be enjoyable for a nice place to sit but even then a pond may or may not turn green and be smelly during the summer heat. What matters is what the pond is doing to keep our streams healthy. There are more than 14,000 recorded storm water ponds in South Carolina. Experiments are run on these ponds by a multitude of people from University of South Carolina, or Clemson University. These ponds exemplify a new type of aquatic environment and are also known for Canadian geese which makes for highly experimental grounds. These ponds make for a little habitat for many types of species to thrive and for our streams to thrive as well. Our very own storm water pond, for example, is home to a fair amount of varieties of ducks and
The Everglades has been a foundational part of Florida ever since it was discovered. Its swamps have taken hold of the bottom quadrant of the Florida peninsula with its majestic swamps and exotic wildlife within. However, with Florida's population growth since the turn of the twenty-first century, the Everglades has been threatened by man (Everglades). The Everglades has sustained substantial damage due to over-drainage, runoff of nutrient pollutants, like phosphorus, and the spreading of algae and other plants that upset the ecosystem of the swamp. A greater amount of restoration must be done in the Everglades, otherwise, the whole ecosystem of the swamp could be destroyed.
The objective of this study is twofold. One – to identify overall accuracy in NWI indicated wetlands and waterbodies utilizing both public and privately gathered data and Two – Identify trends in accuracy so as to provide potential predictive tools for NWI usage depending upon wetland or waterbody type, county, ecoregion, or U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) 7.5 Minute
We chose to research about wetlands because they are very unique and special. Wetlands used to be extremely common during prehistoric times, but now there are only small areas left. Some plants and animals exist only in the wetland biomes, such as the star fruit and water vole. But, as the amount of wetlands decreased, many organisms became endangered and even extinct. We wanted to find out more about what the characteristics of wetlands and what is being done to help the environment.
Peatlands, are fens, swamps, marshes, and bogs that cover approximately 2-3% of the global land surface [5]. Peat bogs are infertile wetlands with acidic soil that contain unusual communities of plants and animals adapted to live in these conditions. Peat has high water holding capacity and stores organic carbon which has many benefits and functions to the environment. Unfortunately, wetlands are sensitive to environmental change and human impacts such as harvesting and agriculture. It is extremely important to protect and maintain these rare wetlands for the conservation of rare species that reside in these ecosystems and the biodiversity of plants. The importance of the restoration of peat bogs is vital for their survival although, climatic
These are the main threats to biodiversity around the world. Very often large scale construction occurs in ‘fragile areas’, for example, wetland drainage and infilling. Habitat destruction changes the conditions needed for particular plants and animals to
The advantages and disadvantages of wetland restoration or construction depend on the location and how badly degraded the area has become. Passive means of restoration, although less costly, can be slow and don’t offer as many immediate benefits. Active means of restoration or construction may allow the newly restored wetland to have an immediate effect on the area including reduction in flooding, but this can be a very costly process (Habitat NOAA, 2015). New construction will negative affect other species that are currently living in the area and can bring competing species that can cause additional problems. However, there are many advantages of using wetlands to protect from flood waters. As they are natural structures and are frequently found on the coast already in areas that experience flooding, they can be restored and will be able to retain an increased amount of flood waters. Wetland restoration also protects native wildlife and vegetation that are important for the ecology of the areas
Heimlich, Ralph E.,and Vesterby, Marlow. 1989. "Conversion of Wetlands to Urban Uses: Evidence from Southeastern Counties" Wetlands. Concerns and Successes. pp.161-73
The Convention on Wetlands of International Importance Especially as Waterfowl defines wetlands as “areas of marsh, fen, peatland or water, whether natural or artificial, permanent or temporary, with water that is static or flowing, fresh, brackish or salt, incl...
Human interventions in watersheds, lakes and river systems take many forms - deforestation, farming, irrigation, river damming and extractions from subterranean aquifers. Wetlands play a crucial role in the filtering of fresh water, including the removal of various chemicals and potentially toxic elements, such as heavy metal pollutants, as cadmium and lead. (WHO, 2005).
For a typical wetland ecosystem, its values can be accounted in terms of the populations of its species, fish harvested per day, the amount of carbon stored per year, or the annual number of recreational visits. These are generally categorised as values from wetland production, regulating or cultural services (MA, 2005). Proper and accurate estimation of these values enables comparative analysis of intervention practices and therefore contributes to the improvement of the design of policies (Barbier, 1993; Barbier et al., 1997; Turner et al, 2000). Quality is a critical factor in determining the values of wetlands. A healthy and functioning wetland may provide rich ecosystem services (Zedler and Kercher, 2005; Maltby, 2009).