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Estuarine Communities

Estuarine Communities. Salt Marshes. Estuary. Partially enclosed area where saltwater and freshwater mix – where would you find it? Dominated by salt-tolerant plants Examples are Chesapeake Bay, San Francisco Bay, salt marshes of New England and New Jersey . Our Estuaries.

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Estuarine Communities

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  1. Estuarine Communities Salt Marshes

  2. Estuary • Partially enclosed area where saltwater and freshwater mix – where would you find it? • Dominated by salt-tolerant plants • Examples are Chesapeake Bay, San Francisco Bay, salt marshes of New England and New Jersey

  3. Our Estuaries Located where rivers meet the sea – where fresh and salt water mix – the Barnegat Bay Little Egg Estuary is one of just 28 estuaries in the United States designated of “national significance" by the EPA

  4. Salt Marshes • More than three-quarters of the wetlands in southeastern New Jersey are saltwater tidal marshes • Provide a critical habitat for commercially important species of fish and crabs, as well as birds such as ospreys and bald eagles • Without these marshes, the water quality in area back bays and nearby beaches would suffer, the amount of other locally harvested seafood would be significantly less

  5. Salt Marshes protect us • Salt Marsh grasses absorb heavy metals from contaminated soil, they keep the pollutants in their stems, leaves and roots • Grasses help clean the polluted soil • Marshes help absorb rising tidal floods due to storms

  6. Salt Marsh protection • Among the most highly regulated ecosystems in the state • Laws were passed out of concern that development would destroy the marshes

  7. Living Conditions in a Salt Marsh • Water levels change (tides) – this leads to • Changing oxygen levels • changing temperatures • changing salt levels • This makes for harsh living • Any organism adapted to these conditions is a 'super-hero of adaptation'

  8. Life in Salt Marshes • Harsh conditions – make life hard, yet..... • Teaming with life: purple fiddler crabs; black mud snails; silverfish; large blue crabs....... • Dozen of species of birds – fly in and out or nest, raising their young - ospreys, eagles, egrets and herons • Mussels, clams, worms, turtles, shrimp • Let's explore

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