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Texas Treasures: Wetlands

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Texas Treasures: Wetlands TEXAS PARKS AND WILDLIFE Wet la nd s a vanishing treasure? Wetlands are more important than you might imagine. They are one of Texas’ most valuable natural treasures. Wetlands provide flood protection, improve water quality and provide millions of Imagine... dollars in economic benefits each year. Yet, Texas has lost more than half of its wetlands in the past Rivers laden with silt 200 years. Texas wetlands have been drained, filled, used as dumps and generally misunderstood. and debris Migrating birds without a place to rest Young fish without food and shelter Imagine Texas without wetlands WETLANDS ARE THE TYPICAL WETLAND FEATURES: IN-BETWEEN PLACES WHERE THE WATER MEETS THE LAND. THEY ARE LARGE AND SMALL, PERMANENT AND ONLY OCCASIONAL, ON THE COAST OR IN THE DESERT. WETLANDS ARE SHORELINES, L WATER that stands or flows L PLANTS that have L SOILS that develop in oxygen- MARSHES, MUDDY SWAMPS OR gently through low areas for at least adapted to life in wet poor conditions and are saturated STREAM BANKS. part of the year environments for at least part of the year WETLANDS ARE MORE THAN SIMPLE SWAMPS OR PONDS. THEY ARE COMPLICATED COASTAL WETLANDS ECOSYSTEMS THAT WORK FOR Salt water or a combination of salt and fresh ALL LIVING THINGS EVERY DAY, water mixed together Playa Lakes ALL THE TIME. Plants that have adapted to changes in salinity Bottomland Hardwoods LIFE GATHERS AROUND Coastal shorelines, shallow bays and inlets, swamps, marshes, mud flats and deltas Riparian & Spring-fed WETLANDS, AND WETLANDS Trans-Pecos Springs & Wetlands SUPPORT LIFE. FRESHWATER WETLANDS Riparian Rainfall, springs, rivers and other sources Wetlands TEXAS WETLANDS ARE Plants that survive fluctuating water Coastal Marshes & conditions ONE OF OUR MOST PRECIOUS Prairie Depressions AND THREATENED Riverbanks, streamsides, lake shores, floodplains, bottomlands, marshes, seeps, ENVIRONMENTAL TREASURES. ponds and swamps South Texas Resacas & Depressions 3 Why are Wetlands so important Different parts of wetlands do different jobs. Some jobs are physical, such as capturing Up to 90% of Texas’ salt and sediments (soil and debris) during a flood; others are chemical, such as breaking down freshwater fish species depend on pollutants; still other jobs are biological, such as providing nursery and spawning wetlands for food, spawning and grounds for fish and habitat for wildlife. nursery grounds. Wetlands provide many benefits to people as well, making our lives easier and safer. Texas is one of North America’s most important waterfowl THE BENEFITS OF WETLANDS wintering areas. Every year, as many as 5 million migrating IMPROVE WATER QUALITY forage fish to larger predatory? fish to birds depend on Texas’ wetlands Wetlands absorb and filter sediments, birds, mammals and people. for food, water, shelter and nutrients and other natural and man- nesting areas. made pollutants that would otherwise PROVIDE HABITAT damage rivers, lakes and streams. Wetlands provide both temporary and The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service permanent homes for thousands of species of fish, mollusks, birds, estimates that up to 43% of SUPPORT THE FOOD WEB amphibians, reptiles, mammals and North America’s threatened or Because wetlands trap and hold nutrients, they increase the food supply insects. These animals, in turn, provide endangered species depend on all the way up the food chain: from us with clues about the health of the wetlands for survival. aquatic invertebrates and shellfish to ecosystem and its water quality. 4 REDUCE POLLUTION HELP CREATE JOBS, PRODUCTS Wetlands trap oil, nitrogen, phosphorus, sewage Many of the natural products we buy or sell–from and other pollutants. Because wetlands naturally fish, shrimp and trees to crops like rice–depend help break down and absorb pollutants in the on wetlands, too. Wetland-related businesses water, wetlands save cities and towns up to $1.6 generate hundreds of millions of dollars each year. billion a year in clean-up costs In 1992 alone, the wetland- to water supplies. dependent shrimp harvest had a dockside value of $145 million. CONTROL EROSION PROVIDE FUN AND Sediments settling in RELAXATION rivers and streams can Texas is known around the world for great kill aquatic animals hunting and fishing. Without healthy wetland and damage habitats. habitats the fish, birds and game animals would They can also clog simply not be here. Wetlands are also enjoyed by waterways creating millions of photographers, boaters, hikers and problems for boats wildlife watchers who enjoy the natural beauty and barges trying to that wetlands provide. navigate through the water. Wetland vegetation helps maintain a natural and REDUCE FLOOD DAMAGE healthy shoreline. During a flood, the force of the water flowing through an area often causes more damage than RECHARGE GROUNDWATER rain and wind combined. Wetland plants help In many parts of Texas, water is stored naturally stem the flow, reducing erosion and, over time, underground and is called groundwater. Water slowly releasing floodwater into rivers, streams, may be held in the tiny spaces between soil underground aquifers and the atmosphere. particles or in large underground caverns. Many Protecting wetlands saves up to $30 billion a areas of Texas depend on groundwater for year in flood-related repair costs in the United drinking and irrigation. Wetlands help water seep States alone. into these underground reservoirs. 5 EAST TEXAS WETLANDS GULF COAST WETLANDS BOTTOMLANDS in East GULF COAST WETLANDS are Texas include forested defined by their mix of salt and wetlands, swamps, marshes, fresh water, although sometimes seeps and oxbow lakes. the water is entirely fresh. Coastal wetlands provide habitat for Flooding rivers and streams millions of migrating waterflowl shape bottomlands and affect and protection from storms that the number and type of erode the shoreline. Bays and plants here. Bottomland estuaries are nursery and plants help hold soil in place, spawning areas for marine species preventing erosion and and habitat for oysters and clams filtering pollutants from water. that filter tons of pollutants out of Gulf Coast waters. TIDAL WETLANDS include William A. White barrier islands, tidal flats, bays, marshes and bayous. Look for these plants and animals: PRAIRIE DEPRESSIONS AND FORESTED WETLANDS are found just Bald Cypress • Water Oak • Willow Oak • Overcup outside of the tidal zone. Oak • Water Hickory • Green Ash • Pecan • Possumhaw Holly • Buttonbush • Planertree • Look for these plants and animals: Swamp Privet • Smartweed • Arrowhead • Sedge • Shoalgrass • Widgeongrass • Manateegrass • Bladderwort Cutgrass • Arrow Arum • Turtlegrass • Mangrove • Sedge • Rush • Cattail Lizard’s Tail • Spiderlily Sandpiper • Plover • Red-winged Blackbird • Mallard • Wood Duck • Eastern Wild Turkey • Pine Flounder • Redfish • Spotted Sea Trout • Warbler • Red-eyed Vireo • Swamp Rabbit • Gray and Fox Squirrel • Raccoon • Kemp’s Ridley Sea Turtle • Crab • Oyster • River Otter • Beaver • Alligator • Snapping Turtle • Water Moccasin Clam • Mussel • Shrimp Did you know? Did you know? 101 species of birds breed in East Texas. Coastal wetlands support 60-90% of the commercial fisheries in the U.S. 116 species of fish inhabit East Texas bottomlands during seasonal flooding. Saltwater fishing in Texas generates $2 billion annually. 6 SOUTH TEXAS WETLANDS HIGH PLAINS, ROLLING PLAINS WETLANDS SAND SHEET WETLANDS PLAYAS are shallow, depressional are small isolated depressions. wetlands that are generally round They are found in places where and small, averaging 17 acres in size. wind exposes clay soils that They naturally fill with water trap and hold rain water. These periodically from rainfall. They depressions often provide the produce a highly diverse plant only fresh water for wildlife in a community that provides important normally dry environment. habitat for waterfowl and other birds which migrate and winter in RESACAS are former channels the region. Most playa lakes are of the Rio Grande River that surrounded by agricultural fields. have been cut off from the This situation can create a number river and filled with silt and of impacts on playas including water creating marshes and pesticide and fertilizer runoff, ponds. Because most sand contaminants from feedlot runoff, sheet wetlands and resacas are overgrazing and sedimentation. ephemeral (short-lived), the plants and wildlife using them vary seasonally depending on the quantity and RIPARIAN WETLANDS occur along banks of creeks, rivers and lakes. In an otherwise quality of the available water. open prairie, riparian wetlands provide food and cover for many birds and animals. Look for these plants and animals: Look for these plants and animals: Duckweed • Saltmarsh Spikerush • Common Spikerush • Curly dock • Bulrush • Cattail • Cattail • Smartweed • Live Oak • Wax Myrtle • Smartweed • Pondweed • Woolyleaf Bursage • Plantain • Silverleaf Sunflower • Panic Grass Barnyard Grass • Plains Cottonwood • Buttonbush • Netleaf Hackberry • Native Greenjay • Caracara • Grooved-bill Ani • Red- Plum • Roughleaf Dogwood winged Blackbird • Swallowtail Butterfly • Leopard Frog • Indigo Snake • Catfish • Sunfish • Long-billed Curlew • American Avocet • Bobcat • Ocelot Killdeer • Mountain Plover • Lark Bunting • American Kestrel • Bald Eagle • Coyote • Fox • Raccoon 7 CENTRAL TEXAS WETLANDS TRANS-PECOS WETLANDS SPRING-FED WETLANDS are CIÉNEGAS are small, islolated pools and seeps (places where spring-fed wetlands that occur water oozes from the ground) only in desert areas of
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