The California Wetlands Essay

As decades continued to pass by the wetlands change. "People have begun to realize that wetlands are valuable and productive ecosystems that fulfill an essential function for both humans and wildlife. Due to their unique characteristics, wetlands can support a wide diversity of plants, mammals, reptiles, birds and fish. They also control floodwaters and protect us from storms and hurricanes. Wetlands also improve water quality by filtering, cleaning and storing water. Lastly, many people rely on wetlands for their livelihood, as they are important centers for hunting, fishing and recreation." Referring to this from "Wetlands and Habitat Loss", we now see how wetlands are valuable and helpful to the ecosystem. The wetlands are known for our water source. Many people depend on the Everglades for a water source. We also use the Everglades for activities. These activities include fishing, recreation, and

Giving full credit to restricting the Mississippi River as the culprit for loss of wetlands is not accurate. The booming oil and gas exploration of the 1970’s and 1980’s merits a name on the marquee as well. The pipelines and canals used to transport the resources to the outside world placed a great deal of stress on the fragile wetlands. Erosion from the barges in and out of the marshes as well as the salt water allowed into the fresh water, providing a precarious habitat for fresh water species – flora and fauna alike. Plants provide root systems to hold soil in place. Fish and fowl provide an economy for the area. Enter

Wetlands provide fish and wildlife habitat. It supplies food water, along with areas that can be used for nesting or resting. Wetlands also act as a aquifer recharge and discharge area. They are able to recharge groundwater or excess groundwater is able to discharge into the wetland. Wetlands act as flood storage when rainfall and snowmelt leave an excess of water around and no place to go.

Based on research completed by University of Minnesota soil scientists, the state mandates that every wetland should be protected by a 50-foot buffer zone. The City of Lilliput, a rural town located 30 miles north of St. Cloud, Minnesota, increased the buffer zone to150 feet in1990 within their municipality. The rationale behind Lilliput’s increase was because the town is zoned for predominantly rural uses, i.e. farming and cattle ranching. Due to the animal wasted and farmers’ use of pesticides on their crops, the Town Council felt that increasing the buffer around surrounding wetlands would better protect it from these sources of contamination than would the state minimum of 50

Ducks Unlimited tries to revert these watersheds back to their natural levels by draining the wetlands that have extremely high levels of contaminants in the water. They then clean the soil in the habitat and find a way to decrease the extra contaminates from entering the watershed. Next they will pump healthy water back into the wetlands and install buffer strips that act like a filter that will catch the extra nutrients and silt.

Louisiana should be concerned about the wetlands because of the wildlife and fisheries. Without it, Louisiana would not be able to supply seafood and wildlife. Another concern, is the land going under and people could lose their homes. According to Allured and Martin, “the destruction of the wetlands came from the coastal and offshore oil and gas development” (p.332). Also, there is some thought that humans play a role in the destruction. According to Allured and Martin, “swamps symbolize as dark and chaotic places of the earth” and “marsh as a type of wet area that harbored disease” (p. 333). The importance of ascertaining the cause of the vanishing wetlands is to help restore the wetlands and protect from a hurricane

Everglades, the largest subtropical wetland of North America, has encountered anthropogenic perturbation since the last quarter of 19th century when canals were built and peatlands were drained for economic gain (Godfrey and Catton, 2011). Since then, the system has been exploited, drained, polluted and changed from its natural setup to escalate and widen the potential services from it. The present state is a highly regulated system to buttress economic productivity and fulfill several regional demands. The Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan, one of the world’s largest restoration initiative, aims to restore, protect and preserve the water resources of central and southern Florida (National Research Council, 2014). While the restoration program is built on a foundation of retrospective science backed by several years of sophisticated research on understanding the Everglades and similar ecosystem (Estenoz and Bush, 2015), the human dimension of restoration was not studied adequately(Clarke and Dalrymple, 2003; Kranzer, 2002; National Research Council, 2014). Particularly, the spatial extent of residents’ preference or the heterogeneity of their opinion is important for CERP as the plan aims to restore ecosystem without compromising the present services (e.g. flood control, water for agricultural, urban and industrial uses etc.), which are also spatially related.

Iowa’s wetlands are a large part of Iowa history and an important part of our current society that have been almost wiped out. The restoration of wetlands not only affects the ecosystem on a small scale, but also the nation as a whole, and society itself. It provides a source of recreation, a benefit to the economy, and improves certain aspects of farming. Wetland restoration is a difficult task that often requires many levels of planning, management, and monitoring. But once finished, the benefits that it can bring are almost countless, just a few being protection of native wildlife, flora and fauna, improving water quality naturally, and preserving a sense of Iowa history and heritage. There are many

The San Francisco Estuary Partnership has diligently worked with state and federal agencies for over 20 years with goals of enhancing the fitness and health of the estuary. Restoring the loss of wetlands since the Gold Rush is one of the primary goals of the San Francisco Estuary Partnership Projects. There are various projects in play that aid in protecting, restoring, and

Before development exploded in California, the state contained about 5 million acres of wetland habitat. Unfortunately, over the years California has been willing to part with 91 percent of its wetlands, Southern California having lost 95 percent. Los Angeles County has only one wetland remaining. This being the Ballona Wetlands located between Marina del Rey and the Westchester bluffs, it was once a major part of California’s natural wetland systems. Before development, Ballona wetlands natural habitat covered 2002 acres. This area, 800 to 1000 acres, referred to as Playa Vista by its owners is made up of salt marsh freshwater marsh and part upland and dune areas. It is considered Los Angeles’ largest ‘wetland ecosystem’. Although

Throughout the United States, there has been a significant increase in various forms of pollution due to the modern industrialization of different areas. More specifically, within the state of California, there are more pollutants than there were even just a few years ago, and they are affecting the natural areas of our state. National parks are scattered around California and represent the protection and the vulnerability of nature that people hold onto during the times of modernization and technology. They serve as the places that hold the most beauty in their scenic backgrounds and give the sense of recreation and exploration for visitors that travel to them. Although most of the parks now have roads or minimal facilities that were put there

No, let's not frac sand another wetland, let's not eliminate habitats, let's not get animals closer to extinction, I say no, to sand fracking. Nearly 60% of wetlands have been demolished in Wisconsin, do we want that number to increase? Well, that’ll happen if we demolish the one in western Wisconsin. The Wetlands hold habitats for many of our wildlife. If we clear out this wetland, it would eliminate more than 16 acres of animal habitats, and freshwater resources. Kayaking is one of Wisconsinites Favorite hobbies, imagine if the top kayaking spot was jeopardized, all the endangered species would either become more endangered, or extinct. Is this what we want Wisconsin to be known for? For destroying wildlife and their habitats? I say No. Some

They provide a livelihood for some people and bring tourists to the area all of which helps our economy. Wetlands are very good at filtering out pollutants and things you do not want in your water. Without them, your water would be full of chemicals and other nutrients at high levels. This paper is intended to show how valuable wetlands are to the well-being of our environment and to the people of this county. It will reveal research methods and results. Finally, I will be making a recommendation on how to solve this problem based on the research that was done.

One option that is practical and easy to implement are constructed wetlands. Constructed wetlands (CW) are like natural wetlands, but manmade. Wetlands, rightfully named, love the water and thrive in water-saturated environments. Because of this trait natural wetlands have long helped with slowing runoff and other water-management techniques including: consuming nutrients, denitrification (converting nitrates into nitrogen gas to release back into the atmosphere), and breaking down pesticides.

I decided to test the ecological status of the wetland by gathering samples from the wetland and testing it for various aspects in the water and the plants that are found within the area.