Land Meets Water
Wetlands are special places where the land is covered with shallow water or the soil stays soggy most of the time. They are like a bridge between dry land and deep water — not quite land, not quite lake.
Wetlands can be found almost everywhere on Earth — along coastlines, beside rivers, in valleys, and even on mountaintops. They can be as small as a puddle that never dries up or as large as the Florida Everglades, which covers over 1.5 million acres!
What makes wetlands special is their soil. Wetland soil is saturated — soaked with water like a sponge that has been dunked in a bathtub. This waterlogged soil creates unique conditions that only specially adapted plants and animals can handle.
Wetlands are some of the most productive ecosystems on Earth. 'Productive' means they support an enormous amount of life. More plants grow, more insects buzz, more fish swim, and more birds nest in wetlands per acre than almost any other type of habitat.
**Did You Know:** Wetlands make up only about 6% of Earth's land surface, but they support about 40% of all the world's plant and animal species!