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What is a WETLAND?
- Simply put, a wetland is just as it
sounds—wet land. A good rule of
thumb to remember is: “A wetland is any land that is submerged, soggy,muddy,mushy,mucky,
sticky, spongy, soaked, waterlogged, saturated, sodden, flooded, squishy-squashy or pretty
much just wet clear through for a good part of the year.”
- A COASTAL WETLAND is any land that is
flooded or submerged during an average high tide.
Therefore, it is said to be TIDALLY INFLUENCED. Some coastal wetlands are public resources
owned by everyone. Examples include tidal saltwater and fresh water marshes, bayous, oyster
reefs, mudflats and the Mississippi Sound.
- As the tides rise and fall, nutrients
are exchanged between the different types of coastal
wetlands. Small, broken pieces of nutrient-rich plant and animal material, called DETRITIS,
are washed out of the marshes into the nearby waterways and vice-versa. These bits of food
are eaten by bacteria and small animals which are, in turn, eaten by larger animals."
From: "Coast Works" an activity book created by the Mississippi Department of Marine Resources