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Are Wetlands Freshwaters?

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Freshwaters and Wetlands of Patagonia

Part of the book series: Natural and Social Sciences of Patagonia ((NSSP))

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Abstract

Limnology and wetland ecology are intimately related, because in both, water is an essential factor. Despite this, wetlands are water-dependent ecosystems that are neither terrestrial nor aquatic. Unlike aquatic ecosystems, they have soils but they also have standing water, so they are not truly terrestrial. For this reason, some limnologists have historically considered that wetlands were an object of study for terrestrial ecologists and vice versa. The International Convention on Wetlands itself adopted an enumerative definition of wetlands that includes purely aquatic ecosystems, thus leading to further confusion around the wetland concept. Key environmental factors controlling wetlands include geomorphic setting, soil properties, fire frequency, hydroperiod and water sources. In this context, Brinson’s functional wetland classification based on hydrogeomorphic aspects was used in the regionalisation of Argentinean wetlands, which included a Patagonian region with three continental wetland subregions: (1) Lakes, watercourses and mallines of the Patagonian Andes. (2) Lagunas and vegas of the extra-Andean Patagonia. and (3) Mallines and turberas of Austral Patagonia and South Atlantic Islands. Wetlands of the Chilean Patagonia are similar to those of the Argentinean sector, though some peculiar wetland types such as ñadis and cátricos are also found. Wetlands have been and continue to be part of many human cultures in the world. These ecosystems are among the most important in the world since they provide approximately 40% of all ecosystems’ contributions to people. Although these nature contributions to people are particularly important in Patagonia (e.g. freshwater sources, forage for livestock, carbon sinks and habitat for biodiversity), continental wetlands as well as aquatic ecosystems in this region are facing many threats due to changes in land use associated with global change. Therefore, we urge the necessity of public politics focused on their conservation and sustainable use.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    For the purpose of this Convention, wetlands are areas of marsh, fen, peatland or water, whether natural or artificial, permanent or temporary, with water that is static or flowing, fresh, brackish or salt, including areas of marine water the depth of which at low tide does not exceed 6 metres. May incorporate riparian and coastal zones adjacent to the wetlands, and islands or bodies of marine water deeper than 6 metres at low tide lying within the wetlands.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Instituto de Investigación e Ingeniería Ambiental (IIIA) UNSAM-CONICET, Escuela de Hábitat y Sostenibilidad UNSAM, San Martín, Argentina

    Rubén D. Quintana & Gabriela Mataloni

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  1. Rubén D. Quintana
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  2. Gabriela Mataloni
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Correspondence to Rubén D. Quintana .

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  1. Instituto de Investigación e Ingeniería Ambiental (IIIA) UNSAM-CONICET, Escuela de Hábitat y Sostenibilidad UNSAM, San Martín, Argentina

    Gabriela Mataloni

  2. Instituto de Investigación e Ingeniería Ambiental (IIIA) UNSAM-CONICET, Escuela de Hábitat y Sostenibilidad UNSAM, San Martín, Argentina

    Rubén D. Quintana

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Quintana, R.D., Mataloni, G. (2022). Are Wetlands Freshwaters?. In: Mataloni, G., Quintana, R.D. (eds) Freshwaters and Wetlands of Patagonia. Natural and Social Sciences of Patagonia. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-10027-7_2

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