Why are wetlands important to ecosystems?
Wetlands provide food and habitat for thousands of species of plants, animals and microbes, making them crucial for maintaining biodiversity. Biodiversity is essentially variety – within the genetic material of one species, between different species and between ecosystems – and is a necessary feature of life on earth. Ecosystems are complex networks of relationships between species. If too many species in an ecosystem become extinct, the overall system becomes vulnerable and may collapse. Biodiversity increases the resilience of ecosystems, making them more able to function despite natural or human-caused disturbances. Even though wetlands are usually a fairly small component of the landscape, they provide a crucial link between different species and between different life stages of one species. Wetlands are “powerhouses” of energy and life. They are among the most highly productive ecosystems on earth, ranking among coral reefs and tropical rainforests in terms of primary productivity
