World Wetlands Day

The treaty, an international cooperative effort, sets a goal of standardizing the way states organize, and implicitly protect, their wetlands areas.

Convention members also maintain an explicit list of protected wetlands areas in each member state's jurisdiction. The list, Wetlands of International Importance, refers wetland areas that attract multi-state interests as well as wetland areas of ecological significance.

The United States, a member state of the Ramsar Convention since 1987, currently designates twenty two different wetlands areas on the Ramsar list.

The Okefenokee Swamp, on the Georgia, Florida border, one of the listed wetlands, extends for 700 square miles and offers visitors a look at its unique ecology, separated into eight separate habitats.

The ecological diversity supports 233 bird species, 49 mammal species, 64 reptile species, 37 amphibian species and 39 fish species.

Wetland areas need not receive special designation to be considered special. Generally, the term wetlands refers to any land area that is covered in water for an extended period of time.

The interaction of land and water produces ecosystems that provide benefits to human health, livelihood and social well being. For example, wetlands are commonly classified as natural watershed filters, and they help provide clean drinking water to local communities.

Wetlands also provide permanent or temporary home to many migratory bird species, thus providing recreational opportunities for local communities.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) outlines four different types of wetland areas in the United States, marshes, swamps, bogs and fens, with geographic location and water source serving as differentiating factors.

Most people are familiar with the terms marshes and swamps. Swamp areas support a habitat dominated by trees or shrubs. Marsh areas support a habitat dominated by grass or similar vegetation. Both swamps and marshes can be situated along coastal and inland areas.

Bogs and fens, the quaint names given to wetland areas, generally reference water areas in northern regions where glaciers once existed.

Former areas of glaciation tend to produce motley, uneven, land masses based on glacier melt patterns. Standing water is a common characteristic on glacially depressed land areas.

The term bog technically refers to areas where rain represents the primary source of freshwater source. Fens are land areas with an additional ground water source, thereby producing a more diverse ecosystem.

© 2007-2011. Patricia A. Michaels.