Water Institute member Rebecca Rooney discusses the value of wetlands and the risk they face in Ontario
By Angelica Marie Sanchez, University Relations
Thursday, February 2 marks World Wetlands Day, an international government agreement acknowledging the importance of wetlands and their ecological role in conserving our ecosystems.
“Wetlands are these climate change superheroes,” says Water institute member Dr. Rebecca Rooney, a wetland ecologist and professor in the Department of Biology. “Wetlands are a portfolio of ecosystem services: including flood prevention, breaking down pesticides, storing large amounts of carbon, and provide habitat for more than 32 per cent of Ontario species at risk who rely on these wetlands to mitigate climate change.”