These plants and animals are, in turn, food for larger predatory fish, reptiles, amphibians, birds, and mammals. Wetlands are vital to the survival of various animals and plants, including threatened and endangered species like the wood stork, Florida panther, and whooping crane. More than one-third of the United States' threatened and endangered species live only in wetlands, and nearly half use wetlands at some point in their lives. For many other species, such as the blue heron, wood duck, and muskrat, wetlands are primary habitats. For others, wetlands provide important seasonal habitats where food, water, and shelter are plentiful, especially during migration and breeding.
Wetlands often function like natural sponges, storing floodwater and slowly releasing it.
Trees, root mats and other wetland vegetation help slow floodwaters. This combined storage and slowing can lower flood heights and reduce the energy of flood-swollen rivers, thereby minimizing damage potential. Wetlands thus reduce the likelihood of flood damage to crops, control the volume of run-off in urban areas and buffer shorelines against erosion. Improve Water Control and Quality. Once wetlands intercept surface run-off, they retain excess nutrients and some pollutants, thereby reducing sediment that would clog waterways and affect fish and amphibian egg development.