May is American Wetlands Month

American Wetlands Month was created to celebrate the vital importance of wetlands to the Nation's ecological, economic, and social health and to educate people about the value of wetlands as a natural resource. The annual celebration of American Wetlands Month in May inspires people to work throughout the year to protect, preserve, and expand wetlands.

Celebrate American Wetlands Month and Wade into USGS Wetlands Research

Bogs, marshes, estuaries, coral reefs, lagoons, swamps, prairie potholes, lakes, pocosins, vernal pools, mudflats, fens, ponds, mires, deltas, billabongs, lagoons, floodplains: wetlands are the unsung heroes of the world's ecosystems. They are critical to the world's environmental, ecological, and socioeconomic health.

USGS Terrestrial, Freshwater, and Marine Environments Program

Civilization depends on life-support services that natural ecosystems perform, including regulating climate, mitigating floods and drought, protecting shorelines from erosion, purifying air and water, detoxifying and decomposing wastes, and pollinating crops and natural vegetation. Healthy ecosystems provide habitat for diverse fish and wildlife communities.

Wetlands and Riparian Areas

May marks American Wetlands Month, a time to celebrate the important role wetlands play in our Nation's environmental, ecological and socio-economic health. Wetlands provide many significant benefits for fish and wildlife as well as society. The inherent, unique natural characteristics of wetlands include protecting and improving water quality, providing fish and wildlife habitat, floodwater storage, coastal protection, and increased water storage and supply.

Wetlands

Types of Wetlands

Coastal Wetlands (Tidal)

Inland Wetlands (Non-Tidal)

Wetland Resources

Wetlands and Watershed Videos

Listen: Wade into Wetlands Research

May is American Wetlands Month—so we're taking some time out to talk about this important National Treasure that shelters us from storms and provides a unique habitat for wildlife. Jennifer LaVista asks USGS National Wetlands Research Center Director, Phil Turnipseed a few questions on the importance of wetlands

Listen: Farming Carbon to Help the Atmosphere and the Land

Long-standing farming practices in California's Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta expose fragile peat soils to wind, rain and cultivation, emit carbon dioxide (CO2) and cause land subsidence. To capture or contain the carbon, farmers would "grow" wetlands. In doing so, they would begin to rebuild the Delta's unique peat soils, take CO2 out of the atmosphere, ease pressure on the Delta's aging levees, and infuse the region with new economic potential. We learn more from USGS bio-geochemist Robin Miller about how this could help California, the nation, and the world.

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