Wetlands: Nature's Pumps and Kidneys
by Barry Babcock
About ten years ago I was asked to guide a Massachusetts film crew on the Mississippi. They were working on a project for the Mississippi River Museum. None on the crew had been in northern Minnesota before. Near the end of my time with them, I asked what in our state impressed them the most, thinking it would be our lakes or forests. All stated it was the prolific wetlands we have.
This somewhat surprised me as I believe most Minnesotans overlook these unique features to our landscape. Some even view them with a degree of contempt, seeing them as an obstacle to development or just simply as “morasses” or “sloughs.”
Most people do not realize the biologic treasures they are. Wetlands are protective places for plant and animal communities. They also act as buffers and filtration systems protecting our watersheds.
Northern Minnesota is a bonanza of wetlands. For instance, Beltrami Island State Forest, a state forest of over 700,000 acres is 93% wetlands according to the National Wetlands Inventory. Unfortunately, we have eliminated over half of our wetlands on a national scale. Most of northwestern Minnesota was wetlands but was ditched and drained for agriculture.
Wetlands have been referred to as natures “kidneys” – absorbing nutrients and pollutants like phosphorus and nitrogen. Much of these nutrients and pollutants are stored in the vegetation and some are trapped in the wetland itself. These are held in the wetland through the summer and generally flushed out the following spring in high water.
Wetlands, besides being nature’s kidneys, are also natures “pumps,” taking in water rain, snow, runoff, streams, and groundwater and pump this moisture back into the ecosystem through evaporation, transpiration, streams, and seepage into our groundwater. While the wetland is doing its thing, it is also purifying the water by absorbing pollutants, acting as holding basins by slowing down the flow of water through ecosystems, buffering rivers and lakes from eroding wave action, and reducing flooding in the spring.
There is no other substitute for these beneficial actions done by our wetlands. And the frosting on the cake is that wetlands are home to a tremendous variety of habitats and life ranging from micro organisms, rare orchids like arethusa, and carnivorous plants like the pitcher plant, breeding places for frogs and other amphibians and reptiles, bog lemmings, water fowl, furbearers, game animals, and much more. They can be something as familiar as a cattail marsh to the foreboding and unfrequented “muskeg.”
Minnesota’s wetlands are young according to the geologic clock. Their development dates back 10,000 years to the retreat of the last glacier. Most owe their origin to massive blocks of ice that became debris covered through various methods such as a block that dropped from the top of a glacial ice river within the ice – a tunnel valley. Some are as recently formed as the pond created by a beaver dam.
There are eight types or classifications of wetlands in Minnesota:
Seasonally flooded
Wet meadow
Shallow marsh
Deep marsh
Shallow open water
Shrub swamp
Wooded swamps
Bogs
Wetlands vary in size and scope. They can range from vernal pools in upland forests that may be wet for no more than several weeks to shallow ponds with up to as much as ten feet of water. Whatever their size, they provide habitat for many creatures and plants.
In 1991, the people of Minnesota deemed that our wetlands are important enough to protect and passed the Wetland Conservation Act. It was seen then as one of the most sweeping wetland protective measures in the country. Representative Willard Munger was a driving force in this legislation as he was in other environmental measures in our state. The basic premise of this law was “no net loss of wetlands.”
According to the Wetland Conservation Act Fact Sheet, the Act works "to retain the benefits of wetlands and reach the legislation’s goal of no-net-loss of wetlands, the Wetland Conservation Act requires anyone proposing to drain, fill, or excavate a wetland first to try to avoid disturbing the wetland; second, to try to minimize any impact on the wetland; and, finally, to replace any lost wetland acres, functions, and values. Certain wetland activities are exempt from the act, allowing projects with minimal impact or projects located on land where certain pre-established land uses are present to proceed without regulation.”
I recently read an email that defended ATV riding in wetlands. The sender claimed that the ruts would open this “stagnant monoculture” to diversity. The message compared a wetland to a sterile red pine tree farm. Not even close.
“Minnesota Wetlands: A primer on their nature and function” is a study put together by a group of hydrologists and biologists for the Audubon Society. According to their findings, “wetlands produce as much plant and animal life as do similarly sized areas of rain forest.”
When you next hear someone say, “What good is a wetland?” Tell them that is a veritable fountain of life and well being.
“Nothing is more troubling than a morass. It is the vague rumor of the reeds, the strange jack-o-lanterns, the profound silence that causes the morass to resemble some dream country hiding a secret, impenetrable and dangerous? No: Another mystery floats in the thick fog, the very mystery of creation, perhaps! For was it not in the stagnant muddy waters, in the heavy humidity of saturated lands, under the heat of the sun, that the first germ of life moved, vibrated and opened itself to the light?” Guy de Maupassant
It’s not surprising that the wetlands of Minnesota had made such an impact on that film crew.
READER COMMENTS:
"Barry's article is one of the finest I've read that describes the functions of wetlands. It is readable and easily understood. I hope it is widely distributed for the general population to read. We need this type of clear information to educate those who misunderstand the importance of these gems we have in Minnesota!" -
Jerry Bahs
"Excellent article on our wetlands. I often write about bog gardens and I usually mention the fact that our state has an abundance of wetlands--something many would envy in these days of water shortages in the Southwest and other parts of the country. Great job, Barry!" - Margaret Haapoja
About ten years ago I was asked to guide a Massachusetts film crew on the Mississippi. They were working on a project for the Mississippi River Museum. None on the crew had been in northern Minnesota before. Near the end of my time with them, I asked what in our state impressed them the most, thinking it would be our lakes or forests. All stated it was the prolific wetlands we have.
This somewhat surprised me as I believe most Minnesotans overlook these unique features to our landscape. Some even view them with a degree of contempt, seeing them as an obstacle to development or just simply as “morasses” or “sloughs.”
Most people do not realize the biologic treasures they are. Wetlands are protective places for plant and animal communities. They also act as buffers and filtration systems protecting our watersheds.
Northern Minnesota is a bonanza of wetlands. For instance, Beltrami Island State Forest, a state forest of over 700,000 acres is 93% wetlands according to the National Wetlands Inventory. Unfortunately, we have eliminated over half of our wetlands on a national scale. Most of northwestern Minnesota was wetlands but was ditched and drained for agriculture.
Wetlands have been referred to as natures “kidneys” – absorbing nutrients and pollutants like phosphorus and nitrogen. Much of these nutrients and pollutants are stored in the vegetation and some are trapped in the wetland itself. These are held in the wetland through the summer and generally flushed out the following spring in high water.
Wetlands, besides being nature’s kidneys, are also natures “pumps,” taking in water rain, snow, runoff, streams, and groundwater and pump this moisture back into the ecosystem through evaporation, transpiration, streams, and seepage into our groundwater. While the wetland is doing its thing, it is also purifying the water by absorbing pollutants, acting as holding basins by slowing down the flow of water through ecosystems, buffering rivers and lakes from eroding wave action, and reducing flooding in the spring.
There is no other substitute for these beneficial actions done by our wetlands. And the frosting on the cake is that wetlands are home to a tremendous variety of habitats and life ranging from micro organisms, rare orchids like arethusa, and carnivorous plants like the pitcher plant, breeding places for frogs and other amphibians and reptiles, bog lemmings, water fowl, furbearers, game animals, and much more. They can be something as familiar as a cattail marsh to the foreboding and unfrequented “muskeg.”
Minnesota’s wetlands are young according to the geologic clock. Their development dates back 10,000 years to the retreat of the last glacier. Most owe their origin to massive blocks of ice that became debris covered through various methods such as a block that dropped from the top of a glacial ice river within the ice – a tunnel valley. Some are as recently formed as the pond created by a beaver dam.
There are eight types or classifications of wetlands in Minnesota:
Seasonally flooded
Wet meadow
Shallow marsh
Deep marsh
Shallow open water
Shrub swamp
Wooded swamps
Bogs
Wetlands vary in size and scope. They can range from vernal pools in upland forests that may be wet for no more than several weeks to shallow ponds with up to as much as ten feet of water. Whatever their size, they provide habitat for many creatures and plants.
In 1991, the people of Minnesota deemed that our wetlands are important enough to protect and passed the Wetland Conservation Act. It was seen then as one of the most sweeping wetland protective measures in the country. Representative Willard Munger was a driving force in this legislation as he was in other environmental measures in our state. The basic premise of this law was “no net loss of wetlands.”
According to the Wetland Conservation Act Fact Sheet, the Act works "to retain the benefits of wetlands and reach the legislation’s goal of no-net-loss of wetlands, the Wetland Conservation Act requires anyone proposing to drain, fill, or excavate a wetland first to try to avoid disturbing the wetland; second, to try to minimize any impact on the wetland; and, finally, to replace any lost wetland acres, functions, and values. Certain wetland activities are exempt from the act, allowing projects with minimal impact or projects located on land where certain pre-established land uses are present to proceed without regulation.”
I recently read an email that defended ATV riding in wetlands. The sender claimed that the ruts would open this “stagnant monoculture” to diversity. The message compared a wetland to a sterile red pine tree farm. Not even close.
“Minnesota Wetlands: A primer on their nature and function” is a study put together by a group of hydrologists and biologists for the Audubon Society. According to their findings, “wetlands produce as much plant and animal life as do similarly sized areas of rain forest.”
When you next hear someone say, “What good is a wetland?” Tell them that is a veritable fountain of life and well being.
“Nothing is more troubling than a morass. It is the vague rumor of the reeds, the strange jack-o-lanterns, the profound silence that causes the morass to resemble some dream country hiding a secret, impenetrable and dangerous? No: Another mystery floats in the thick fog, the very mystery of creation, perhaps! For was it not in the stagnant muddy waters, in the heavy humidity of saturated lands, under the heat of the sun, that the first germ of life moved, vibrated and opened itself to the light?” Guy de Maupassant
It’s not surprising that the wetlands of Minnesota had made such an impact on that film crew.
READER COMMENTS:
"Barry's article is one of the finest I've read that describes the functions of wetlands. It is readable and easily understood. I hope it is widely distributed for the general population to read. We need this type of clear information to educate those who misunderstand the importance of these gems we have in Minnesota!" -
Jerry Bahs
"Excellent article on our wetlands. I often write about bog gardens and I usually mention the fact that our state has an abundance of wetlands--something many would envy in these days of water shortages in the Southwest and other parts of the country. Great job, Barry!" - Margaret Haapoja
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