What Are the Benefits of Aquatic Plants?
- Wildlife habitat is one of the many benefits of aquatic plants.by the pond image by Quennie Chua from Fotolia.com
Water bodies and wetland areas with a good balance of beneficial aquatic plants reap a variety of benefits. The four groups of aquatic plants are floating, algae, submerged and emergent. The different properties and locations of these plants affect the particular benefits provided to the aquatic ecosystem. In turn, humans reap the benefits of healthy aquatic ecosystems in ways that are both obvious and less apparent. - A wetland is any area of relatively shallow standing water. They're often near bodies of water such as lakes and rivers. They also form in depressions, such as those caused by glaciations in the Midwestern United States. Emergent plants, including cattails, are common in wetlands. Wetland plants serve to filter chemical and organic pollutants such as those found in pesticides or created by erosion. They also directly reduce erosion by holding soil in place with their roots, providing habitat for wildlife and serving as storage areas for surface water runoff. Many Native Americans recognized the importance of wetland plants in ecosystem health through forbidding beaver hunting because of their ability to create wetlands by making dams, according to "Principles of Water Resources," by Thomas V. Cech.
- All four groups of aquatic plants are common in ponds and lakes. A Penn State University online video states that a pond with "20 to 30 percent of bottom or surface covered with some type of vegetation is usually ideal." Submerged plants are in shallow areas and typically root to the bottom. These help prevent muddy water through stabilization and take nutrients from species such as algae that are more likely to be harmful. The stems, roots and leaves provide food for insects that fish and birds eat. Floating aquatic plants, such as water lilies, provide excellent nesting beds and habitat for amphibians, which feed on emergent plants such as bulrushes.
- Using aquatic plants to remove toxic metals from soils and water is a promising field. This could allow brown field--land not fit to use--recovery and perhaps for it to one day be used for agricultural purposes. A Mississippi State University study found that duckweed--generally considered a nuisance aquatic species--removed "approximately 60% of each metal" studied in a controlled laboratory water environment.
Medicinal uses of aquatic plants range from traditional folk remedies to the incorporation of plants into modern pharmaceuticals. There is a widely untapped potential for aquatic plants as fertilizer and a paper source. As pointed out by the Food and Agricultural Organization, an aquatic plant as a food source is important in areas such as Nigeria where locals collect several varieties of wild rice. (Ref 4)
