St Lucia Wetlands, South Africa-World Heritage Site
Wetlands can be thought of as "biological supermarkets." They produce great quantities of food that attract many animal species. The complex, dynamic feeding relationships among the organisms inhabiting wetland environments are referred to as food webs. The combination of shallow water, high levels of inorganic nutrients, and high rates of primary productivity (the synthesis of new plant biomass through photosynthesis) in many wetlands is ideal for the development of organisms that form the base of the food web -- for example, many species of insects, mollusks, and crustaceans (click for image). Some animals consume the above-ground live vegetation (herbivore-carnivore food web); others utilize the dead plant leaves and stems, which break down in the water to form small, nutrient-enriched particles of organic material called detritus
Acknowledgements
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. 1995b. America's Wetlands: Our Vital Link Between Land and Water. EPA843-K-95-001. Washington, DC: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Water, Office of Wetlands, Oceans and Watersheds.
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