Wetlands perform as natural filters which clean the nutrients and sediments from waters that drain into the estuaries. They also provide for pollution retention, flood control, habitats for wildlife, ground water recharge, and aquatic life production. Increased nutrient levels from agricultural runoff, construction of canals, and lumbering operations have combined to deteriorate the effective role that wetlands play in providing clean water runoff at controlled rates for the estuaries and primary nurseries along their fringes. To Look For The careful observer may see evidence of a variety of mammals that inhabit the swamp. White-tailed deer, black bear, gray squirrel, bats, otter, mink, raccoon, gray and red foxes, and bobcat have been observed and hunted or trapped in the swamp.
Wetland habitats provide the ideal environment for a diversity of amphibians and reptiles.
Lizards, salamanders, frogs, toads, and turtles share the swamp habitat with twenty-one varieties of snakes. The poisonous snakes are the copperhead, canebrake rattlesnake, and cottonmouth. More than 200 species of birds have been identified in the Dismal Swamp. Wetlands may be second only to the great rain forests in life diversity and the impact they have on world ecosystems. Yet, they are indeed fragile and need out serious consideration if they are to survive.