Wetlands! Wetlands! Wetlands! | STUFF YOU SHOULD KNOW

Hi everybody. Chuck back again with. another edition of Leaf number eight and. our Think Spring playlist. And today, you're going to be learning all about. wetlands because the name of the episode. is wetlands {exclamation point} wetlands. {exclamation point} wetlands. {exclamation point}. Can you tell we. love wetlands? I think you will, too.

Welcome to Stuff You Should Know, a. production of iHeart Radio's How Stuff. Works. Hey, and welcome to the podcast. I'm. Josh and there's Charles and Jerry's. over there and this is Stuff You Should. Know. The dripping wet edition. And these wetlands. What? I knew that you would not get. that. Is that a Seger reference? Oh,

gosh. Why do you have to say Seger when. you always mean Springsteen? Was that Springsteen? Yes, Badlands. Okay. Maybe these wetlands were born to run. Sure. Run water. I don't I don't like myself. anymore. Run water. That was a great save, Chuck. Thanks. So, we're talking wetlands. I. have to say um we have to give a. shout-out to Tom Peterman, the. foul-mouthed wetland biologist who keeps.

asking us to do this episode. >> that where this came from? Mhm. It was a. Tom Peterman suggestion, although I had. already wanted to do it anyway, so Yeah, I mean we love our earth sciences, man. This one was. I was just smiling from ear to ear. researching this. Can you imagine. watching a blacksmith forge something in. a wetland? In a flooded woodland? No. I. just That's Nirvana right there. It. really is. So, we're talking wetlands, everybody,

and. Dave Roos helped us put this one. together. And Dave likes to pop in jokes every. once in a while, and he said. he said. what makes a wetland wet? Water. And then he says, in all seriousness, that's basically. that the water has to be. largely present at least some parts of. the year in the soil in such amounts. that you would call something wetland. I. mean, think of the name, wetland. It's. about as earthy. a term as science gets.

Yeah, and he. front-loaded this with a few stats, and. I won't go through all of them, but I'll. go through a few that kind of. are instructive as to why I love. wetlands so much. Mhm. Here's one. Although wetlands make up only 5% of the. land surface in the United States, they are home to 31% of our plant. species. Yeah. Not bad. 1/3 of America's threatened or. endangered species species live only in. wetlands. I would propose that that's.

slightly misleading. I think they're. endangered because they live in wetlands. and wetlands are endangered, as we'll. see. Mhm. Mhm. Think about it, Chuck. I don't. know. I took it more as. Like they're all hiding out in the. wetlands cuz that's a terrible place to. hide out. >> No, it's not bad because it's got 31% of. the plant species. I mean, it's a pretty. rich biodiverse. area to live in if you're an endangered. species. For sure. All right. You say tomato, I say tomato. Well, we'll have to hear from Thomas.

Peterman, the foul-mouthed wildlife for. wetland biologist, who can let us know. What does he say? Like, do effing. wetlands already. Yes. That kind of. thing? Yeah. I like this guy. I think that's an exact. quote. Yeah, he's my kind of dude. So, another stat that I thought was. pretty interesting that will will just. kind of needs to form the basis or the. undercurrent of this whole episode is. that so and we keep talking about the. US. There's wetlands found all over the. world of different types and varieties.

and different climates and different. different continents. Every continent. except Antarctica. But in the United. States in particular, we have a long. history of filling in and and draining. wetlands for other purposes. So much so that um. Let's see. I believe I don't know how. much we've lost, but in the 1600s, the. lower 48 states were covered with 220. million acres of wetlands, which is 11%. of the total surface area of the lower. 48 states. And I think starting in the.

50s, we were doing away with wetlands at. a rate of about 60,000 of those acres. per year. Yeah, and it's gotten better. since then, but yeah, in the. boy, up until the Clean Water Act, it. was just like. Hey, you know what would look great. there? A a resort. Right. >> With like three golf courses and a bunch. of tennis. That's been such a a driving. force. Like it's it's like looking at. land or ecosystems and being like, are. humans making money off of it? No. Well, then drain it and repurpose it. Set it.

on fire and repurpose it. Stop it from. burning and repurpose it. Like if we. can't make money off of it, it can't. possibly be useful. And luckily, since. the environmental movement really. started in the 70s, we've realized that. that's not necessarily true. That even. if you are just a heartless dummy, there's still a lot of benefits that. humanity's given from things like. wetlands that seem problematic or. non-productive, you know? Yeah, that was. one of Dangerfield's big lines in the. Caddyshack as Al Czervik.

Was a. golf courses and cemeteries, they're. the two biggest waste of prime real. estate. That's a good one. So, let's talk about. wetlands. You said that they are only. some of them are only wet for short. periods, sometimes when there's snow. melt or just rain. Yeah, those are. called ephemeral wetlands, which is a. cool term. It's a great term. Uh some. are wet all the time and the key parts. of being a wetland or the key. characteristic is that it's either. permanently or periodically flooded or.

wet Mhm. and that the soil is uh got. high It's called hydric soil and is. dominated by anaerobic processes, meaning it loves water and the plants. there love water. Yeah, which is weird. because you used another word that. shouldn't really jive with plants and. that's called anaerobic, which means. there's very little to no oxygen. present. Um and we'll explain why later, but the fact that there are plants means. that those plants have adapted to the. wetlands. >> Yes, and it under anaerobic conditions.

hydrophytic and we'll talk about these. plants later. It's it's another another. thing I love about wetlands is just that. it really underscores the remarkable. evolution that something will go through. to survive. Very cool stuff. >> awesome. Yep. So, um there's also So, but you hit. upon something like they're not. necessarily wet year-round. Right. >> Right. So, there's a whole bunch of. different types of wetlands or wetland. environments that fill those that check. those boxes. Um one of the ones that.

most people think of when they think of. wetlands are coastal wetlands like. marshes. And a marsh is basically like. this area between inland and the ocean. It's like a transition zone, a buffer. zone. And because it's because of its. proximity to the ocean, um it's usually. salty or at least brackish, which is a. mixture of of salt water and fresh. water. And one of the one of the ones. that really come to mind if you're. thinking coastal wetlands, you're. thinking marshlands and you're thinking.

tidal marshlands probably, especially if. you're a Pat Conroy fan. What was the name of uh. her character that he repeats over and. over in a whisper. I think I remember. Chuck. It was Bobby Jean. Bobby Jean. This is one of those scream at the. at the pod player moments. I'm sorry I'm. not. >> Was it in The Prince of Tides? >> Yeah. Lowenstein, was that it? Lowenstein. You're sure it wasn't Bobby Jean? I. think it was Lowenstein. Was it his Oh,

his shrink's his shrink girlfriend's. name? Yeah, Babs. Okay. Yeah, I don't. remember. I think it was Lowenstein. All right. So, anyway, tidal marshes, yes, Prince of Tides. They obviously. you're it's because of tidal they're. going to come in and out with the high. and low tide. Mhm. And like you said, they are generally salt water. And the. salt marshes are are very nutrient-rich. and they do have a lot of diversity, but. obviously only the kind of things that. can tolerate the salt as far as plants.

and animals go. Which is a pretty short. list really because salt is not. conducive to life. Instead, there are some plants that have. figured out how to deal with salt, but most of the time when you're looking. at salt marshes you're looking you're. the plant life is is basically grasses. of some sort. >> Right. Um there's also fresh water tidal. marshes, which. they are either. connected to the salt water marsh, but. they're far enough inland that the salt.

water doesn't make its way in there. So, it's a fresh water marsh, but it's. still affected by the tides. And then I. had no idea about this. Um and I used to vacation on Lake Erie, but apparently the Great Lakes are so. big that they have tides themselves. >> know that? I had no idea. I even knew. that and I'm a dum-dum when it comes to. the Great Lakes. Well, Chuck, I think. you got me beat big time. Well, in this. case. Because I could know a million. other things about the Great Lakes and. if you knew that one thing and I didn't,

you have me beat. Yeah, I knew that and. so that means that they do have those. tidal marshes. The Florida Everglades are another good. example. Um and boy, Florida just. there's a lot of different types of. wetlands in Florida. Well, there's a lot. of coastline. Yeah, a lot of coastline. and a lot of interior. um wetness. Yeah, we have a lot of wetlands around. our place in Florida, for sure. And. there's mangroves and all sorts of stuff. that we'll talk about. >> Ooh, well, we're at mangroves. I love. those things.

So, mangroves. Beautiful. >> they at least deserve a short stuff. because they're one of the most amazing. plants of all time. But they're they're. a they're a type of coastal um a coastal. wetland themselves, a mangrove forest. Well, if you've never seen a mangrove. forest, they're these kind of um they. have. a a growth habit for their the shrubbery. on top of like the hair that an Oompa. Loompa has in the original the original. Willy Wonka, the good one. And they're.

the the trunks split out into these cool. like long roots and legs that stick up. out of the water. And they form this. huge tangle, this riot of like shrub. woody shrub. Um and they do all sorts of. amazing things to help the the aquatic. life and us humans as well up on land. just by being present. Yeah, they're. really cool looking. Uh and this is. another good one, sort of like the. origami that if you're able and you're. sitting still to look up a lot of these.

things as you go. Mhm. Because these. mangrove forests it looks like. it looks like a shrub that's like I. really want to be a shrub, but I don't. want to get wet. So, I'm I'm just going. to dip my legs in a little bit. Yeah, that's really great. >> It's just very cool looking. And it and. again, just the adaptability. that these mangroves really want to live. where they live, even though it's not. very suited for them. And they become. suited for it. Right. If you've been sleeping on. mangroves, welcome to reality.

Well, that's a t-shirt if I ever heard. one. Yeah. It's a little it could use a. little work, but there's there's the. beginnings of one in there. Uh you also. got your inland wetlands. These are not. coastal. In this case, we're talking. about swamps and marshes and bogs and. fens, f e n. Mhm. And marshes. uh. a lot of these you'll find near rivers, near streams, uh lowland depressions, and they might. periodically fill up depending on rain, uh what's going on or or different types.

of flooding that might happen. And they. can be a few inches deep, they can be. several feet deep. Yeah, they're most of. the non-tidal inland marshes are. ephemeral wetlands. Yeah. So, they're. dry a lot of the year. Um they might. fill up seasonally, they might fill up. with the rains, they might fill up with. a nearby river flooding. It's like my. backyard. And they um Oh, really? Is. that right? >> Yeah, it it doesn't drain well. I've got. a drainage problem. Okay, to you it's a. problem. To nature, it's wonderful.

Because we like things that drain really. quickly and dry and then we can walk on. them and the grass is fine. But there's. a lot of like benefits to things that. take their time. Like um. there's something called a vernal pool, uh which is a kind of uh non-tidal. marsh, an ephemeral wetland, and it's. basically just like say a stretch of. woods that has that's a little bit. depressed there so that when it rains or. a river floods, it fills with water. And. because the underlying bedrock or clay. is not very porous, it takes a while for.

that water to go through. But that. water's also not going further. downstream, so it prevents flooding from. being as bad as it could cuz a lot of. the water collects and stays there. And. it also slowly recharges the ground. water. And because it does get dry, it. can't sustain fish, which makes it a. really great nursery for things like. newts and salamanders and frogs. Um. things uh that that fish eat their eggs, but since there's no fish, this is like. a really great place for them to to get.

a. good foothold and a. brand new life. Uh you've also got your prairie. potholes. Uh this is when you should. definitely look up. These are usually in. the upper Midwest of the United States, the Dakotas, Minnesota, maybe Wisconsin. And these are where glaciers, ancient. glaciers, left these big depressions in. the landscape. And they fill up. sometimes during rain, during uh the. spring, during snowmelt. And they're not small. Like I heard a. prairie pothole and I got a vision in my.

head, but if you look it up online, they're. beautiful and just they're very large. though and they're kind of. interconnected. Just these big round. holes scattered through like a big open. area full of water. And these are great. for. migrating birds because that could be a. stopover that they might not have had. had those uh potholes not been there. Mhm. And when they're flying over the. Dakotas, they say, "Look, I see Van. Nostrand's house.". Our buddy, Van Nostrand. Um and then.

there's also we said that that wetlands. occur in all different kinds of. climates. They also occur in the desert. There's something called playa lakes, which are these depressions that. apparently no one has any idea exactly. how they formed. It could have been from. erosion, it could have been from a. ancient sinkhole, but there are. depressions that are deep enough that. when the the seasonal rains come, the. water is held in there and just like the. the prairie potholes, it's very useful. for migratory birds to stop over at um. can really plays a huge role in this.

ecosystem where there's almost no water. And now all of a sudden there's water. and it's in this nice little lake, so. let's all go gather there and have a. social hour. But but but responsibly, 6. ft apart. That's right. Okay. Uh I think. we should take a break. and we will talk a little bit about. inland swamps right after this.

>> All right, so inland swamps, we promised. to talk about that. These are, for my. money, some of the coolest. areas in the country because I I think I. talked about it at some point, but I. took a very. special fun trip many, many years ago to. the Okefenokee Swamp. and did one of those canoe trips where. you have to rent, you know, there's no.

place to stop in the Okefenokee Swamp. If you're like, "Hmm, I think I'll camp. here." It's like, in the water. Right. >> So, they had these camping pads built up. that essentially just decks um that are. like 6 ft above the water and you have. to reserve those. They're not just wide. open for anyone um because there's. nothing else out there. So, you have to. reserve them for specific nights. on these specific uh pathways or, you. know, paddleways. Mhm. And me and a. couple of buddies did it one year and we. canoed uh from from deck to deck and uh.

Very cool. >> amazing. Like, one of the coolest trips. I've ever taken. That is very cool. Was Ned Beatty with. you? No, but uh you do wake up. surrounded by alligators. It's a little. creepy. Yes, alligators are very creepy. >> Like, you wake up on that pad and and. pee off the dock and they're growling at. you. Yeah, and you do not want to get. too close cuz they can move faster than. you think. Yeah, they can. It was uh it. was a lot of fun though, but not for the. faint of heart cuz, you know, you don't. realize till you get out there A, how.

bad the sun is going to beat you up Mhm. because there's no shade Mhm. and B, how. tough it is to paddle all day long. without like, you know, let me get out. and stretch my legs. Right. >> there is no getting out. You just uh you. just go and go and go and by the time. you finally reach that janky deck it is. like uh. might as well be the Plaza Hotel, you. know. Oh, nice. But what I'm talking. about in the case of the Okefenokee, I. thought it was a forested or a bottom.

bottomland hardwood swamp. You think. >> From reading this, but apparently it's. called a non-riverine. swamp forest. Right. And that is a. forested swamp that fills up from. non-river sources, basically rain or. ground water. Right, right. So the what. would make a forested swamp like a. bottomland hardwood swamp is a proximity. to a river that floods its banks or that. is just so so big it kind of spills over. into some of the surrounding land and. that surrounding land is swamp.

>> I want to look that up though. I'm not. quite sure Dave's right. Oh, well, it's. okay. It's so it's either river fed or. ground water fed or precipitations. fed and if you're talking bottomland. hardwood swamps that's or river fed. swamp. There's usually also a shrub. swamp which is a transition. or buffer zone between the forested. swamp and you know, somebody's backyard. which is it's just dominated by shrubs, but it's all the same thing. It's all. fresh water swamp. Yeah, I think I bet.

you anything the Okefenokee has several. different types of these it would be my. guess cuz there were full on lakes that. we paddled through. Yeah. Um so that. would be my guess and also think if I. had a country band they would we would. be the bottomland hardwood swamp rats. Oh, that's a good one. Not bad. >> That sounds like an all-star band, you. know. Oh, sure. Yeah. Um so another kind of wetland that. you're going to find all over the place. especially in Europe which when I think. of bogs and fens I think of Europe, but. apparently there's plenty of them in the. United States, too. But um bogs and fens.

are kind of their own thing. Bogs in. particular are very unique as far as. wetlands go because not only are they. anaerobic which by definition a wetland. is anaerobic soil, they're like. very little nutrient and very high. acidity. I've I've heard like the kind. of acid that is put out by the peat. that's created in the bog has the same. acidity roughly of vinegar.

Oh, wow. >> a yeah, it's really really acidic stuff. And yet some plants prefer it. Like you. can grow cranberries and blueberries in. in a bog. >> Sure. You can preserve a body from the. Iron Age forward in the bog. >> ever cover that? The bog bodies? I feel like we did. Maybe it might have. been one of our video things on YouTube. Maybe mummies. Cuz I think if I remember. correctly our mummy episode covered more. than just Egyptian mummies. I think they. covered like Inca mummies and. >> bog people.

>> I'm sure we did. We saw some of them. when we went to uh on our our UK trip. We got to visit some of those cats like. first hand, like right there in that. in that glass. Right like you know, all. you have to do is smash it with a hammer. and it's yours. >> a bog person. >> Yeah. Or at least whatever you can grab, like a bog ear. Right, it just crumbles in in your hand. But I was looking I was like, okay, why. why are the the the bogs so great for. preservation? Part of it from what I. understand is that acidity, that the.

bodies are actually pickled. But another. part is the the um aerobic life is so. devoid there. There's just anaerobic. bacteria and they don't decompose nearly. as well as aerobic bacteria. So, the. decomposition doesn't set in and the. remains are pickled. So, like you can preserve a body in a really. great state. >> Yeah. for a very like Tollund Man, you could his whiskers are still intact. on his face. >> Yeah. Like that was the level of.

preservation and he was sacrificed into. a bog, which is a very specific kind of. wetland. Yeah, and a fen, uh like I. said, it's f e n, it's sort of like a. bog in that it is a a peat uh peaty. wetland. But, they're a little bit different than. bogs. Uh the water supply doesn't come. primarily from rain, and it comes from. the ground. So, it's not it's going to. be less acidic because I don't think we. have mentioned mentioned. I know it's um. partially because of the peat, but um. the acidity also comes from the fact.

that uh there's acid in rain that gets. filling up the uh that fills up these. bogs. Right. >> But, not not the case in a fen. No. No, because the ground water is able to. kind of dilute it a little bit. So, they're much more nutrient-rich than a. bog is. So, they're going to have much a. much wider diverse um range of plants. and animal life. Yeah, and this I love. that this next section from day was. called other fun types of wetlands. Yeah, mud flats. Yeah, you got your mud. flat. It's another good country band. Um. uh my favorite are seeps. These are just.

gorgeous little pieces of nature, if you. ask me. Um it's if you have a spring. that comes up out of the ground, uh it. spills over into the ground, so the. surrounding ground is wetland, and it's. called a seep. That's right. It's where. gnomes like go and shower. Yeah, and it's not uh. like you said, it's a spring, so it's. not like a creek. No. It's actually. coming up from the ground. Uh you ever drink from a natural spring? I did when I was a kid, and I think my.

mom fired the babysitter that like took. us to drink from a spring. Yeah, who She. was like, "What are you doing?" It was. either spring or like a river in Ohio, and I don't No, those are two very. different things. If it was the uh the. Cuyahoga River, then you're in bad. shape. It was on fire while we were drinking. it. But, I mean, we have creeks if if. you you're listening, you've never been. to Atlanta, Atlanta has creeks all over. the place. Mhm. Like all of the in-town. neighborhoods just are riddled with. creeks. They're just sort of out of. view. Um but like we have a creek, you know, 120 ft from our house. Sure. Uh which.

might have something to do with our. drainage, who knows. And it's. spring-fed? No, it's just, uh, you know, uh, just a part of the Atlanta, probably. all comes from the Chattahoochee at some. point. Sure. So, Chuck, if that creek. behind your house started meandering in. a different direction. >> Mhm. and left a body of water where it. originally flowed, it would be an oxbow. lake. But, if you were in Australia and. you were calling it its proper. aboriginal name, you'd call it a. billabong. A billabong.

Which I had no idea. What does that have. to do with surfing? Oh, I think they just probably co-opted. the name and it became more associated. with surf and surf gear than, uh, than its true meaning. That doesn't seem. right. No, let's take it back. But, that's what an oxbow lake is in. Australia among the Aborigines. It is a. a billabong, which is great. >> A billabong, that was some like, along. with OP, was one of the. prime, uh, t-shirts to have when you were a kid.

in the '80s. Oh, yeah. >> If you were cool. I had this amazing OP. long-sleeve blue shirt that I wore with. my parachute pants. >> were the best. My British Knights. I. remember those long-sleeve OP shirts. Yep, they were good. >> Gorgeous. So, Chuck, one of the things we've been. talking about is, um, the kind of the. the characteristics that make a wetland. a wetland. It's not just the fact that. the soil table or the ground is either. flooded or almost completely flooded up.

to the surface level, um, with water. That's that's not the entirety of it. Like, different wetlands are. characterized by. by how that water gets to it. Like we. said, you know, some kinds of swamps are. fed by groundwater, others are fed by. precipitation, um, some are tidal. So, there's a whole group of scientists out. there that, uh, are called, um, wetland. hydrologists. And what they study is how. that water gets into a wetland to create. a wetland, what happens to it while it's.

there, and then where it goes, and how. all these things kind of interact to. form this very unique ecosystem. Yeah, and we talked early on about the. type the kind of soil, hydric soil, is. saturated with water. And so, if it's. saturated with water, it's not going to. have nearly as much oxygen. And usually, oxygen in soil are in these. little tiny air pockets. Remember we. talked about it in our soil episode. >> Yeah, exactly. And in the case of a. wetland, then those air pockets are. going to be filled with water or just.

collapsed altogether. And then you've. got your anaerobic condition. But if. you're plant, you need CO2 and oxygen. And you'll get a little bit of that from. photosynthesis in the leaves, but the. roots are like, "What about me down. here? I need oxygen, too." And if it was. an aerobic soil, like we talked about in. the in the soil podcast, the roots can. get it from those air pockets. But in. wetlands, they have to really really. adapt to become uh hydrophytic or. water-loving plants in some pretty.

amazing ways. So, I just have to say. that this is like a lifelong mystery. solved and solved in like the the. simplest way possible. Like, it's. anaerobic because there's water there. instead of air. The air can't be in. there because the water's there. Ipso. facto, anaerobic. I just I just think that's. brilliantly simple. Yeah. Did you get. that intuitively? Cuz I never did. I. always thought it was something. mysterious. Like, we're talking about a. whole different type of soil or. something else. Mhm. No, I think I got. it. Okay. Well, it was.

I've been around for 44 years and. wondered it until just now. Well, I'm. 49, so I might have learned that in the. last 5 years. So, um the plants that. we're talking about, like they like you. said, the roots still need oxygen. So, they've said, "Okay, well, I really like. it here. I like this wetland area. This. is pretty amazing place to live. I'm. going to change so that I can stay here. And some of the ways that plants have. have adapted, um, well, one good example. is a cattail, right? Cattails are pretty.

much synonymous with marshlands. Yeah, they're beautiful. They're that long. thin stem with like a big fat thing on. top like a a hot dog that's ready to be. roasted on the fire. Yeah, I grew up. with those. I don't know if it was a. southern thing, but they they they can. be decorative items in the home. Mhm. Uh, and I grew up I feel like with a lot. of cattails in vases and stuff. Okay, so, um, that and and wasp nests? Yeah. Hornet's nest, yeah. Yeah, right. So, cattails have this thing called, um,

aerenchyma. No, I've got it. Aerenchyma. Aer- aerenchyma. Aerenchyma. I think I got it. Anyway, they're like these, um, these channels. that basically direct air from the. leaves and the stem and every other part. of the cattail down to the roots. It. says, "Here you go, roots. Here's some. oxygen fresh from the leaf." Yeah. So, that that cattail can have as much. roots as it wants down in this anaerobic. soil. It doesn't matter cuz it's getting.

its oxygen from the air through the. leaves. Yeah, one of my favorites is the. speckled alder. Uh, you just, uh, look. up a picture of that and they have these. enlarged pores called lenticels. Mhm. And they allow for the passage of oxygen. uh, directly into that wood. And if you. look up a picture and you see those, you. go, "Oh, that's what those are. That's. what those are for." They they look like. someone took a knife and they're just. tiny little horizontal slits all up and. down the alder. I got you. >> And it's uh, it's they're breathing.

basically. Yeah, that's creepy as heck, but it's. like really neat. >> little slitty mouths. So, um, are the the grasses that we talked about. growing in salt marshes, um, just like a an iguana sneezes out. excess salts as part of digestion, things like cordgrass that grow in these. salt marshes, um they actually excrete. salts through their leaves. So, they. they can sit there and intake all the. nutrients they need from this. selenic environment um and still not get.

overloaded with salt. Which is pretty. amazing that they can do that. Yeah, and. then to me. maybe the most amazing, and this is. where the mangroves kind of come back. in, Mhm. although the mangroves. apparently utilize all these to stick. around, but the bald cypress, uh they. grow in those forested swamps where. there's always water, and they are. deciduous conifers, and they grow this. root structure um that they call a knee. It's a pneumatophore, but like a knee on. your leg is is how it's spelled. Mhm.

And they just sit above the waterline. and take in oxygen, and that's what. those I guess mangroves uh mangroves. There's a uh Soul Train joke in there. somewhere. That it struck me as like a. terrible jam band name. The Mangroves. Yeah. God, you're right. Yeah. That that. plays somewhere in Florida probably. Probably. Uh but the mangrove uses, like. I said, a lot of these tricks, and I think certainly when you see those. roots, they're using uh those knees. Yeah, which is basically it's a it's a.

it's a way to get oxygen from the. surrounding air down to the roots. The. mangroves do it, the bald cypresses do. it. Mangroves have all those adapt. adaptations, different species. Think. they can do things like excrete salt, they can draw oxygen in from the. environment, they have channels where. they can pump oxygen from one part of. the plant to the other. Um the one that. gets me though, I'm just fascinated by. bogs. So, we said that they're it's an. acidic um anaerobic nutrient-depleted.

environment, and yet there's still. plants that live there. And one of those. plants, or one kind of plant, is a. carnivorous plants. They get their. nutrients not from like the soil, but. from eating bugs. >> Yeah, those are cool. So, they can just. live there like a pitcher plant or a. Venus flytrap or something like that. >> Yeah, those are neat nature. Wasn't Venus flytrap one of the DJs on. WKRP? That's a great DJ name. >> Yeah. He well, he was a great DJ. Uh all. right, so let's take our final break and.

we'll talk about why wetlands are. important and what you can do to help. them do their thing right after this. Okay, Chuck. So, um just the fact that. wetlands are as amazing as they are.

means that they should be saved. Um. but there's also like a lot of benefits. that we figured out. Like you said that. the '50s to the '70s were really rough. time for. uh wetlands in the United States cuz we. were filling them in for cropland, for. real estate, uh and even previous to. that, we filled in a lot of marshland in. the US and built cities over them. Like. DC was built largely on marshland. >> Yeah. Um the fact that mosquitoes tend. to live in wetland areas uh kind of.

justified filling in a lot of the. wetlands because we were dealing with. malaria at the time. So, it made a lot. of sense get rid of the mosquitoes'. habitat, you get rid of the mosquitoes. And it worked, but we've paid a heavy. price for it because over time we've. realized these wetlands provide some. really important benefits to to the. local ecosystems and in turn humans who. live around them. Yeah, I mean, helping. uh flood conditions is a big one. They. are big, big natural sponges when it. comes down to it and flooding would be.

way, way worse. And we still have. floods, obviously, but it'd be way worse. if we didn't have wetlands. They'd be. far more destructive if they weren't. around to soak in that excess water and. then kind of slowly trickle it to the. water table below. And the same is. obviously true of hurricanes and and big. storm surges. The wetlands basically operate as big. storage tanks for water. Yeah, I saw somewhere, I can't find it. now, but that like it Oh, there it is. An acre of wetlands can hold up to about. a million and a half gallons of water.

>> Yeah. Just just one acre. So, you got to. think like that water's staying put. there and it's not flooding some human. habitation instead, which is a good. reason to keep wetlands around just for. that that buffer area or to slow down. the surge like you were saying. I also. saw that we found out the same thing. goes for beaver dams that they build. They're like a temporary artificial. wetland and they provide a lot of the. same functions that natural or other I. guess naturally occurring or growing.

wetlands provide, too. Um, I think we should do a whole episode. on beavers, okay? >> Oh, totally. I'm way into beavers. So, water filtration. is. is another. Is is it water I'm getting you back for. the origami thing. All right. So, water. filtration is is another big service. that wetlands provide. I don't remember where we talked about. this, but we talked about it recently. where the water Oh, I think it was water.

treatment plants. >> Yeah. The water's brought in and it's. got all this sediment and gunk and muck. and it's cloudy and turbid and then it. slows down. They slow it down like. running it through some grates or. whatever. And as it slows down, the. sediment that is making the water turbid. and polluted and everything has a chance. to settle the bottom. Well, wetlands. provide that same function naturally. So, when you have a bunch of like. polluted water basically come through. there, that it it slows down when it. hits all those mangrove roots or tree.

trunks or whatever it is and it gives it. a chance for that sediment to fall to. the bottom. It's gets sucked up by the. tree roots and stored in the trees. or the microbial life can break a lot of. that stuff down too and there's. definitely a limit. to where you can very easily overload. the the wetlands ability to filter the. water but if you if you gave it like a. manageable supply that is a major. service that it does is it cleans our.

water. Wetlands the kidneys of the. earth. Yeah and they they've even done. studies where they tried to. I guess sort of monetize. what an area of wetland might do if it. were a treatment plant and there's one. in South Carolina called the Congaree. Bottomland Hardwood Swamp. These are just all country bands. For. sure. Is they said that that is. basically equivalent to about a five. million dollar water treatment plant. Just sitting there being a wetland doing.

its thing. Thank you nature. Pretty. amazing. I saw that beavers provide the. the dams that that they build that end. up being temporary wetlands that. somebody estimated it's worth about a. hundred grand if a human tried to build. a an artificial one which we do that if. you just let beavers do their thing they. will. they will do the same thing for free. That's right don't have to pay them a. hundred grand. No. There's also because there's so much.

going on. in a wetland there's so much life they. kind of form like these metropolises. for all sorts of different types of. animals on all the way up the food chain. including plants animals microbial life. worms fish larger predators like. dolphins and all. of them are sitting there. providing. food for us. If you like gator tail, buddy, you better preserve those.

wetlands. Yeah, it's um they point out. here that the commercial fishing. industry in the US. uh 75% of the fish and shellfish. harvested here Mhm. >> um had fish that at least had a. temporary home in the wetlands. Mhm. And. that recreationally, if you're a. recreational. fish person. fisherperson, then uh 90% of the US fish. catch uh. is at least the breeding ground uh lies. in the wetlands for those fish. And the. same thing goes for birds, too. They're. They're enormously important habitats.

for birds. Um some permanent, but also. migratory, too, because if you're flying. along and you're a bird and you are a. water bird and you need a place to land, not only are you looking for water, but. you might really enjoy a swamp cuz it. offers protection from predators, it. offers a port in the storm. Uh it's just. a all-around valuable thing for birds, too. >> Yeah, I mean, imagine. flying uh from Canada to. Texas. and you're going over Oklahoma and.

you're a little tired. Mhm. And you look. down and you see one of those uh which. ones were those? The prairie playas? The The No, the uh prairie pothole. >> Prairie potholes? Yeah. Oh, man. What what a sight. Aren't you describing. a scene in Jonathan Livingston Seagull? Probably so. Uh so, the point is we need to take care. of our wetlands because they are. um a a threatened, diverse, very useful.

place all over the world, especially. here in the United States. And um if. they are threatened and if things. happen, there are going to be all kinds. of bad things. Uh you know, vegetative. damage. Um the plant life just being. maybe whitened out uh wiped out. altogether. Storm surges being way. worse, flooding being way worse. Uh I I. especially helps to see the value in. them if you consider them a a buffer. zone between us and and the the hardest. ravages of nature. Yeah, and like you.

mentioned pollution, there is a limit, but they do absorb and mitigate uh. levels of water pollution and. um it just they just can't take too much. of us, you know? Right, exactly. Which man, if there's. anything that characterizes humans in. the 20th and 21st centuries, it's too. much of us. Yeah. You know what I mean? What can we do though? Well, >> Besides donating to wetland projects, we. we can definitely do that. You can. definitely do that. There's some good. ones out there. Um I believe uh Ducks.

Unlimited is one of them. Uh the. Wetlands Initiative, Natural Resources. Defense Council, Wetlands International. Um but if apparently in the United. States, something like 75% of wetlands. are on privately owned property. And in the United States, we have I. mean, private property is one of like. the fundamental tenants of American. society. So, if you say, "I want to fill. in this wetland and kill off these. beavers," you're allowed to do that. Whether that's a good idea and whether.

that's going to affect other people, that's a a different story. So, if you. own private property with a wetland on. it and you're doing just fine with that. wetland, leave the wetland alone. It's a. very important Yeah, I guess this is. where it gets a little tricky in. definitions because. in plenty of places, there are. restrictions on. building near water like this. Sure. Uh. I guess I just don't know like. um. you can't build in a flood zone. You.

can't I mean, it depends on where you. are, but in Atlanta, you can't. Uh and. then with these all these creeks and. streams in Atlanta, they have what's. called stream buffers. Sure. Um 50 ft, 75 ft, 100 ft, and I think I think 25 is. the lowest. And for these, you have to get variances. to do anything, which your neighborhood. has to approve and. uh I talked to a guy that apparently. anything over um anything under 75 ft is. pretty pretty tricky to get approved. So, I don't know if they're wetlands or. not, but there are restrictions on stuff. like that. Okay, so that brings up the.

next point of what you and I and. everybody else can do, which is vote for. people for to local elected office who. part of their platform is protecting. wetlands. >> Yeah. Like all of those buffer zones, all those variances, and all those. prohibitions, those are those came from. Atlanta City Councils over the years. that decided that wetlands needed. protecting. You don't find those. everywhere, but once they get put in. place, they usually don't get repealed. very easily. So, if if you make. preserving wetlands part of like what.

you're voting for, that would have an. impact for sure. Yeah. And whatever you're voting for, just. vote, okay? Vote. Let's take a second to say that. >> I know everyone. the presidential elections are always. the big. sexy votes, but the local politics. matters even more almost sometimes. Yeah, I vote for all of it. Take an. interest in the in your society. >> Yeah. >> Okay? Uh well, you got anything else about. wetlands? >> Nope. I don't either. This is a good one. I'm.

pretty happy with it. Uh and since I. said that, everybody, it's time for. listener mail. Yeah, I'm going to call this the first. uh SYSK. Oh, yeah. >> see these? Yes, man. Congratulations to. everybody who took part. >> Yeah, so what happened was uh some Stuff. You Should Know listeners got together. and put together a 5K, a Stuff You. Should Know 5K, and we got periodic. updates from Aaron Huey Mizell or Mizel,

I'm not sure how you pronounce it. I'm. going with Mizell. >> Mizell, but this is um. this is the the final email about uh how. it went. Uh hey guys, want to let you. know that the SYSK is over. It was so. nice to look at everyone's pictures and. hear what episodes of Stuff You Should. Know they listened to cuz that was the. idea. I imagine some people might have. fudged that and listened to Mark Maron. or whatever. That's not a like they're. disqualified. I think a lot of us have suffered from a. lack of human connection at this time. and the silly little virtual event gave.

us something to bond over. I don't think I would have tried this. with any other group of people. The. Stuff You Should Know Army is wonderful. and it speaks volumes in regard to you. guys. The tone that you set in your podcast, interesting and funny, carries over into. your fan base and has created a little. lovely corner of the internet. I totally. agree, Aaron, and the same can be said. of the movie crush page. Very, very good. people, not snippy or rude and going. after each other on Facebook, which is. kind of what Facebook seems to be all. about. Oh, yeah, it's like a.

a garden paradise over there on the SYSK. Army page. >> Yeah, it's great. Now, I'm not suggesting that you made. these people wonderful, but the average. Stuff You Should Know Army member is. like that, interesting, funny, and. willing to participate in a virtual 5K. with a complete stranger. And they love. stroopwafels. I even bought 13 Stuff You Should Know. stickers to send out to some people as. prizes. It's just a little thing, but. everyone that I've been in touch with. has been exceedingly kind. This is what. we need right now, these small human. connections, a podcast to listen to and. laugh with, a walk, run,

bear chase to do virtually with a bunch. of near strangers, and a Stuff You Should Know sticker to. put on your fridge or on your laptop. If. you get a chance, go to the event page. and scroll through some of the posts. They're delightful. Like the woman who. did our 5K at 3 months postpartum and. crushed it. Nice. >> Or the dad who pushed his adorable. daughter in her stroller on the 5K while. listening to his favorite episode, which. was Spam. We had first-timers, Yeah, it was a good. one. We had first-timers, people. recovering from injury, runners and. walkers, so many smiles and Stuff You.

Should Know t-shirts. Signing off for. now, but just wanted to tell you it was. a a success. We might even do it again. with love, and that is again from Aaron. Huey Mizell. And that is great Aaron. Thank you for doing this. And that really does speak to to the. quality of our listeners in every single. way. Indubitably. Yeah, thanks a lot. Aaron. It's good to hear from you. And to everybody who participated in the. SYP K. you are the champions. our friends.

Even if you listen to Marc Maron. But maybe not what Chuck just said. That's it. Okay, well if you want to get in touch. with us like Aaron did and do something. interesting, we want to hear about it. You can write to us an email to. stuffpodcast@iheartradio.com. Stuff you should know is a production of. I heart radio's howstuffworks.com. For. more podcasts from I heart radio, visit.

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