Salt Marsh Ecosystems On Earth

Mangroves are halophyte plants that are physiologically amended to survive in habitat containing high concentration of salt in the soil water even though salt is not a physical requirement for growth; hence they are facultative halophytes (Dictionary, 2015). Mangroves at Nudgee Beach have developed three special mechanisms to manage the excess salt levels in their environment due to the disability of enzymes function at high salt concentration. Each species of mangroves are able to either: exclude (prevent salt entering), extrude (take salt out) or accumulate large amounts sodium chloride, enabling them to survive in their ecosystem (University of Sydney, 2015). Some species of mangrove have more than one of the above characteristics. The process

The Chesapeake Bay is a 200-mile-long estuary extending from Norfolk, VA to Havre de grace Maryland. On average this bay contains about 68 trillion liters of water. This bay is the largest estuary in North America. It inhabits more than 3,000 species of plants, animals, and fish. “Since the early twentieth century, the Chesapeake Bay has experienced serious environmental degradation. Problems include large reductions in sea grass, reduced amounts of finfish and shellfish (especially oysters and crab), seasonal depletions in dissolved oxygen, and increases in sedimentation.” (Atkins & Anderson, 2003) These changes are brought on by pollution (Eutrophication and Toxic Contamination), development, deforestation, and agriculture. And according

Scientists and researchers began giving a large volume of effort and look into the extremely complex problems that face the Chesapeake Bay. When research for the improving and saving of the Bay’s overall health began it seemed very simple and there were only a couple of problems. The problems included nutrients from agricultural runoff; these nutrients were phosphorus and nitrogen. The combination of the nutrients in the Bay caused a large volume of algae that choked some of the marine life. While bringing in algae the nutrients also killed grasses on the seafloor. These seafloor bed grasses that once covered more than half of the Chesapeake Bay’s floor now only covered a tenth of their original area. Though the estuary was having problems it did not receive the terrible pollution from industries that many large rivers and lakes do in other urban areas (Brown, p. 397).

The characteristic warming climate of the Late Pleistocene and Early Holocene resulted in rising sea levels which contributed to the formation of the various deltas in the New Orleans area (Dunbar, Britsch, 2008). The natural formation of these deltas produced coastal wetlands that represent 30% of coastal wetlands currently in the United States (Cigler, 2007). In addition to these wetlands, the Mississippi River was surrounded by substantial forest growth (Pabis, 1998).

The loss of Louisiana coastal land is one of the most major factors in our environment today. Louisiana has already loss 1,880 square miles of land in the past eight decades. This problem is effecting the state funding to help solve the problem before the state lose more coastal land. Human disturbance has had a massive impact on the balance of wetland growth and decline. (Wilson, 2013). In order to stop this situation the state needs to have a stronger structural protection for the coast line. (Wilson, 2013).

Louisiana’s Gulf Coast is eroding into the sea, and by 2100 most of Southeast Louisiana could be completely underwater. Not only does this threaten human and animal habitats, but also the energy, shipping, fishing, and tourist industries that have made this region of the U.S. a valuable part of the national economy (Marshall, 2014). In the past 200 years, half of the nation’s wetland habitats have been lost due to natural and manmade processes. Louisiana’s wetlands make up 40 percent of the total wetlands in the continental United States. 80 percent of losses, nationally, are of Louisiana’s coast (Williams).

The Herring River Restoration Project in Cape Cod, Massachusetts is the largest saltwater restoration project of the east coast. It involves many organizations’ support through research and grants to be successful such as Friends of Herring River, The Cape Cod National Seashore, US Fish and Wildlife Service, as well as various other private and governmental organizations. The Herring River Restoration Project centers on the deteriorating dike that was put in place in 1909 which forever changed the original undisturbed ecological dynamic of the Herring River system.

East Harbor is a 291 hectare back-barrier salt marsh and coastal lagoon that is located within the Cape Cod National Seashore (CCNS), in Truro Massachusetts (Thiet et al. 2014a; Thelen & Thiet, 2009). The East Harbor system was artificially isolated from the Cape Cod Bay in 1868 when the original 1000-ft wide inlet was diked due to the construction of a causeway for use by trains and automobiles (Portnoy et al. 2006). In 1894, a drainage system was installed that allowed freshwater to escape the system (Portnoy et al. 2006). However, no sea water could enter the system due to a one way flapper valve and the exclusion of the tides caused the salinity to decline from 25-30 parts per thousand (ppt) into brackish water with a salinity of around 5 ppt (Portnoy, 2013; Smith & Medeiros, 2013).

Floodplains contribute a crucial part in the ecology of the lower Mississippi River (LMR), but due to human interactions they have severely affected the ecological functions of the floodplains. By researching spatial analysis, this happens when a floodplain becomes isolated from the main stem of the river by constructing levees (in order to prevent major floods in populated neighborhoods) and changing landscapes (for example, bulldozing forests and paving over that land with concrete). The levees built by the federal government in the Mississippi River has influenced the floodplain by altering the flow of water and raises the water levels that goes into the surrounding water systems (Changnon, 1998). Wetlands act as natures sponge to absorb

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

The intertidal rocky shore of Caloundra Beach is inhabited by diverse range of biodiversity of animals and plants, many of which have developed high levels of adaptations throughout their existence. The very boundary of marine and terrestrial ecosystem, this environment is subjected to extremes of the physical environment such as temperature, desiccation, wave turbulence as well the ecological interactions that commonly occur in biotic communities (e.g. competition, predation). However Rocky intertidal shores are easily accessible by humans and provide an enjoyable opportunity for passive recreation and for science and environmental education as well.

The San Francisco Bay estuarine system has experienced many threats from human activities over the last few centuries. Currently, the two most imminent threats to this Bay area estuarine system are being recognized as a result of global climate change. The first major water-related threat is associated with rising sea levels along the bay and outer coastal shorelines. This is problematic for many different reasons, including coastal and bay-side flooding and shoreline erosion. The second major water-related threat, which can be attributed to both rising sea levels and a reduction of fresh water runoff into the estuarine system is salt water intrusion into ground water reserves. With the recognition and acknowledgement of these serious

Apparently, marshes are often imagined incorrectly. To some people, they might confuse a marsh to a swamp or to a wetland. Although relative, marshes are only a kind of wetland, which is land where the water level is close to the soil surface or covers the surface for at least part of the year. Marshes, specifically salt marshes, are lush, intertidal grasslands renowned for their productivity (Silliman 2014). Simply, a salt marsh is a coastal ecosystem of grasses characterized by poorly drained mineral soils due to regular flooding of salt water brought in by ocean tides. Since salt marshes serve as estuaries between the land and ocean, people do not realize an important role they play in protection; these coastal marshes are presumed to protect human communities from coastal hazards, such as storms and hurricanes, by providing important ecosystem services. One very important ecosystem service is their role as a buffer in protecting coastlines (Shepard et al. 2011). As humans fail to appreciate and protect these marshes, their continuous impacts on coastal infrastructure would not only negatively impact humans but to the life on the salt marshes as well.

Saltmarsh, known as a coastal salt marsh or a tidal marsh, is a coastal ecosystem in the upper coastal intertidal zone between land and open salt water or brackish water, and is widely recognized as significant components in providing essential natural resources and ecosystem services. For example, by reducing wave energy in front of tidal defences, saltmarsh provides demonstrable flood and coastal risk management benefits. It is of immerse value to wildlife, supporting habitats and species of national and international significance (The extent of saltmarsh in England and Wales: 2006-09). Due to their ecosystem functions and effects on coastal stabilization, marshes are crucial structures in tidal environments, both biologically

Blue carbon is the carbon that is captured, stored and sequestered by marine and coastal ecosystems (Howard et al. 2014). In particular, coastal ecosystems such as sea grasses, tidal marshes and mangroves remove carbon from the oceans and atmosphere, sequestering and storing large quantities of blue carbon within the soil, the living biomass aboveground (leaves, branches, stems), the living biomass below ground (roots), and the non-living biomass (litter and dead wood) (Mcleod et al. 2011). Around 83% of the global carbon cycle is circulated through the oceans. Although coastal habitats cover less than 20% of the total ocean area, they account for approximately half of the total carbon that is sequestered in ocean