Last month, on the 2nd of February, we celebrated World Wetlands Day!

In connection with this special day, we asked Mark to please help us understand wetlands better.

Mark was very happy to answer this question. Have a look at what Mark has to share:

So much of our agriculture worldwide, relies on getting enough water in the right place, at the right time. If we are going to plant any tree anywhere, we need water. Across the globe, our weather systems provide seasonal rainfall, but often this is not enough to sustain what we want to grow in all seasons. So, land managers have sourced water from many different water sources, including natural surface wetlands.

Wetlands are defined by their water-saturated soils and the presence of water-loving plants, which are plants adapted to living in wet conditions. Wetlands are saturated with water, either permanently or seasonally. This saturation creates an environment with unique soil conditions and functions, which shape the adaptations of the plants that call wetlands “home”. They make up just 6 percent of Earth’s surface, and they go by many names: Bogs, swamps, bayous, marshes, billabongs, fens, vernal pools, lagoons, and other waterlogged fields, and forests all fall under the broad wetland category.

If water, salty or fresh, is present on top of or just below the soil, it’s a wetland.

An illustration of a wetland

The demand for water in agriculture and other land uses has resulted in the overuse and loss of wetlands, which are one of our most valuable ecosystems. Wetlands are known for their high biodiversity. They support a wide variety of plant and animal species, many of which are found nowhere else on Earth. These species are proving valuable as a source of genetic diversity and useful bio-products for science, medicine, and industry.

Wetlands also provide important ecosystem services such as water purification, flood control, and nutrient cycling. They are breeding grounds for many of our important fish species. Unfortunately, they also breed mosquitoes and harbor some deadly diseases. This is why humans have such a low regard for wetlands and have historically considered them to be wastelands!

Many have been drained and filled in with sediment to become solid ground for structures like homes, highways, and businesses. But we now realize wetlands are unique natural storage environments for carbon and methane in a safe climate future, and protecting these misunderstood environments can help wildlife thrive and protect us from a changing climate.

In Australia, a re-evaluation of wetlands is underway as one key to underpinning sustainable dryland agriculture. The innovation is called “Natural Sequence Farming” and was developed by Kevin Andrews in the 1980-90s. The main principle is to slow down the movement of water through the landscape and use that moisture for longer during dry periods to sustain our farming systems.

That is creating a modified wetland system where the “farmer” becomes an ecosystem manager. It challenges the existing views about how we treat natural wetlands and delivers multiple ecological and productive benefits. At the heart of the system is the strategic planting of trees for specific functions and uses and promoting cycling of nutrients. You can read about Natural Sequence Farming. 

If we can model our farming systems to be more embracing of the natural ecology, then we can produce more, with fewer inputs, and deliver benefits for all species and the planet for longer!

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Thank you very much for this very interesting article, Mark! This helps us understand wetlands better, and we can now see them in a much different light. We appreciate learning from you!

If you have a question for Mark, send him an email, or leave your question in the comment section below.

For further reading on Wetlands, Mark suggests:

Wetland Habitat – Botany Today
What are wetlands, and why are they so critical for life on Earth? | National Geographic.
What is Natural Sequence Farming? 

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