Editing Resource depletion (section)

== Wetlands ==
{{Main|Wetland}}[[Wetland]]s are ecosystems that are often saturated by enough [[surface water|surface]] or [[groundwater]] to sustain [[vegetation]] that is usually adapted to saturated soil conditions, such as [[cattails]], [[bulrush]]es, [[red maple]]s, [[wild rice]], [[blackberries]], [[cranberry|cranberries]], and [[peat moss]].<ref name="ncsu">{{cite web|url=http://www.water.ncsu.edu/watershedss/info/wetlands/wetloss.html|title=Major Causes of Wetland Loss and Degradation|publisher=NCSU|access-date=2016-12-11|archive-date=2018-07-27|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180727220532/http://www.water.ncsu.edu/watershedss/info/wetlands/wetloss.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> Because some varieties of wetlands are rich in minerals and nutrients and provide many of the advantages of both land and water environments, they contain diverse species and provide a distinct basis for the [[food chain]]. Wetland habitats contribute to environmental health and biodiversity.<ref name="ncsu" /> Wetlands are a nonrenewable resource on a human timescale and in some environments cannot ever be renewed.<ref name=":11">{{Cite journal|last=Davidson|first=Nick C.|date=January 2014|title=How much wetland has the world lost? Long-term and recent trends in global wetland area|url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/266388496|journal=Marine and Freshwater Research|volume=60|pages=936–941|via=ResearchGate|access-date=2019-04-09|archive-date=2019-12-23|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191223083611/https://www.researchgate.net/publication/266388496|url-status=live}}</ref> Recent studies indicate that global loss of wetlands could be as high as 87% since 1700&nbsp;AD, with 64% of wetland loss occurring since 1900.<ref name=":11" /> Some loss of wetlands resulted from natural causes such as erosion, [[sedimentation]], [[subsidence]], and a rise in the sea level.<ref name="ncsu" />
[[File:Sign at an intermittent wetland in Pilliga National Park -5.jpg|thumb|Sign at a wetland in Pilliga National Park which is trying to reduce resource depletion and wetland degradation through prohibiting certain activities.]]
Wetlands provide [[Ecosystem service|environmental services]] for:

# Food and habitat
# Improving [[water quality]]
# [[Commercial fishing]]
# [[Floodwater]] reduction
# [[Shoreline]] stabilization
# Recreation

=== Resources in wetlands ===
{{Further information|Wetland conservation}}
Some of the world's most successful agricultural areas are wetlands that have been drained and converted to farmland for large-scale agriculture.<ref name="ncsu" /> Large-scale draining of wetlands also occurs for [[real estate development]] and [[urbanization]].<ref name=":12">{{Cite book|title=Wetland Ecology: Principles and Conservation|last=Keddy|first=Paul A.|publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=2010|isbn=9780521739672}}</ref> In contrast, in some cases wetlands are also flooded to be converted to recreational lakes or [[hydropower]] generation.<ref name="ncsu" /> In some countries ranchers have also moved their property onto wetlands for grazing due to the nutrient rich vegetation.<ref name=":12" /> Wetlands in Southern America also prove a fruitful resource for [[Poaching|poachers]], as animals with valuable hides such a [[jaguar]]s, [[Maned wolf|maned wolves]], [[caiman]]s, and [[snake]]s are drawn to wetlands.<ref name=":12" /> The effect of the removal of large predators is still unknown in South African wetlands.<ref name=":12" />

Humans benefit from wetlands in indirect ways as well. Wetlands act as natural water filters, when runoff from either natural or man-made processes pass through, wetlands can have a neutralizing effect.<ref name=":13">{{Cite news|url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/don-t-drain-the-swamp-why-wetlands-are-so-important-1.3962917|title=Don't drain the swamp! Why wetlands are so important|last=Kachur|first=Torah|date=2 February 2017|publisher=CBC|access-date=8 April 2019|archive-date=7 June 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190607205903/https://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/don-t-drain-the-swamp-why-wetlands-are-so-important-1.3962917|url-status=live}}</ref> If a wetland is in between an agricultural zone and a [[freshwater ecosystem]], fertilizer runoff will be absorbed by the wetland and used to fuel the slow processes that occur happen, by the time the water reaches the freshwater ecosystem there will not be enough fertilizer to cause destructive [[Algal bloom|algal blooms]] that poison freshwater ecosystems.<ref name=":13" />
[[File:Bramiana Wetlands Ierapetra.JPG|thumb|Bramiana Wetlands]]

=== Non-natural causes of wetland degradation ===

*Hydrologic alteration<ref>United States Environmental Protection Agency. (2001, September). ''Threats to wetlands''. EPA. https://www.epa.gov/sites/default/files/2021-01/documents/threats_to_wetlands.pdf {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240202010045/https://www.epa.gov/sites/default/files/2021-01/documents/threats_to_wetlands.pdf |date=2024-02-02 }}</ref>
**[[drainage]]
**[[dredging]]
**[[stream channelization]]
**[[ditching]]
**[[levee]]s
**deposition of [[fill material]]
**[[Diversion dam|stream diversion]]
**[[groundwater drainage]]
**[[Dam|impoundment]]
*[[Urbanization]] and [[urban development]]
*[[Marina]]s/boats
*Industrialization and [[industrial development]]
*[[Agriculture]]
*[[Silviculture]]/Timber harvest
*[[Mining]]
*[[Atmospheric deposition]]

To preserve the resources extracted from wetlands, current strategies are to rank wetlands and prioritize the conservation of wetlands with more environmental services, create more efficient irrigation for wetlands being used for agriculture, and restricting access to wetlands by tourists.<ref name=":12" />