40 * Wetlands: Their Use and Regulation 



Photo credit: U.S. Fist^ and Wildlife Service. C. Ker^neth Dodd. Jr. 



Draped with Spanish moss, the haunting Santee-Cooper River Swamp in South Carolina provides 



an uncommon wilderness experience 





Photo credit US Fish and Wildlife Service 



A number of distinctive and unusual plants grow In 



wetlands. Five genera of insectivorous plants, for 



instance, including this Venus fly trap, are found in 



North Carolina pocosins 



marily in wetland habitats. Other species are more 

 unusual. Five genera of insectivorous plants can 

 be found in a North Carolina pocosin, including 

 round-leaved sundew, butterworts, Venus fly traps, 

 bladderworts, and two species of pitcher plants. In 

 addition, wetlands, particularly those whose origins 

 were glacial, often provide habitat for "relict" 

 plants and animals, that is, those that were once, 

 but are no longer, endemic to an area. Cranesville 

 Swamp in West Virginia has a number of relict spe- 

 cies, including Tamarack, Swainson's, and hermit 

 thrushes; Nashville and mourning warblers; and 

 purple finch, that typically are found much farther 

 north. 



Overall, wedands are characterized by many dif- 

 ferent kinds of flora and fauna relative to other 

 ecosystems. For example, approximately 5,000 spe- 



