Wetlands Research Paper -- Research Paper fc

Wetlands When some people think of wetlands the first affaire that will pop into their mind will be visions of swamps and flooded plains. These squashy lands would seem to have no purpose, while in reality they ar the most precious form of ecosystem that we have in America. Wetlands contribute to biodiversity, ransack water, flood control, and provide a habitat for millions of species of plants and animals. Even with all this wetlands dumb face mass dying, practically like the rain forests they ar good as productive and face similar rates of forlornness (Mitchell, J. (1992, October). Our disappearing Wetlands National Geographic, Pg 15).It really is hard to get someone passionate just about a mosquito-infested piece of swamp that seems just to be there to issuing up space and look bad. This is why wetlands are not indorse by too many people to prevent their destruction. The main causes of wetland devastation are all linked to man. Pollution, construction, and farming ar e what is destroying 300,000 acres of wetlands apiece year (David Allen, J 1995 Pg. 24). Pollution is one of the most potent forms of destruction in that a small amount can cause much(prenominal) damage to a wide variety to plants and wildlife. Construction is another little terror because as the population grows the demand for affordable housing goes up. Also with a rise in population comes a demand for food, which leads the to last and most destructive threat to wetlands, farming. Farming is all the threats to wetlands rolled into one it builds everywhere hundreds of acres of land and pollutes it with fertilizers and herbicides. There are many misconceptions about wetlands that the prevalent has due to the fact that there is not much public come to to save the wetlands. Well what exactly is a wetland? A lowland area, much(prenominal) as a marsh or swamp, that is saturated with moisture, especially when regarded as the natural habitat of wildlife, but in actuality a wetland is so much more than that. Depending on the type of wetland suggests the function it performs for the environment. We now realize that wetlands are important and valuable ecosystems. They are home to many beautiful and exalted species. They filter runoff and adjacent surface waters to protect the step of our lakes, bays and rivers. Wetlands also protect many of our sources of... ... they are not all destroyed. Experts mean that due mostly to the intervention of man wetlands may change to garb the surrounding environment. Things like pollution and the intervention of man have caused wetlands to find to have life forms more resistant to pollution. Other scientists predict that the wetlands should stick the same the way they have for the thousands of years they have been around. All in all it is our responsibility to preserve these landscapes, and with the clock ticking we are speedily running out of cartridge clip to save these precious ecosystems. *By the time you finish rea ding this 42 acres of wetlands will be gone*BIBLIOGRAPHYAllen, David, Jr. Stream Ecology. Sioux City Chapman and Hall, 1995.Angel, Heather. The Water Naturalist. Memphis Windmill Publishers, 1982.Gomez, Jane. The Everglades. Boston Houghton, 1992.Marshall, Alexandra. bland Waters. New York William Marrow & Co., 1978. Mitchell, John G. Our Disappearing Wetlands. National Geographic October 1992 Pgs.44.Mairson, Alan. Florida Everglades decease For Help. National Geographic April 1994 Pgs. 2-35. Wetlands Encarta Encyclopedia. Ed. Redmond, WA Microsoft Inc. Copywrite 2001