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WETLANDS
Encyclopedia ofEnvironmental Ethb and Wedands are found on every continent except Antarctica,
Philosophy, Volume 2, pagel 391-400. and at every latitude from the tropics to the tundra.
Detroit: Macmillan Reference. C 2009, Gale, About 6 percent of the land surface of the Earth is wet-
a part of Cengage Learning. Reproduced by lands, and in the boreal regions this is 11 percent. Wet-
permission. www.cengage.com/permissions. land ecosystems on global scales cover more than 1,280
million hectares, an area 33 percen~ larger than the
United States.
Individual wedands are often relatively transient fea-
tures of a landscape. They may have differing water levels
depending on seasonal changes and climate. They may
fill with debris. Water-loving plants invade the margins
of a lake; as detritus collects, marsh-loving plants replace
them; afterward the bog fills and shrubs and trees can
enter. Meanwhile wetlands will be generated elsewhere
on the landscape.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Burt, William. 2007. Marshn: The Disappearing Edens. New
Haven, Cf: Yale University Press.
Callicott,]. Baird, 2003. "Wedand Gloom, Wedand Glory."
Phi/osophy and Geography 6: 33-45.
Cowardin, Lewis M.; Virginia. Carter; Francis C. Golet; and
Edwud T. LaRoe. 1979. Classification of WetlAnds and
Deepwaur Habitats ofthe United States. Washington, DC:
Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S. Department of the Interior.
Available from http://www.fws.gov
Frazier, Scott. 1999. Rilmsar Sites OvtrView: A Synopsis of the
Wor!tJi WetlAnds of International Importance. Wageningen,
Netherlands: Wetlands International.
Gore, A. J. P., ed. 1983. Ecosystems ofthe Workl, Vol. 4, Mires-
Swamp, Bog, Fm, anti Moor. Amsterdam: Elsevier Scientific.
Kaiser, ]oselyn. 2001. "Recreated Wetlands No Match for
Original." Samce 293(5527): 25.
Maltby, Edward. 1986. Waterlogged Wealth: Why Waste the
WorMj Wet Places? London: Earthscan.
Millennium Ecosystem Assessment. 2000. Ecosystems aNiHuman WeU-
Being: Wetlands and Watn". Washington, DC: World Resources
Institute. Available &om http://www.millenniumassessment.orgl
docwnentsldocument.358.asp:x.pdf