How do wildlife species use wetlands?
Food and shelter are the primary requirements of life. Wetlands provide these functions for many species of animals that either live permanently within the wetland or visit periodically. Almost every part of a wetland, from the bottom up, is important to wildlife in some way. Frogs bury themselves in the muddy substrate to survive the winter, and some insects use bottom debris to form a protective covering. Fish swim and feed in wetlands, often eating the eggs of insects that have been deposited in the water. Wetland vegetation provides nesting materials and support structures to several bird species and is a major source of food to mammals, even those as large as moose. Small mammals use the lush vegetation at the edge of wetlands for cover and as a source of food, and they themselves are a food source for birds of prey. Each species has adapted to using the wetland and its surrounding area in a particular way.
