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In Canada, wetlands are everywhere. They are found along the shores of oceans, lakes, and rivers, dotted across the prairies, and in countless, poorly-drained depressions in the Canadian shield, throughout river deltas and estuaries and near the shallow bays and inlets along our coasts.
A wetland is simply any area of land that is covered with water for a part of the day or year, for example, a marsh, a swamp, or a bog. There are freshwater and saltwater wetlands. Summer droughts, evaporation, and infiltration can gradually cause freshwater wetlands to dry up, sometimes completely. But even if wet for only a short time each year, the area is still considered a wetland. Saltwater wetlands are usually caused by ocean tides.
What good are wetlands?
Wetlands act like giant sponges, soaking up rain and snowmelt and slowly releasing water in drier seasons. They help to reduce floods and to ease the worst effects of drought. Wetlands also reduce soil erosion by checking or slowing the runoff from storms and thaws.
Without wetlands we would no longer have a ready supply of fresh drinking water. Much like our kidneys, wetlands filter the waters of our lakes, rivers, and streams, reducing pollution. The vegetation in wetlands removes phosphates and other plant nutrients washed in from the surrounding soil, thereby retarding the growth of algae and aquatic weeds. This growth is a serious problem in some of Canada's major waterways where dead and decaying algae rob the deeper waters of their oxygen.
Wetlands are also the homes for at least some part of the year for many fish, birds, and other animals, meeting essential breeding, nesting, nursery, and feeding needs. Without wetlands, some wildlife species would disappear.
Wetlands contribute to the growth and economy of the country. Some of the smaller mammals, such as the beaver and muskrat are important to the fur trade, and the millions of game birds and fish reared in and around wetlands support a growing recreation and tourist industry.
Visit Hinterland Who's Who for more information on the different types of wetlands, where they are located in Canada, the plants and animals that live there and how we can protect them.
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