Will stared at the blank piece of paper in front of him and sighed.
"Wetlands are useless. I don't want to write a report on them!
I'd rather hang out in the backyard." He grabbed his phone and headed outside.
Will got comfortable in his favorite spot, the hammock.
After a few minutes of rocking back and forth, he dozed off.
Soon an annoying buzzing woke him up. "Stupid mosquitoes," Will grumbled.
"I wish they'd all die." He opened his eyes and saw that he wasn't in the hammock anymore but in a canoe.
And dozens of hungry mosquitoes were circling him.
"Actually if mosquitoes died, many other species would die too—ones you like," QT said.
"Mosquitoes are an important part of the ecosystem."
Will got up and sat on the canoe's bench. "A part of what?"
"An ecosystem is a community of plants and animals and the environment they live in," explained QT.
"Each species within an ecosystem depends on the other species for its survival.
If mosquitoes weren't around, the birds and fish that eat them would disappear.
And then the species that eat those birds and fish would die off too."
"I guess I don't want that . . . ," Will said.
"Each species is part of the ecosystem's food chain.
Food chains show how species are connected. Algae and plants form the bottom of any food chain.
They're called producers because they can make their own food from sunlight.
Creatures that eat other plants and animals are called consumers.
Consumers that only eat plants are called herbivores.
Those that eat both plants and animals are called omnivores.
And those that only eat other animals are carnivores."
Will peered into the water. "I see what you mean.
Those little fish are eating plants. And that bird just ate one of the fish!
And—whoa!—that alligator would have eaten the bird if he were a little quicker!"
"Alligators are at the top of the food chain," QT said. "Very few species can prey on them.
When alligators—and all other creatures—die, decomposers, like bacteria and fungi, break down the dead bodies.
They return the energy and nutrients at the top of the food chain to the bottom
so plants have what they need to grow and start the whole cycle again."
"There are so many animals here! There must be a lot of different food chains," Will guessed.
"You're right. Some plants are eaten by mice, which are eaten by snakes, which are eaten by hawks.
And some plants are eaten by deer, which are then eaten by panthers.
The many connections between all the food chains in an ecosystem make up a food web."
"Did you say 'panthers'?" Will asked in surprise. "Where are we?"
"We are in the Everglades, a huge wetland in southern Florida.
Right now we are in a freshwater marsh, a large part of the Everglades.
Believe it or not, panthers used to be common around here."
QT projected a panther sneaking up on a rabbit.
"Now they're endangered and we're unlikely to see one."
"Maybe we can see better from that tower," Will said, paddling the canoe toward it. "But what exactly is a wetland?"
"It's just what it sounds like: an area that is covered by water for the majority of the time.
Wetlands are pretty shallow, usually no more than a meter deep. There are two main types.
Coastal wetlands—as you can probably guess—are close to a coast.
Fresh water and salty water mix there, so only species that can tolerate water that's a little salty can survive.
Inland wetlands are, well, farther inland. They usually form when rain floods a riverbed or another low, flat area.
Wetlands exist on every continent, except for Antarctica, so there is a huge variety of different habitats.
For instance, wetlands where mostly grasses grow—like this one—are called marshes, and those where trees grow are called swamps."
The canoe reached the shore, and Will got out, stepping onto a path to the tower.
When he reached the viewing platform, he said, "There's so much land! Why don't they do something useful with it?"
"Wetlands are useful!" QT exclaimed. "They have several important jobs. For one they protect us from floods.
When a heavy rainfall comes, wetlands act like a sponge, absorbing the extra water and releasing it slowly."
"I guess that's useful," Will admitted. "What else do wetlands do?"
"They clean water as it passes through, absorbing a lot of nutrients and pollutants.
Let's continue to the coast, and you'll see another benefit of wetlands."
As Will paddled along, the scenery began to change; the marsh became a maze of small islands and trees.
"I've never seen trees growing in water before," commented Will.
"We are in a mangrove swamp," said QT, "another habitat in the Everglades.
It demonstrates another major role of wetlands: many species live here and migrating birds stop here to rest.
Plant roots also keep the soil from being swept away by the flow of water and even make it possible for new land to build up."
Will noticed something big and gray swimming nearby. "What's that?" he asked.
QT scanned the underwater creature and replied, "That is a manatee.
They're harmless herbivores; don't worry. They live close to the shore here in Florida.
Sailors long ago thought these animals were mermaids."
Will stopped paddling to watch the manatee. "It doesn't look like a mermaid to me!"
Soon the gentle rocking of the boat put him to sleep.
When he opened his eyes, he was back in the hammock, still surrounded by mosquitoes.
"I guess mosquitoes aren't totally bad. And wetlands aren't useless after all," he said and ran upstairs to write his report.