Brackish Ecosystems: Estuaries Temperate estuaries usually feature salt marshes,
Where the ocean meets the land, there may be one of shallow wetlands in which salt-tolerant grasses grow
estuary A coastal
several kinds of ecosystems: a rocky (Figure 6.15a). Salt marshes perform many ecosystem
body of water, partly
shore, a sandy beach, an inter- services, including providing biological habitats, trap-
surrounded by land, tidal mud flat, or a tidal estuary. ping sediment and pollution, supplying groundwater,
with access to the Water levels in an estuary rise and and buffering storms by absorbing their energy, which
open ocean and a fall with the tides; salinity fluctu- prevents flood damage elsewhere.
large supply of fresh ates with tidal cycles, the time of Mangrove forests, the tropical equivalent of salt
water from a river. year, and precipitation. Salinity marshes, cover perhaps 70 percent of tropical coastlines
also changes gradually within the (Figure 6.15b). Like salt marshes, mangrove forests
estuary, from fresh water at the river entrance, to brackish provide valuable ecosystem services. Their interlacing
(somewhat salty) water, to salty ocean water at the mouth roots are breeding grounds and nurseries for several
of the estuary. Because estuaries undergo significant commercially important fishes and shellfish, such as
daily, seasonal, and annual variations in physical factors mullet, spotted sea trout, crabs, and shrimp. Mangrove
such as temperature, salinity, and depth of light penetra- branches are nesting sites for many species of birds,
tion, estuarine organisms must have a high tolerance for such as pelicans, herons, egrets, and roseate spoonbills.
changing conditions. Mangrove roots stabilize the submerged soil, thereby
Estuaries are among the most productive ecosystems preventing coastal erosion and providing a barrier
in the world. Their high productivity is brought about against the ocean during storms.
by nutrient transport from land, tidal action that rapidly Both salt marsh and mangrove forest ecosystems have
circulates nutrients and helps remove waste products, a experienced significant losses due to coastal development.
high level of light that penetrates the shallow water, and Salt marshes have been polluted—by countless ongoing
the many plants that form the base of a detritus food web. sources as well as oil spills—and turned into dumping
Estuaries • Figure 6.15
vixterd/istock/Getty Images
Photoshot/Alamy Limited
a. A salt marsh near Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina. b. A mangrove forest in Risong Bay, Palau, Micronesia, with an
underwater view of the prop root system. Mangrove roots grow into
deeper water as well as into mudflats that are exposed at low tide.
Many animals live among the mangroves’ complex root system.
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