February 2nd was World Wetlands Day!
This week I found an article on Facebook (see link below*) about the Everglades, in South Florida, USA and then read some more about it and decided to include it here.
The Everglades is a subtropical wetland with a rich ecosystem not found anywhere else in the world. It consists of grass in a water basin (as opposed to grass on dry land) which is a habitat for alligators, crocodiles 🐊 the Florida panther, manatee, tree snail, turtles 🐢, bobcats, deer, black bear 🐻, dolphins 🐬 and 100s of species of birds, including the Bald Eagle. Many plant and animal species are under threat in the Everglades.
The Everglades is endangered because:
1 people who live there and workers such as farmers and business people are all draining the fresh water away from the wetlands. Fertiliser used in agriculture is damaging this area by causing what is known as toxic algal blooms, triggered by cyanobacteria which is distinctive by the blue-green colour of the toxic algae. It poisons sealife in the water which results in food poisoning in humans if they eat contaminated seafood. This type of toxic poisoning has nasty symptoms (vomiting, diarrhoea, dizziness and difficulty breathing) and can be fatal in humans. Even dogs can become very ill from drinking or swimming in toxic algae water (e.g. long-term illness and liver damage). This algae starves plants and sealife from receiving oxygen and daylight so killing off all plant and animal life in the wetland.
2 the most recent problem is rising sea levels whereby saltwater is coming inland so reducing freshwater which destroys habitats of plants and animals. It also means less drinking water for people living in that area.
So now the problem is that there is an imbalance between fresh and salt water which needs ecological management, especially concerning water pressure. The lower the freshwater pressure is, the further inland the seawater can encroach. The Everglades are low-lying so they can be easily overrun by saltwater due to rising sea levels. The saltwater makes peat soil collapse with the end result that the sawgrass dies. Peat soil has the ability to absorb water well which helps to protect the roots of plants and grasses. So if peat soil is eroded, sawgrass roots die off faster. Sawgrass (Cladium Jamaicense) is not actual grass as we know it in our back gardens. It's a tall (growing up to 2.5 metres) thin-leafed, sharp-edged plant with flowers. Hence, managing the ecosystem means trying to keep the saltwater back by timing when to release freshwater so the water pressure is high enough to keep the saltwater back. However, too much fresh water causes flooding so it's a tricky balance to get right.
The peat soil collapsing also causes a spike in CO2 so contributing to climate change. Peat can retain an unlimited amount of carbon so the effects of releasing this into the atmosphere can be drastic. Indeed, peat soil can form large peatlands, which is a type of wetland that is invaluable to the world's ecosystem.
So far, the most promising way forward is mangroves because saltwater doesn't bother their tree/shrub roots which flourish underwater, protecting fish🐟and plants 🌿from pollution by cleansing the water. They grow in tropical and subtropical areas within pools of brackish water (and saltwater) which is what is left behind when peat soil collapses, causing sawgrass to die. Mangroves are considered a vital aspect of fighting climate change because they are extremely hardy e.g. they are resistant to flooding (a problem with low-lying land such as wetlands), protect shorelines from extreme weather 🌧🌀🌪🌊and thrive in excessively salty water. They also store massive amounts of carbon, rather like sawgrass, without the downside of suffering from root damage when flooded. Unlike sawgrass, they can prevent soil erosion so don't release carbon they've stored as CO2 into the atmosphere so they don't contribute to climate change. 🙂👍🗺
*https://www.sciencenews.org/article/florida-everglades-freshwater-saltwater-sea-level-rise
For more on plants in the Everglades, see:
https://www.nps.gov/ever/learn/nature/plants.htm
For a short video on the Everglades National Park (World Heritage Site) see:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=BDHWpkcpvPo
And it's not just about the Everglades in Florida, other types of grass are also very important for the environment, including in the UK. WWF are currently circulating a petition for seagrass:
"We have lost up to 92% of the UK’s seagrass cover. Seagrass captures carbon from the atmosphere up to 35 times faster than tropical rainforests, making it a key weapon in the battle against climate change. Together with Sky Zero, we're calling on the UK Government to act now to reverse the decline of UK ocean health and replant seagrass. Sign the petition to become an #OceanHero"
I've signed the petition! You too can sign the petition at:
https://www.wwf.org.uk/ocean-heroes/sign-petition
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