A wetland is not just ground that is wet. Certain hydrologic or
water-containing soils must be present along with wetland plants and
trees.
Wetlands are transitional zones between uplands – or an area of land
that lies above the level where water flows or where flooding occurs –
and bodies of water, sometimes where groundwater comes to the surface,
according to the Chicago-based nonprofit organization The nWetlands
Initiative.
Commonly, those soils would be known as silty clay or organic soils
like muck or peat made of dead and dying plant matter, said Scott
Fetters, fish and wildlife biologist for the Northeast Indiana Habitat
Restoration office of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
Plants are hydrophytes, or plants specially adapted to grow in
saturated soils. Some of those include bull rushes, arrowhead, sedges
and blue flag iris. Many of the cattails seen in wetland areas are an
invasive species, Fetters said.
Wetland restoration is best carried out by professionals, said Chris
Sebastian, Ducks Unlimited's spokesman for the Great Lakes Atlantic
Region.
“It takes really big construction, earth moving projects for wetland
restoration. Even enhancing a wetland takes expertise and equipment.
There are contractors we work with,” Sebastian said.