Wetlands at Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge in Maryland shows signs of ‘pitting,’ where areas of cordgrass have converted to open water.
Will Parson/Chesapeake Bay Program via Wikimedia
A coastal scientist explains why marshes, mangroves and other wetlands can’t keep up with the effects of climate change, and how human infrastructure is making it harder for them to survive.
A raccoon with a fish at the Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary in Naples, Fla.
Michael Siluk/UCG/Universal Images Group via Getty Images
The US Supreme Court opens its 2022-2023 term with a case that could greatly reduce federal protection for wetlands. Here is what makes these ecosystems valuable.
Avalon Marshes wetland, in Somerset, England.
IanRedding / shutterstock
Birds found along the Gulf Coast have evolved to ride out hurricanes and tropical storms. But with development degrading the marshes where they live, it’s getting harder for them to bounce back.
Oil sheen in a Louisiana marsh that was heavily affected by the 2010 BP spill, Sept. 27, 2013.
AP Photo/Gerald Herbert
Hans Paerl, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
As climate change speeds up tropical storm cycles, rivers and bays have less time to process nutrients and pollutants that wash into them after each event.
Sawgrass prairie in Everglades National Park.
NPS/G. Gardner
William Nuttle, University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science
Federal and state agencies are carrying out a 35-year, multi-billion-dollar plan to restore Florida’s Everglades, but have not factored sea level rise or other climate change impacts into their plans.
Phragmites, an invasive species, line this marsh at Sachuest Point in Middletown, Rhode island.
Tom Sturm/USFWS
Phragmites australis, an invasive reed, has taken over wetlands across the US. But it also stabilizes shorelines and harbors many fish and birds. Is it time to compromise with this alien?
Wetlands are feeding, nesting and breeding sites for migratory birds, such as these sandhill cranes in Minnesota.
USFWS/Kris Spaeth
The Trump administration is sharply reducing environmental protection for wetlands and streams across the US. This roundup of stories spotlights the many benefits that such water bodies provide.