Importance Of Wetlands

"The swamps and marshes of coastal Louisiana are among the Nation's most fragile and valuable wetlands, vital not only to recreational and agricultural interests but also the State's more than $1 billion per year seafood industry. The staggering annual losses of wetlands in Louisiana are caused by human activity as well as natural processes. U.S. Geological Survey scientists are conducting important studies that are helping planners to understand the life cycle of wetlands by detailing the geologic processes that shape them and the coast, and by providing geologic input to models for mitigation strategies." This statement was made by S. Jeffress Williams from the United States Geological Survey (USGS) which paints the clear picture of the situational circumstance of the Southern Louisiana wetlands. The wetlands that exist on the coast of Southern Louisiana play a vital role to the terrestrial and aquatic regions near and around this area. In understanding the importance of wetlands, it is important to understand the characteristics, features, and formation of these special landforms.

Wetlands are landforms that are natural resources that have different definitions or explanations to describe what they are and their important significance. In general, wetlands are lands or regions that are inundated or saturated with water; the water can be freshwater, groundwater, seawater (saltwater), brackish water, or briny water. The formation of this saturated environment develops unique soil and shallow waters which creates the existence of distinct biodiversity in the habitats and ecosystems of wetlands. Wetlands are also very unique because they combine two habitats (ecosystems) together to make one. Wetlands are a junction of land and ...

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... modifications including the building of dams, production of sediment traps, and withholding of valuable land resources, which have all continued to diminish and add to the demise of the Southern Louisiana wetlands. Of course there are other factors to be considered and unexplained events that also contribute to such great losses. Through education, awareness, prevention, preservation, restoration, and regulation the fate of the Southern Louisiana wetlands can possibly be managed in order to sustain such a vital asset and natural resource. The geologic framework, ecological importance, and biological significance are just some of the reasons that the reality of the saying “Saving Our Wetlands” has not only become a critical response of emergency, but an inevitable response that requires action before this precious and vital resource becomes something of the past.