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News

Celebrate Iowa's wetlands on World Wetlands Day

2/2/2021

1 Comment

 
Today is World Wetlands Day, an annual event to "raise global awareness about the vital role of wetlands for people and our planet. This day also marks the date of the adoption of the Convention on Wetlands on 2 February 1971"

What is a wetland?
According to U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, "Wetlands are lands transitional between terrestrial and aquatic systems where the water table is usually at or near the surface or the land is covered by shallow water. For the purposes of this classification wetlands must have one or more of the following three attributes:
(1) at least periodically, the land supports predominantly hydrophytes;
(2) the substrate is predominantly undrained hydric soil; and
(3) the substrate is nonsoil and is saturated with water or covered by shallow water at some time during the growing season of each year." (Source: USGS National Water on Wetland Water Resources).
​
Picture
Wetland in Shelby, Iowa. photo by Lance Brisbois
Why they matter:
A few wetland facts from Iowa Association of Naturalists' Iowa's Biological Communities series on Iowa Wetlands:
  • "Approximately 99 percent of Iowa's once plentiful prairie marshes have been destroyed.
  • More than 1,200 species of plants make U.S. freshwater wetlands their home.
  • More than 10,000 invertebrate species are adapted to life in freshwater wetlands.
  • The majority of Iowa's endangered species live in, or association with, wetlands. • Wetlands filter pollutants from soil runoff, and help control flooding."

Most of Iowa's wetlands were located in the Des Moines Lobe, known as the Prairie Pothole region due to the abundance of small lakes, ponds, and wetlands from the most recent glaciation. But even western Iowa had plenty of wetlands. The early General Land Office surveys from the mid-19th Century shows wet areas in the rolling hills of northern Shelby and Pottawattamie counties, for example. While these areas are generally well-drained, beaver dams on small streams likely helped create many of the wetlands. The Missouri Alluvian Plain and valleys of other large rivers also had wetlands, as they flooded regularly prior to channelization and damming. ​
Picture
Map of northern Shelby County from General Land Office survey indicating wet areas in blue. Source: Iowa Geographic Map Server (http://minneapolis.gis.iastate.edu/)
Picture
Map of northern Pottawattamie County from General Land Office survey indicating wet areas in blue. Source: Iowa Geographic Map Server (http://minneapolis.gis.iastate.edu/)
Wetlands offer many benefits to people, wildlife, land, and water. They are sometimes called "nature's kidneys" due to their ability to cleanse water before it enters streams and rivers. They absorb excess nutrients and chemicals from agriculture and industry, as well as trap sediment from soil erosion. They capture excess water and slowly soak it into the ground, which reduces flooding. 

Wetlands can also provide recreational opportunities like hunting, trapping, fishing, wildlife watching, birding, and paddling. Living or even spending time near biodiversity, greenery, and water have all been shown to improve well-being and happiness.
Picture
Wetland in Shelby, Iowa. photo by Lance Brisbois
Areas that are often too wet for farming can be problematic for farmers, but several funding programs are available to restore wetlands and make it profitable, including the Wetland Reserve Program, Conservation Reserve Program, Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program, and Farmable Wetlands Program (Source: NRCS Restoring Iowa Wetlands).
​

This video from Iowa Outdoors provides a great summary of wetland restoration in Iowa.
And this video from The Nature Conservancy is an excellent primer on the benefits of Iowa's wetlands.
​Learn more about World Wetlands Day and how you can help protect and restore these fragile and endangered ecosystems at worldwetlandsday.org
More Links & Resources
  • East & West Nishnabotna Watershed Coalition
  • Iowa DNR Wetlands page
  • Ducks Unlimited Wetland Conservation
  • The Nature Conservancy in Iowa - The Power of Wetlands
1 Comment
Kelly link
2/24/2023 01:01:07 am

Wonderful post, thanks for sharing.

Reply



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