WHAT ARE WETLANDS?

In the framework of World Wetlands Day, we want to raise awareness about the vital importance of these ecosystems for humanity and the planet.

First, we want to share with you what wetlands are. These are an area of ordinarily flat land where the soil surface is covered with water permanently or seasonally; the water can be fresh, salty, or brackish. However, not every soil that fills with water is considered a wetland; for that, the site must contain the liquid for a sufficient period of time for aquatic flora to thrive.

Wetlands also provide habitat for hundreds of invertebrates that, in turn, serve as food for amphibians, birds, reptiles, herbivores, and humans.

Thus, the function of wetlands is indispensable for the eternal balance of the aquifers that regulate the flow of rivers, reduce the force of storms and stabilize the erosion of the coastline.

It is possible to identify six main types of wetlands, according to the Ramsar Regional Center:

Marine: these are those located on the coasts.

Estuarine: located where rivers flow into the sea, for example, mangroves, deltas, and tidal marshes, whose salinity is medium.

Lacustrine: obviously, these are wetlands connected to lakes.

Palustrine: These are wetlands with a marshy appearance, such as marshes and swamps.

Riparian: located on the sides of rivers and streams.

Artificial: created by man for a specific purpose, for example, as reservoirs or nurseries for commercial aquatic species, among others.

Wetlands, unfortunately, are threatened by pollution, water, and climate alterations caused by climate change. These dams alter the natural flow of water by introducing invasive species that disrupt the raw food chains of a specific wetland and by the belief that they are sites of little value, leading to the use of their land as agricultural, grazing, or urban areas.

For this reason, and because of their invaluable importance, in the framework of World Wetlands Day, it is worthwhile, by way of commemoration, to investigate and learn about the role that these ecosystems play in our daily lives today.