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The world is facing problems mainly due to the increasing population that has put enormous pressure on the limited resources of the earth such as land, water, and other natural resources. Sustainable development is the development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. For instance, the forest is cut down in different parts of the world for agricultural purposes, pharmaceutical needs, infrastructure building, human settlement, and other activities. Similarly, the world’s most important wetlands are destroyed and as a result of this, there is increased degradation of natural ecosystems which is eroding the life-supporting systems that uphold human civilization.
The economic and environmental benefits of wetlands make their important natural resources. Though earlier people thought of wetlands as being useless wastelands, today the importance of these lands is realized. Unfortunately, by the time the importance of wetlands is realized, most of it is destroyed by human activities. This paper intends to explain the importance of wetlands particularly the Florida wetlands, and how wetlands are protected.
Importance of Wetlands
Wetlands are vital to the health of the environment and they perform the same function as the kidneys in the human body. The main functions of wetlands are to filter and remove pollutants. When the polluted water passes through a wetland, all the pollutant that is dissolved or suspended in the water becomes trapped by the wetland plants and soils. As a result, the water that leaves the wetland is free from all the pollutants.
Many of the pollutants, which would otherwise degrade surface waters, are then converted into food material for aquatic organisms. This is the most important role of wetlands and this filtering capability of wetlands aids in keeping the surface water bodies suitable for all recreational activities such as swimming, fishing, and also sometimes as a source of drinking water. This is also true in the case of the stormwater ponds, where highly polluted stormwater runoff is composed and held before it is allowed to re-enter the natural system. Therefore, water quality is improved by the filtering ability of wetland vegetation growing around the shoreline (dep.state.fl.us 1-10).
The second major function of the wetlands is as the transition zones between dry upland ecosystems and deeper aquatic habitats. For instance, each Florida wetland area is unique according to its surrounding geologic, hydrologic, and climatic conditions. In other words, these are unique habitats for different species. When we come to the Florida wetlands, it can be said that these are the key to maintaining the health of Florida’s naturally watery places. Especially, they provide flood control, aquifer recharge, coastal protection, and also help filter pollutants from the ecosystem (University of Florida n.pag).
Florida wetlands history and present status
It is estimated that wetlands cover almost 30% of the state of Florida and account for just over 10% of the remaining wetland area in the lower 48 United States. In the past, up to 2/3 of land in Florida was a wetland. Researchers have found that in the past 200 years Florida has lost an estimated 10 million acres of wetland, about half of the total area believed to have existed in the 1780s. There are several reasons attributed to this decrease. Though there are several well-known wetlands such as the Florida Everglades, the loss has been immense over the years. These wetlands play a vital role in flood protection, water quality, and wildlife habitat in Florida (Clark SL 217).
It was also estimated that major drainage of land began in the 1880s. This, together with the increasing population in Florida in the past decades after World War II, resulted in an incredible loss of wetlands. In the last 150 years or so Florida has lost more than 60% (approximately more than 12 million acres) of its wetlands. This drastic reduction in wetlands resulted in the declining fisheries in the 1970s, the “dying” of Lake Okeechobee, and saltwater intrusion into coastal aquifers. A number of state and federal acts were passed in the 1970s to better protect and manage wetlands in Florida (Natural Resources Conservation Service n.pag).
It is a well-known fact that wetlands are highly productive because of the regular inputs such as water, sediments, and nutrients. As result vegetation grows very rapidly in wetlands, producing a great deal of food for plant-eating animals especially found in these habitats and also timber for various purposes. Besides, the plant material which is not consumed by the aquatic organisms is broken down into rich organic soil as well as a substance called “detritus.” This detritus is very important as it is the main item on the menu of many aquatic animals.
Additionally, it is projected that as much as 90% of the commercial and sport fish depend on the food produced in wetlands. Since the food and habitat provided by wetland plants, wetlands are very productive for various groups of animals. In general, wetlands serve as nursery grounds for many of the commercially important fish, shellfish, and wildlife. Besides, numerous endangered and threatened species, like the wood stork and the Florida panther, are dependent upon wetlands for their survival.
Wetlands are also significant because of the amount of water that they can hold and the method and rate that water passes through them. It also plays an important role as most groundwater supplies are recharged from the water that collects in wetlands and then infiltrates into the ground.
For the period of the storm, and soon afterward the storms, wetlands are of great significance. Wetlands collect and accumulate the excess stormwater that runs off uplands in addition to the waters from flooding rivers. As a result these act as a protection against floods by providing transitory storage areas for this floodwater. Wetlands slow down the rate at which the water level rise and decrease the altitude of floodwaters. This buffering capacity aids to protect people and properties of the upland from flood damage. Additionally, the vegetation in the wetland and gradually sloping topography is also known to absorb much of the energy from fast-flowing waters and waves, thus defensive the shorelines from erosion (dep.state.fl.us 1-10).
It is only in recent years that Florida has lost the precious wetlands. Recent studies published that Florida has lost more than 2.6 lakh acres of freshwater, emergent wetlands during 1985-1996. It was also estimated that the rate of loss of this wetland doubled as compared to the rate during the 1970s-1980s period. Wetlands, predominantly freshwater emergent wetlands, are essential for waterfowl and other wildlife. Wetland habitat in wintering areas, such as Florida, is important in the overall annual cycle of migratory waterfowl. Still, this precious habitat continues to decrease. Only after Florida became a state, total wetland area has decreased by approximately 44%.
According to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC), habitat conditions during the non-breeding period affect waterfowl survival and reproduction in the following years. For instance, Ducks and geese need to preserve or improve their body condition during winter to prevent death during the spring migration and to meet the physiological demands of the nesting season. Today due to the awareness created, the FWC’s waterfowl staff particularly devotes their substantial resources to monitoring and managing these migrant birds and providing quality habitat for them in Florida.
Wetland habitat management in Florida is significant to providing the utmost quantity and maximum quality of habitat possible to support Florida’s waterfowl and other wetland-dependent wildlife. The significance of conserving quality habitats for wildlife is essential. Without a good habitat place such as the breeding, migration, and wintering areas, waterfowl populations will decrease in spite of any attempt to limit sport harvest. Wetland habitat management has importance beyond its value to waterfowl by having significance on many other Florida plant and wildlife species.
Wetlands in Florida are also known to perform a number of other functions. For instance, wetlands store water, maintaining the water table for urban and agricultural supplies. As mentioned earlier, they also help prevent flooding in adjacent and downstream areas by slowly releasing water after raining to rivers or lakes via groundwater. They are a rich habitat for unique organisms. Coastal fringing wetlands like mangroves or brackish marshes buffer landward property from storm surges.
Additionally, wetlands are also known to calm down shorelines of estuaries, lakes, and rivers, thereby defending against erosion caused by waves and river currents. The coastal wetlands in Florida are nursery areas for economically valuable fish and shellfish such as shrimp, redfish, trout, snook, and crabs. Over 2/3 of the commercially important fish and shellfish species in Florida depend on wetlands at some point in their life cycles. Wetlands throughout other states are habitats for threatened and endangered species like black bears, bald eagles, manatees, panthers, and pitcher plants.
Wetlands recharge groundwater supplies which are a major source of drinking water and prevent invasion of saltwater into coastal county aquifers particularly used for drinking water and other purposes. Wetlands in Florida also help water quality by filtering pollutants in urban and agricultural runoff before they reach lakes, streams, and estuaries. This in turn helps to stop problems such as hydrilla growth, loss of seagrass beds, and fish kills (Natural Resources Conservation Service n.pag). Even though wetlands are good at filtering and removing pollutants, there are limits to these capabilities. If these wetlands are overloaded, not only will pollutants reach the open water bodies (river and sea), but the pollutants could damage the wetlands’ habitat and reduce their filtering capacity.
Some major sources of water pollution especially in some parts of Florida wetland include sewage, industrial waste, and stormwater runoff. Stormwater runoff sometimes contains oils, greases, and heavy metals particularly from roads and parking lots, fertilizers and pesticides from lawns and farmland, and nutrient-rich animal waste from dairies and feedlots. These discharges are toxic to wildlife as well as people, while other pollutants contain materials that remove the wetlands and surface waters of essential dissolved oxygen necessary for the survival of aquatic organisms. Nutrient-loaded discharges promote the growth of vegetation, such as hydrilla and blue green algae, which again can suffocate open waters and remove dissolved oxygen from the water when these plants die and decay.
Earlier large areas of Florida’s submerged lands were all given away to encourage development as it was believed to be wastelands. Consequently, large areas of the productive estuary were lost to free filling. However, in the past few decades, Florida has experienced tremendous growth in population and has enjoyed an associated boom in the building industry. As developing, regions and the population expand and land becomes even more of a scarce commodity, the price of uplands has greater than before dramatically, while the price of wetland acreage is still low.
Even today wetlands are still being wanted as building sites. Dredging, filling, and other construction activities in, on, or over wetlands and other surface waters can degrade or destroy wetlands. These activities may eradicate habitat used by fish and wildlife, reduce the capacity of the wetlands to remove pollutants, and reduce flood storage capacity. Docks and piers can eradicate submerged vegetation by reducing light penetration. Besides, the wood preservatives in the pilings contain toxic materials that can leach into the water.
Erosion control structures can stabilize the targeted shoreline but may increase erosion off-shore and on adjacent shorelines. Construction activities in the water also may cause the suspension of sediments, which can use up dissolved oxygen (causing fish kills), reduce light diffusion through the water column, and cover living organisms when it settles out (killing plants, fish eggs, and coral).
Microorganisms mediate nutrient cycling in ecosystems, particularly in the wetlands. Any modifications in the environment will likely alter their biogeochemical function (McLatchey and Reddy, 1268–1274). Consequently, microorganisms have been proposed as early indicators of wetland change (Adamus et al., n.pag). For instance, studies found that within a single plant community in Florida (i.e., Cladium) nutrient impact increased soil and detrital ergosterol and detrital bacterial counts, and decreased AM fungal colonization (Grierson and Adams).
Added to these the hydrologic alterations, such as damming or channelizing streams, can also do a great deal of harm to wetlands. These changes can destroy wetlands by accumulating too much water, removing too much water, changing the pattern of materials imported into or exported from the wetland, or changing the incidence and duration of irregular water levels that are required by certain types of wetlands. The distorted flow patterns can also concentrate pollutants, cause erosion, cause sedimentation, and reduce valuable shallow-water habitats (dep.state.fl.us 1-10). Florida’s wetlands are seriously damaged by agricultural, urban, and other human activities. This effect can be easily seen in several subtropical freshwater wetlands in Florida, especially in the Everglades. Given the environmental and political interest in these wetlands, there is an urgent need for a centralized repository and mechanism to share geospatial data, information, and maps of Florida’s wetlands and adjacent agricultural ecosystems.
In conclusion, as we know that wetlands are very sensitive ecological regions, any alterations can have a great impact on the microorganisms, aquatic organisms, and other organisms. It is important to safeguard the environment and also protect the life on earth. It is only possible through a sustainable and balanced approach towards development. Even a small change in water levels or the influx of pollutants can have considerable effects on the functions of wetlands. It is important that these areas need to be protected from abuse and destruction in order to maintain a healthy environment.
Given all the benefits of wetlands, it is important that we recognize what kinds of activities threaten these important areas, and ultimately, all of us. It is therefore very essential for the government to formulate policies that will benefit in long term and reduce the burden on the environment particularly in the wetlands in Florida. Since Florida wetlands support a wide range of rare and endangered aquatic plants and wildlife, and humans have relied on these wetlands as a source of food and recreation for centuries, conservation is essential.
Work Cited
Adamus, P., Danielson, T.J., Gonyaw, A.. Indicators for Monitoring Biological Integrity of Inland Freshwater Wetlands—A Survey of North American Technical Literature (1990–2000). USEPA Office of Water, Wetlands Division (4502F), EPA 843-R-01-Fall, (2001) Washington, DC.
Clark, M. Florida Wetlands: 2007. Web.
Florida State of the Environment — Wetlands: A Guide to Living with Florida’s Wetlands, 2007. Web.
Grierson, P.F., Adams, M.A. Plant species affect acid phosphatase, ergosterol, and microbial P in a Jarrah (Eucalyptus marginata Donn ex Sm.) forest in south-western Australia. Soil Biol. Biochem. 32, (2000) 1817–1827.
Hackney, C.T., Padgett, D.E., Posey, M.H., Fungal and bacterial contributions to the decomposition of Cladium and Typha leaves in nutrient enriched and nutrient poor areas of the Everglades, with a note on ergosterol concentrations in Everglades soils. Mycol. Res. 104, (2000). 666–670.
McLatchey, G.P., Reddy, K.R.,. Regulation of organic matter decomposition and nutrient release in a wetland soil. J. Environ. Qual. 27, (1998) 1268–1274.
MyFWC.com Wetland Habitat Conservation (1999). Web.
Natural Resources Conservation Service Fact sheet: Why Florida’s Wetlands are Important (2004). Web.
University of Florida Wetlands Plant Management in Florida Waters (2003). Web.
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