Wetlands provide the food chain with a remarkable amount of support because they offer an abundant supply of food and water and a wide variety of ecological niches.

Wetlands also limit soil erosion. The plants that take root in them absorb the erosive effects of the wind and slow the abrasive current along the shore as well as sudden water level variations.

By retaining nut...[Full]

Wetlands provide the food chain with a remarkable amount of support because they offer an abundant supply of food and water and a wide variety of ecological niches.

Wetlands also limit soil erosion. The plants that take root in them absorb the erosive effects of the wind and slow the abrasive current along the shore as well as sudden water level variations.

By retaining nutrients, wetlands not only improve water quality, they also play a role in the nutrient recycling process of elements such as nitrogen and phosphorus. Plants absorb and accumulate these elements in their tissues and in the soil and when they die or lose their leaves, the elements are returned to the environment in another form.

Wetlands are equally important in maintaining a balanced carbon cycle. Plants, like animals, give off carbon dioxide into the atmosphere through respiration, but also absorb some by photosynthesis in order to transform it into organic matter. Researchers think that carbon dioxide reserves can offset the negative effects of greenhouse gases produced by humans.

Wetlands play an essential role in all natural cycles, which is why the disturbances from which they suffer have an impact on natural processes at different levels, such as drinking water deterioration and loss, degradation and disappearance of habitat and animal and plant species, an increase in natural disasters and effects on climate change. Source: www.qc.ec.gc.ca[Close]

Wetlands provide the food chain with a remarkable amount of support because they offer an abundant supply of food and water and a wide variety of ecological niches.

Wetlands also limit soil erosion. The plants that take root in them absorb the erosive effects of the wind and slow the abrasive current along the shore as well as sudden water level variations.

By retaining nut...[Full]