Value of Wetlands

Restoring natural conditions | Support many species | Control flooding | Improve water control and quality | Moderate the global climate | Enhance recreation, education and research

Wetlands play a vital role in Florida's ecological health. They

• manage storm water runoff and
• help recharge and purify the underlying layers of sediment (aquifer) which hold water.

Just as important, wetlands serve as habitat for plants and animals, including many endangered or threatened species.

Florida Power & Light Company's Everglades Mitigation Bank (EMB) is returning more than 13,000 acres of wetlands to their natural condition. EMB is strategically located between two national parks and is home to more than 38 species of wildlife, of which 12 are endangered and nine are threatened.

Restoring natural conditions

For more than 200 years, Florida's wetlands - once disparaged as nothing more than swamps - have been drained and filled to make way for rapid growth and development. Fortunately, today there is a greater understanding of and attention to the protection of wetlands and the critical functions they perform.

Among the benefits of wetlands are

• the support of many species of plants and animals
• flood control
• improved water control and quality
• moderation of the global climate and
• enhancement of recreational and educational opportunities.

Support many species

Wetlands are among the most biologically productive natural ecosystems in the world and are similar to

• tropical rain forests and
• coral reefs in the diversity of species they support.

The presence or absence of water during the seasons heavily influences the life cycle of native plants and animals. As plants die, plant leaves and stems break down in the water to form small particles of organic material called detritus. Detritus is food for

• insects
• shellfish and
• forage fish.

It also provides nutrients for wetland plants and algae.

These plants and animals are, in turn, food for larger predatory

• fish
• reptiles
• amphibians
• birds and
• mammals.

Wetlands are vital to the survival of various animals and plants, including threatened and endangered species like the

• wood stork
• Florida panther and
• whooping crane.

More than one-third of the United States' threatened and endangered species live only in wetlands and nearly half use wetlands at some point in their lives. Wetlands are primary habitats for many other species, such as the

• blue heron
• wood duck and
• muskrat.

For others, wetlands provide important seasonal habitats where food, water and shelter are plentiful, especially during migration and breeding.

Control flooding

Wetlands often function like natural sponges,

• storing floodwater and
• slowly releasing it.

Floodwaters can be slowed by

• trees
• root mats and
• other wetland vegetation.

This combined storage and slowing can lower flood heights and reduce the energy of flood-swollen rivers, thereby minimizing damage potential. Wetlands thus

• reduce the likelihood of flood damage to crops
• control the volume of run-off in urban areas and
• buffer shorelines against erosion.

Improve water control and quality

By intercepting surface run-off, wetlands reduce sediment that would otherwise

• clog waterways and
• affect fish and amphibian egg development.

In addition to improving water quality through filtering, some wetlands maintain stream flow during dry periods and replenish the groundwater that many Americans depend upon for drinking.

Moderate the global climate

Scientists are beginning to realize that atmospheric maintenance may be an additional wetland function.

Wetlands moderate the effects of global warming by storing carbon within their plant communities and soil instead of releasing it to the atmosphere as carbon dioxide.

Enhance recreation, education and research

Wetlands are important for

• recreational
• historical
• scientific and
• cultural reasons.

Painters, writers and others continue to capture the beauty of wetlands on canvas and paper, or through cameras or video recorders. Still other people appreciate these wonderlands through

• hiking
• boating and
• other recreational activities.

Because the ecological health of wetlands play such a vital role in our lives, federal state and local governments have enacted legislation to protect these natural resources. As a result, mitigation banking was established to ensure "no net loss of wetlands".

Click here for Mitigation Banking information.