How do wetlands affect the economy?

How do wetlands affect the economy?

Wetlands contribute to the national and local economies by producing resources, enabling recreational activities and providing other benefits, such as pollution control and flood protection.

What are the consequences of losing wetlands?

Wetlands destruction has increased flood and drought damage, nutrient runoff and water pollution, and shoreline erosion, and triggered a decline in wildlife populations.

Why are wetlands important to fisheries?

They offer critical habitat for fish, waterfowl and other wildlife, they purify polluted waters, and they help check the destructive power of floods and storms. They also provide a wide variety of recreational opportunities such as fishing, hunting, photography, and wildlife observation.

Why are wetlands important to the economy?

How do humans benefit from wetlands?

Wetlands provide many societal benefits: food and habitat for fish and wildlife, including threatened and endangered species; water quality improvement; flood storage; shoreline erosion control; economically beneficial natural products for human use; and opportunities for recreation, education, and research (Figure 28) …

How do humans destroy wetlands?

Human activities cause wetland degradation and loss by changing water quality, quantity, and flow rates; increasing pollutant inputs; and changing species composition as a result of disturbance and the introduction of nonnative species.

What can we do to protect restore wetlands?

The 4 Basic Steps of a Wetland Restoration

1. Step 1: Treatment of invasive species.
2. Step 2: Placement of clean sand and sediment.
3. Step 3: Seeding and planting.
4. Step 4: Maintenance and monitoring.

Are wetlands in danger?

Although modern legislation has greatly slowed wetland loss, the U.S. continues to lose almost 60,000 acres per year. Moreover, the ecological health of our remaining wetlands may be in danger from habitat fragmentation, polluted runoff, water level changes and invasive species, especially in rapidly urbanizing areas.

What are benefits of wetlands?

What are the benefits of wetlands?

• Improved Water Quality. Wetlands can intercept runoff from surfaces prior to reaching open water and remove pollutants through physical, chemical, and biological processes.
• Erosion Control.
• Flood Abatement.
• Habitat Enhancement.
• Water Supply.
• Recreation.
• Partnerships.
• Education.

Why do we need to protect wetlands?

Wetlands are important because they protect and improve water quality, provide fish and wildlife habitats, store floodwaters and maintain surface water flow during dry periods.

What purpose do wetlands serve?

Wetlands and People Far from being useless, disease-ridden places, wetlands provide values that no other ecosystem can. These include natural water quality improvement, flood protection, shoreline erosion control, opportunities for recreation and aesthetic appreciation and natural products for our use at no cost.

What activities can destroy a wetland?

Fire, floods, cyclones and drought are all naturally-occurring processes that have the potential to alter and damage wetland environments. Fire can remove or change habitat available for wildlife around wetlands.

How does the loss of wetlands affect the food chain?

Wetlands loss has already resulted in dwindling numbers of a variety of species and this in turn has had an impact on the food chain and thus other related species. What is most significant about wetlands loss is that it is a chain reaction.

Where are some of the coastal wetlands being lost?

As almost half of the U.S. population lives in coastal counties, continued loss of coastal wetlands means less protection for those communities from strong storms, such as Hurricane Sandy in 2012. Some of the most dramatic coastal wetland loss is occurring in Louisiana.

What’s the economic impact of fishing in wetlands?

The over- all economic impact of recreational fishing is esti- mated at $116 billion (American Sportfishing Association), and wetlands play a crucial role in the life cycle of up to 90 per- cent of the fish caught recreationally.

What are the effects of pollution on wetlands?

Unfortunately, high concentrations of pollution can overwhelm a wetlands’ capacity, leading to dead zones in once-productive waters. Human activities have significantly altered coastal and marine habitat over time. This degradation and loss of habitat has significant economic and social consequences.