Did You Know?
Prairie Potholes are the primary wetland type in the Dakotas. Large, round depressions that collect seasonal rushes of rainwater, prairie potholes are vital to the survival of more than 300 bird species. This region is so important to waterfowl that it is often called the "Duck Factory of North America." It is annually responsible for producing 50 percent of the total number of ducks for eight of the 12 most common species that breed there. Retreating glaciers carved out nearly 25 million prairie pothole wetlands. This amazing density--an average of 83 potholes per square acre--is unparralleled in North America. Primarily due to agriculture, North Dakota has lost half of its natural wetlands; South Dakota has lost more than a third. |
Why WE Are Wetlands
Wetlands and clean water touch everyone's lives, providing a wide variety of societal, economic and recreational benefits. Parents want clean drinking water for their children. Families want to live where they are not fearful of their homes being flooded. Sportsmen want to protect habitat for fish and wildlife and to enjoy the chance to hunt and fish.
Wetlands help address all of these needs — and many more.
Wetlands are the connections between water and land. They can be wet year-round, but often only are seasonally moist. Wetlands include the things we call:
- marshes
- swamps
- bogs
- fens
- prairie potholes
- playa lakes
- vernal pools, and
- intermittent and ephemeral streams
However we choose to refer to them, a truth holds: wetlands are among the most productive and fertile ecosystems in the world.
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© 2008 We Are Wetlands