Stress: Regulation of Wetlands in the United States

Regulation of Wetlands in the United States

Defining Wetlands and their Value

A wetland refers to a place where water covers the soil. A wetland is a saturated land that comprises of swamps or marshes. Lewis defines a wetland as, "an ecosystem that depends on constant or recurrent, shallow inundation or saturation at or near the surface of the substrate" (p.3). He further ascertains that the minimum necessary qualities of a wetland are sustained inundation, saturation or recurrent at or near the surface and the existence of chemical, biological and physical facets that reflect recurrent, saturation and sustained inundation (Lewis 3). The major diagnostic wetland features include hydrophytic vegetation and hydric soils. These characteristics present biotic, anthropogenic or physicochemical features apart from where the growth of these aspects has been blocked (Lewis 3). The wetlands are located near rivers, oceans, lakes or...
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