1.02 Estuaries: A Case Study

Taking about a week to fully mature into an adult and living for several months, the shrimp do have a surprisingly long life cycle being also able to reproduce up to 300 cysts every 4 days in the right conditions. Other variables such as salinity, temperature, light, pH levels, water levels and predatory presence play a large role in the hatching rate of the crustacean. The brine shrimp are an extremely versatile micro-crustacean as they can survive up to 10x salt concentration of ordinary sea water (Eol.org, 2016) and are able to protect themselves during drought or when conditions are not ideal for survival. This is called highly resistant encysted gastrula embryo (cyst) that is easily able to hatch under conditions that can be replicated at home.

The land is uplifted crust blocks that form parallel ranges but surface water doesn’t run to the ocean. Instead, it evaporates over time leaving a salt flat.

An estuary system is “the resulting collisions of sweet and salt-fresh river water flowing seaward and ocean water inland.” It is an aquatic system where salt and freshwater are constantly mixing. An estuary system is one of most active systems of the planet; it is a hybrid system that contains the best and worst qualities of the ocean, river, and lake systems it conglomerates. Estuaries are unique in nature because of their ability to be the most productive ecosystem on the entire planet; humans have attempted and failed to reach the productivity that estuaries naturally grant. There productivity lies it the constant change that occurs from the conflicting flows of fresh and ocean water. Ocean and freshwater are measured largely based on salinity, or the level of parts of salt per thousand. Ocean water usually

They exhibit a polygynous mating system, which means they have one-male and multi-female groups. The male’s large home ranges envelop the home ranges of several females. The males will mate with all the females in their home range and even some in extending home ranges. Females will also mate with members of different home ranges. The two remain together for several days while mating and will copulate several times in that period. Litters are usually fathered by one male, and the males will defend and mark their territory while mating. Females will mate every other year from May to August. They will stay in heat from June to August, and most mating will occur in June or July. Most interestingly females display a delayed implantation where the embryo is not implanted immediately at copulation but actually waits in diapause for about six months. Fertilized eggs develop to the blastocyst and will remain there until implantation to the uterine wall which typically occurs in the months from December to February. This means pregnancy may last anywhere from 120 to 272 days. Which will depend on when the embryo is fertilized and when it is implanted. Parturition is perfectly timed for the optimum survival of their young, which is usually when the most food is available. Females build snow-dens to birth and nurse their young. They typically have two dens, a natal den for giving birth and then when this den is

B) The afore mentioned estuary characteristic is more specifically called a lagoon. This means that it is a body of water separated from the ocean by barrier islands and because of this has limited exchange with the ocean through inlets. What makes the Indian River Lagoon so special is the fact that it is North America’s most diverse estuary. There are more than 2,200 different species of animals and 2,100 species of plants living within it.

An estuary system is “the resulting collisions of sweet and salt-fresh river water flowing seaward and ocean water inland.” It is an aquatic system where salt and freshwater are constantly mixing. An estuary system is one of most active systems of the planet; it is a hybrid system that contains the best and worst qualities of the ocean, river, and lake systems it conglomerates. Estuaries are unique in nature because of their ability to be the most productive ecosystem on the entire planet; humans have attempted and failed to reach the productivity that estuaries naturally grant. There productivity lies it the constant change that occurs from the conflicting flows of fresh and ocean water. Ocean and freshwater are measured largely based on salinity, or the level of parts of salt per thousand. Ocean water usually has around 35 parts per thousands of salt water, while freshwater

The first major problem is the Salton Sea is a salt lake with salinity levels 25% higher than our oceans according to a study conducted by the California Department of fish and Game (Cohen). The salinity levels are gradually rising due to the fact the sea has no outlet and water is only lost through evaporation, leaving dissolved salts behind. In addition, sitting at an elevation of 220

In southern California, there are various challenges facing the recovery of shoreline front wetlands and salt swamps. For a few times people have ignored the contrary points of view, that would achieve the environment some mischief in perspective of urbanization.

Without oyster reefs, animal habitats are lost because the current is pushing against the shore, endangering the animals. Oyster reefs allow marsh grass to grow. Oyster reefs also provide habitats for oysters, shrimp, and crabs. Oyster castles help prevent shore erosion and water clarity. In addition, oysters exist here in the Lynnhaven River for many reasons. Oysters can SURVIVE in 5-35 ppt( parts per thousand), but they especially thrive in 12-25 ppt. Salinity levels also impact the presence of diseases. For example, at 10 ppt oysters can get diseases such as MSX or Dermo. If the salinity is below 10 ppt for 10 or more days, MSX will be eliminated. In places with lower salinity,around 12 ppt, oysters grow slower. In places with higher salinity, around 25 ppt, oysters grow faster. Their growth can also be affected by tempreature, food, and disease. The Lynnhaven River has high salinity, lots of food, and minimal diseases in most locations,ideal conditions for an oyster. Equally important is the roles other animals play to oysters and their ecosystem. Bioturbators are animals that dig up sediments and particles while making their burrows. Mud crabs are dominant

This report is aimed to develop an environmental management plan regarding the environmental issues that the Lachlan River catchment and lake Chad is facing. The Lachlan Valley catchment in central western NSW, centers on the Lachlan River. It is located west by the Great Dividing Range, to the north by the Macquarie and south by the Murrumbidgee. Lake Chad, located on the border of Chad, Africa. Both of these areas are affected by salinity. Salinity is the measure of all the salts dissolved in water (Narragansett Bay Commission). This purpose of this investigation is to find out the problems affecting these areas and find possible strategies and solutions to preserve these environments in the future. Two strategies intended for protecting

Consider the potential for complexity of salinity and circulation within an estuarine system, a partially enclosed coastal body of brackish water that has freshwater input by rivers and salt water input by marine processes. The circulation of an estuary can vary substantially across a range of time scales such as daily, seasonally, or annually. Changes in freshwater input during periods of heavy rain, fluctuations in tides, or changes in the direction that the wind is blowing can all contribute toward how water moves around within the estuarine system. During periods of heavy rain fall, freshwater input may result in a much lowered salinity in the estuary, whereas during periods of drought and strong onshore winds salty water can be pushed

If the temperature is optimum (14-16 o C), red abalone larvae hatch about one day after fertilization, develop into a morphologically mature veliger larvae after three days and are capable of metamorphosis after about seven days. Red abalone settlement and metamorphosis are by compounds released from coralline algae, which the young abalones graze upon. Within 2 months, the larvae develop into small sized adults while by the age of 1 year, an abalone reaches about 25 mm long, and within 4 years it reaches sexual

There are several different types of marshes with different salinities which are measured using ppt which is the amount of salt in a thousand units. The types of marshes include freshwater, intermediate, brackish, and salt marshes. Freshwater marshes have no salinity and are 100% freshwater as the name would suggest. Intermediate marshes have a salinity from 0-5 ppt (“Louisiana’s Oil.”). Brackish marshes have a salinity from 5-15 ppt and lastly salt water marshes have a salinity higher than 15 ppt (“Louisiana’s Oil.”). Salt water marshes are the ones that are right by canals or are hit by ocean waves every day and are the easiest eroded because they have a lot less plants than the other

Other problems created by high salinity soil conditions include the change in water potential necessary for the plant to overcome the elevated salt concentration in the soil, and the possibility of toxicity due to uptake of Na+ and Cl– ions (Flynn et al., 1995).

The Apalachicola River discharge was about an order or two higher in a wet season (March 23-25, 2015) than in a dry season (November 2-4, 2015) (Figure 8a & 8b). Furthermore, the river discharge increased progressively in March, whereas it altered a little in November except after November 4, 2015. The predicted tidal-heights showed relatively similar micro-tidal environment in both surveys; however the ebb-tidal periods were much stronger in March than in November (Figure 8c & 8d). Weak to average winds (2.85 ± 0.97 ms-1 in March and 2.29 ± 1.68 ms-1 in November) were observed during the field measurements. Nonetheless, sustained periods of cold-northerly winds in March and warm-southerly winds in November could have affected the field and satellite measurements at some stations, e.g., by sediment re-suspension and wavy sea-state (black boxes, Figure 8e & 8f). Tidal forcing was likely the major factor to control the diurnal variation in salinity and water level in both the seasons (Figure 8c & 8d). Moreover, moderate winds could have affected salinity and water level above the tidal-height either by pushing river-water towards the bay or by introducing shelf-water into the bay (e.g. black boxes in Figure 8) (Huang et al. 2002a; Huang et al. 2002b). Dry Bar and Cat Point salinity stations were located close to river mouth (Figure 1); however, they showed considerable variations in salinity during the study period (Figure 8g & 8h).