RNR 1001 Chapter : RNR 28 September 2011
Document Summary
60 acres (45 football fields) per hour over 200 years (4x size of ohio) not declining now, currently at a + - normally provide unique habitat- bottomland hardwoods (occur around flooding) - often characterized by trees- oaks, magnolia, willow. -typically nutrient rich & productive, particularly amphibians and reptiles like them (mostly in tropics, amazon) -may be important for fish foraging and reproduction. - we have lost a lot of this riparian wetland b/c of flood control- floods provide alluvial soil which is good soil, then they convert to farm land, so they levee the area. 221 million acres of wetlands in lower 48 states, 171 mil in alaska, but most of them were looked at as mosquito factories. B/t 1780-1980 lost about 50%, or about 104 mil acres to protect their farm investment . Alaska only < 1%, didn"t lose much. Annual losses 300k-450k acres in mid-1900"s declined to 60k acres by 1997, but.
