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Archive - April 2020
What is a Wetland?
Wetlands are areas that are either covered with shallow water or have soils that are saturated (soaked to capacity) with water for periods during the growing season. Wetlands must have the following traits.
• periodic water
• hydric soils (soils that lack oxygen)
• hydrophytic plants (plants that grow in water or in saturated soil)
Wetlands serve as connections between dry land and permanent water. They often change in response to weather conditions and precipitation patterns. During a dry year, a wetland may not be very wet. During a wet year, it may fill and hold water for a long time.
What are Some Types of Wetlands in Illinois?
Marshes, fens, swamps, bogs and certain riparian areas are wetlands in our state. Other wetlands include forested wetlands, perennial and intermittent wetlands, open lakes and lake shores, ponds, wet prairies and scrub-shrub wetlands.
Where does the Water in Wetlands Come From?
Rainfall runoff, direct rainfall, seepage from groundwater or a combination of these sources provide the water in wetlands.
What makes Up a Wetland?
Wetlands are composed of living and nonliving things. The living things are adapted to the characteristics of a wetland by their form, function and behavior. Wetland organisms include a great variety of species, from viruses to mammals.
What are the Values of Wetlands?
Wetlands are very important to the environment.
• They absorb large amounts of stormwater runoff and reduce flooding by storing and slowing down the water.
• In Illinois, more than 40 percent of threatened and endangered plants and animals depend on wetlands.
• Wetland plants slow sediment buildup and absorb as much as 90 percent of the chemicals in the water that runs into them.
• Wetlands provide food, water, shelter and resting areas for a variety of species.
• Wetlands help support fishing, hunting, trapping, paddle sports, wildlife observation and nature photography.
• Wetlands are useful for biological research and observation.
Where are the Wetlands in Illinois?
Most wetlands in Illinois are in the northeastern and southern parts of the state and along the Illinois River. However, all counties in Illinois have wetlands.
What are Some Threats to Wetlands?
The amount of wetlands in the land that is now Illinois once covered about 8.2 million acres. Today, about 1.25 million acres of wetlands remain. Nearly 90 percent of the wetlands in the state have been destroyed, mainly by human activities and mainly for agricultural purposes and urban/industrial development. Other threats to wetlands continue to occur. They include the following processes.
• soil erosion – Soil that washes away in rainwater can end up in a wetland making the water muddy and blocking sunlight needed by plants to make food. Sediment results when these soil particles slow down and drop out of the water. Sediment buildup in wetlands can reduce the size of the wetland, provide unsuitable conditions for plant growth and cause many problems for the animals that live there.
• habitat destruction – Removal of wetland habitats affects everything that depends on a wetland.
• chemical pollution – Chemicals are used for many reasons and may work their way into or on the soil. If that soil erodes, the chemicals go with it. If they reach a wetland, the chemicals are taken in by the plants and animals that live there. The chemicals can also be passed to animals that eat those wetland animals, including humans.