Wetland functions are the biophysical processes and interactions through which wetlands influence hydrological, biogeochemical, and ecological dynamics in a landscape. Key hydrological functions include water storage, flood attenuation, groundwater recharge or discharge, and modulation of surface runoff. Biogeochemical functions encompass nutrient retention and transformation (e.g., denitrification), carbon sequestration and storage, sediment trapping, and contaminant attenuation. Ecological functions involve providing habitat structure, supporting primary and secondary production, maintaining biodiversity, and sustaining food webs. These functions collectively regulate ecosystem services but are assessed scientifically in terms of process rates, fluxes, and system responses rather than societal benefits.
Beaver dams are critical to river health and a source of biodiversity. They create wetlands, slow water and improve water quality. They also reduce flood peaks and delay runoff. But beaver dams are often blamed when extreme ...
Earth Sciences
Feb 24, 2026
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After weeks of relentless rain and flooding, and even more forecast, 2025's droughts and hosepipe bans feel like ancient history. But they shouldn't.
Environment
Feb 18, 2026
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The value of wetlands on the landscape cannot be overstated—they store and filter water, provide wildlife habitat, cool the atmosphere and sequester carbon. Yet, in the farmland area of Canada's Prairies, wetlands are being ...
Ecology
Feb 17, 2026
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On the occasion of World Wetlands Day, the Institute of Water and Environmental Engineering (IIAMA) at the Universitat Politècnica de València highlights the importance of these ecosystems as key tools for improving water ...
Environment
Feb 13, 2026
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15
More than a year after the 2025 Los Angeles wildfires, the economic aftershocks of the disaster still permeate the lives of the people who survived it. Fewer than a dozen homes in some of the city's hardest-hit neighborhoods ...
Environment
Feb 10, 2026
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14
In recent decades, mangroves along the Atlantic coast of North America have expanded into areas traditionally dominated by salt marshes. This shift shows that climate change is already reshaping temperate coastal ecosystems, ...
Ecology
Jan 7, 2026
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Only 7% of Europe's original area of peatlands remain. What's more: their climate boundaries are shifting. An international study led by Wageningen University as part of the WaterLANDS project analyzed the current distribution ...
Environment
Dec 6, 2025
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When fire broke out at the world's largest battery energy storage facility in January 2025, its thick smoke blanketed surrounding wetlands, farms and nearby communities on the central California coast.
Earth Sciences
Dec 1, 2025
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79
Wetlands are vital ecological resources that provide several benefits in urban and peri-urban areas. They slow down flood waters, and act as a source of fishing and farming livelihoods. They also provide socio-cultural benefits ...
Environment
Nov 26, 2025
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17
As global efforts intensify around restoring coastal wetlands to curb climate change, a new JCU-led study published in Reviews of Geophysics is the first to link wetland restoration and carbon cycling with groundwater dynamics, ...
Earth Sciences
Nov 20, 2025
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