February 2 might be most widely recognized as Groundhog’s Day, but it is also World Wetlands Day, a day designated by the United Nations to recognize and celebrate the important role healthy wetlands play in our environment and society worldwide. Wetlands are areas where water covers the soil or is present either at or near the surface of the soil for different periods of time. There are two recognized categories of wetlands – coastal or tidal wetlands and inland or non-tidal wetlands. We are lucky to have both types in the Port Royal Sound watershed that support our communities and ecosystems!
The Port Royal Sound watershed contains over 100,000 acres of coastal wetlands or salt marsh. This is close to a third of the salt marsh found in the entire state. Our salt marshes are dominated by Spartina, the greenish/ goldish grass that stretches as far as the eye can see. The expansive areas of salt marsh make the Sound such a productive ecosystem because they provide everything marine animals need to survive and thrive. If you have ever spent a few minutes just quietly observing a salt marsh, you can see, hear, and even smell the life around you. Without a healthy salt marsh, we would not have the abundant oysters, shrimp, fish, dolphins, birds, crabs, and the other living creatures that make the Port Royal Sound such a vibrant ecosystem.
St. Helena State of Mind. Photo by Miles C. Sanders
Beyond supporting a huge diversity of life, salt marshes also provide valuable ecosystem services to communities in the watershed. Imagine a salt marsh as an enormous sponge that can quickly absorb large volumes of water and then slowly release it back out. When a storm hits our coast and water surges inland (i.e. a storm surge), our salt marshes are our greatest form of natural protection against coastal flooding. In fact, a 2020 study of the economic value of marshes for their flood control services suggests that marshes of the Port Royal Sound watershed provide more than $200M in value per year to our communities!
The Port Royal Sound watershed also contains areas of inland wetlands that support abundant life and provide essential ecosystem services to our region. Explore the lowlands of the Coosawhatchie or New River, and you’ll find yourself crossing small, slow-moving blackwater rivers, cyrus-tupelo swamps, and woody wetlands. Keep exploring higher upland, and you’ll encounter ephemeral or seasonal wetlands and bogs teeming with life. These wetlands, like the salt marshes that guard our coast, also provide ecosystem services that our communities depend on. They absorb and store water to reduce flooding, they filter that water to reduce pollutants as that water is released; they absorb and store atmospheric carbon, and they support a huge range of species at all stages of their life cycle.
Coosawhatchie River. Photo by PRSF
Our wetlands – both coastal and inland – are a key ingredient to what makes the Port Royal Sound watershed so healthy, productive, and special. They provide the foundation of life here and provide invaluable services to our communities. February 2 is a day to celebrate them, but it’s up to us to protect them every day. Pressures from land development and climate change threaten to undermine the health and integrity of these ecosystems, and it’s up to us as residents and decision-makers in our region to speak up, stand up, and protect these vital resources.