I found this article on a website called scientific american.

The topic of this article is why wetlands are so important to preserve.

Wetlands include swamps, marshes, bogs, riverbanks, mangroves, floodplains, rice fields—and anywhere else. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), that saturation with water is the dominant factor for determining the nature of soil development and the types of plant and animal communities there. They are widespread in every country and on every continent except Antarctica. If all the world’s wetlands were put together, they would take up an area one-third larger than the United States. According to Wetlands International, a global non-profit dedicated to the conservation and restoration of wetlands around the world, wetlands are on the “front-line” as development pressures increase everywhere.

In my opinion, environmentalists, biologists and others concerned about the health of the planet and its inhabitants recognize the key role wetlands play in life on Earth, and if they really recognize the danger the animals are in, then they should do more to help. While the issue lingers on in municipal planning meetings around the country, the federal government does what it can to protect wetlands. It does so through regulations spelled out in the Clean Water Act, which include providing tax incentives for selling or giving wetlands to land trusts or other conservation groups, via cooperative efforts with state and local entities, and by acquiring wetlands outright to add acreage to public lands systems. And several states have passed laws to regulate activities in wetlands, and many municipalities include wetlands conservation in their development permitting and zoning processes.

 

I found this article on a website called Bio mass magazine.

This article is about how researchers are now tapping into the plant’s innate environmental benefits, from desalinating wastewater to exploring its potential as a viable starch-based feedstock for ethanol production.

Duckweed has traditionally been studied because of its inherently rich protein content at 30 percent to 35 percent on a dry-weight basis. The purpose was to explore whether duckweed could be a protein source for animal and human food. A growing interest in sustainable ethanol feedstock development, however, has researchers exploring the plant’s starch content. The research, funded by the Biofuels Center of North Carolina, was presented at the annual conference of the Institute of Biological Engineering in March in Santa Clara, Calif.The one challenge that has impeded duckweed’s progress in becoming a sustainable, dedicated energy crop for biofuels production or being used as a bioremediator for farm or city wastewater treatment operations is the fact that it wasn’t domesticated.

 

The drive to develop sustainable nonfood, starch-based ethanol feedstocks and more efficient conversion processes is intensifying as the U.S. attempts to reduce ethanol’s carbon footprint by transitioning from corn to cellulosic ethanol. That has prompted researchers at North Carolina State University to take a closer look at plants, such as duckweed, that could be a potential feedstock for ethanol production. The one challenge that has impeded duckweed’s progress in becoming a sustainable, dedicated energy crop for biofuels production or being used as a bioremediator for farm or city wastewater treatment operations is the fact that it wasn’t domesticated. “The trick to domesticating duckweed is going to be how much it will cost per ton to grow this stuff,” Stomp says, adding that data on economic feasibility will be released later this year. “That number provides a threshold for commercial viability,” she adds.

 

I found this article on a website called science daily.

This article is about how duck migration studies have revealed the importance of conserving wetlands across the world.

During the 2011 and 2012 migration seasons, University of Missouri researchers monitored mallard ducks with new remote satellite tracking technology, marking the first time ducks have been tracked closely during the entirety of their migration from Canada to the American Midwest and back. The research revealed that mallards use public and private wetland conservation areas extensively as they travel hundreds of miles across the continent. Dylan Kesler, an assistant professor of fisheries and wildlife in the College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources at MU, says these findings illustrate the importance of maintaining protected wetland areas. I tremendously agree with him, we have to help save wetlands and build them back up if we want the ducks to stay healthy.

 

“We have lost nearly 90 percent of wetland areas in Missouri in the last century and 50 percent of wetlands across the country since the early 1800s,” Kesler said. “This loss has affected migratory bird populations and migration timing and routes. Our research shows the importance of these wetland areas to maintain healthy populations of migratory birds and other species, especially in an age of budget cuts for government programs protecting these few remaining wetland areas. If we don’t maintain these wildlife preserves it will put dozens, if not hundreds, of wildlife species in danger.”

For the project, the MU researchers attached small solar-powered tracking devices to the ducks, which transmitted their locations every four hours. Using the new technology, researchers monitored the ducks’ progress in real time.