Menu

Skip to content
  • Home|
  • About|
  • Participate|
  • Social Directory|

The Well:

MBL News from the Source

You are here: Home / Wetlands and the MBL

Wetlands and the MBL

Published on February 1, 2021
Wetlands and the MBL
Share on Facebook
Facebook
Pin on Pinterest
Pinterest
Tweet about this on Twitter
Twitter
Share on LinkedIn
Linkedin

February 2 is World Wetlands Day—a day to raise awareness about the role wetlands play in the health of ecosystems around the world. At the Marine Biological Laboratory, scientists at our Ecosystems Center have been studying these vital ecosystems for more than 40 years.

This year’s World Wetlands Day theme, Wetlands and Water, highlights the value of freshwater wetlands as people around the globe face a freshwater crisis. Humans use more freshwater than nature can replenish and, at the same time, are systematically destroying freshwater wetland ecosystems.

“Wetlands are productive and vital ecosystems that enhance water quality, store carbon, maintain surface water flows, and can help control stream erosion,” said Anne Giblin, director of the MBL Ecosystems Center.  “Freshwater wetlands are biologically diverse and support a large number of threatened and endangered species. Unfortunately, for centuries these areas were not valued and wetlands were filled and swamps were drained to ‘reclaim’ land.”

Marshes—both freshwater and saltwater—act as nurseries to a number of vital species and aid in the reduction of storm surge. They reduce nitrogen loads from land, helping to alleviate coastal eutrophication. With atmospheric carbon dioxide levels rising, wetland ecosystems, which store more carbon per area than almost any other ecosystem on earth, are more vital than ever.

Posted in @MBL, MBL Spotlight | Tagged Ecosystems

Post navigation

← Turning On the Switch for Plasticity in the Human Brain Science Meets Magical Realism in Son of Monarchs | Scientific American →

@MBL

  • MBL to Honor Ten for Significant Contributions to Science and to the Lab
  • Paul Alivisatos Named 14th President of University of Chicago
  • The Sky’s the Limit for Black In Neuro
  • Wetlands and the MBL
  • MBL’s 2020 Highlights
  • “Take Five” with Virologist Paul E. Turner
  • Digital Learning Lesson: Butterfly Metamorphosis
  • Nobel Prize to CRISPR Pioneers Highlights the Power of Basic Research
  • A Spotlight on Cephalopod Research
  • In Case You Missed It: Highlights of MBL Summer Digital Programming
Archived Posts

MBL Spotlight

  • Nipam Patel on MBL’s 133 Years of Scientific Discovery | Woods Hole Historical Museum
  • MBL March Madness: Ecdysozoan Division
  • MBL March Madness: Lophotrochozoan Division
  • MBL March Madness: Deuterostome Division
  • MBL March Madness: Non-Bilaterian Division
  • A Partnership With and For Women
  • Dr. Jewel Plummer Cobb Blazed a Path for Black Women in Science | ABC7 New York
  • Celebrating Women in Science at the MBL
  • Wetlands and the MBL
  • University Announces Strengthened Partnership with MBL | The Chicago Maroon
Archived Posts

MBL in the News

  • Model Organisms on Roads Less Traveled | Nature Methods
  • White House Appoints MBL Alumna Jane Lubchenco to Key Climate Science Position
  • REU Student at MBL is Third Author on Paper Receiving National Attention | Ripon Press
  • Octopuses, Like People, Seem To Have Active Stages Of Sleep, May Dream | NPR
  • What to Expect When You’re Expecting… A Signal from Space | CTV W5
  • U.S. Global Change Research Should Focus on Preparing for the Worst | National Academies
  • One of the World’s Most Venomous Animals Is a Snail | The Atlantic

Subscribe to the Well

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts.

Copyright © 2021 Marine Biological Laboratory