Formal and Informal Environmental Education of the Northern Gulf of Mexico (FIEE) J.L. Scott Marine Education Center Center for Science and Mathematics Education Grand Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve Shelia Brown, Sherry Herron, David Ruple Coastal Habitats

 A unique environment where freshwater from the river meets the sea  Among the most productive environments on Earth  Provide natural nurseries for many species  Most affected by human activity (filled, dredged, turned into seaports and used as garbage disposal sites)

 Objectives: 1.) Define estuary. 2.) Describe the different types of estuaries. 3.) Compare water parameter for two estuaries. 4.) Determine the differences between estuaries by examining maps, charts, graphs, tables and other data.

Laguna Madre

 Larger and well-developed  coasts with flat plains, wide continental shelves or passive margins  Smaller and less-developed  steep coasts, narrow continental shelves, narrow river mouths or active margins

 Density of the water  affected by temperature, salinity and depth  Density as Temperature as Salinity as Depth  Forms three layers in the water column: Surface  mixed layer middle pynocline  rapid increase in density deep zone  density constant

 Light Absorption in the ocean  greatly affects the distribution of life  Penetration of light will form zones; Photic zone: thin surface layer where all food production occurs ( m) Aphotic zone: no light (below 200m)  Ocean Currents, Tides and Waves  affected by wind, thermal expansion and contraction, density, Coriolis effect, size and shape of ocean basins, gravity and friction

 Chemical composition  Salinity (affected by freshwater influx) hypersaline – high salinity (more than 35‰) hyposaline – low salinity (less than 30‰)  Temperature (shallow waters will be warmer)  pH (freshwater typically more acidic, but ocean water mixing helps buffer the pH)  Dissolved Oxygen (decreases w/depth)  Availability of nutrients and food (primary factor responsible for maintaining viable ecosystems)

 Coastal Plain Estuary  also known as Drowned River Valley  formed when sea level rose at the end of the last “ice age” and the sea invaded lowlands and the mouths of rivers  example: Chesapeake Bay

 Bar-Built Estuary  accumulation of sediments along the coast results in sand bars and barrier islands  act as walls between the ocean and the fresh water supply  examples: Laguna Madre (Texas) Mississippi Sound

 Tectonic Estuaries  created when land sank or subsided as a result of movement in the Earth’s crust  example: San Francisco Bay  Fjords  created when retreating glaciers cut deep valleys along coasts  valleys were flooded by the sea and the rivers in the valley flowed into the sea  common in Southeastern Alaska

 Wetlands provide buffers from coastal storms and tidal surges, purification of our waters, and flood control along rivers and streams.  The back-and-forth movement of tidal currents allow nutrients to be released that provide food for small fish and invertebrates.  Nontidal marshes provide control of storm waters.  Provide food and cover for wildlife.

 Estuarine water are abundant in Plankton  Plants: salt-marsh grasses, seaweed, submerged grass beds and mangroves  Invertebrates: multitudes of worms, clams, shrimp, snails, crabs, etc  Vertebrates: Countless species of fish

 Organisms need adaptations that aid in their survival of a continuously changing estuarine environment.  Factors always fluctuating in an estuary; ◦ Temperature ◦ Salinity (osmoregulators/osmoconformers) ◦ Nutrients

 Overstory  Midstory  Understory  The upper most vegetative layer consisting of the tallest, dominant trees in a stand which create the canopy.  The intermediate vegetative layer consisting of saplings, suppressed trees and small shade tolerant trees occupying a stratum below the main canopy.  The lowest vegetative layer of small trees and shrubs which are shade tolerant.

 Flat areas dominated by salt- tolerant grasses  Spartina alterniflora, smooth cordgrass, and Juncus roemerianus, black needlerush, are the most prominent.  Spartina patens, salt meadow hay or cordgrass, also common on the high marsh.  Black needlerush, marsh aster, sea lavender and a variety of salt grasses can be present.  Succulents are common in “salt flats” or “salt pans.”

 Cypress and tupelo trees dominate.  Mixed stands include red maple, pumpkin ash, black willow, water elm, and water locust.  Long hydroperiods and low light levels reduces undergrowth.  Swamps serve as nutrient and sediment sinks to help improve water quality.  Swamps generate leaf litter and other organic debris that contribute to aquatic food chains.

 Broad, alluvial wetlands found in floodplains flanking large river systems.  Alternating wet and dry periods maintain these habitats.  Maintain water quality, regulate flooding and stream recharge, and provide habitat for a diversity of fish and wildlife.  Extremely productive areas due to the amount of organic matter and dissolved nutrients deposited by the periodic flooding.  Physiography, topography, soils and moisture regimes allow several types of natural communities to develop: ◦ Overcup oak – water hickory ◦ Sugarberry – American elm – green ash ◦ Sycamore – sweetgum – American gum ◦ Sweet gum – water oak ◦ Forested canebrake ◦ Live oak forest

 Forested wetlands (swamps) that include a variety of dominant tree species. Generally, these are depression wetlands with a canopy and mucky, organic soils. Bayheads are found at… ◦ Heads of creeks ◦ Bases of slopes ◦ Narrow bottoms of small streams ◦ Acid depressions in pine flatwoods ◦ Bordering other swamp communities

 Trees include hardwoods, cypress, cypress, and pines.  Small trees and evergreen shrubs.  Vines include greenbriers, climbing hydrangea, wild grapes, and Virginia creeper.  Herbaceous species are sparse but may include bog plants in open areas. Bayhead ecotone Pine flatwoods This scene above is of the ecotone between the bayhead on the left and pine flatwood forest on the right. Note the fire-scarred trunks of the slash pine and palmetto in the understory of the pine flatwoods.

 Located upstream form saline marshes and downstream from non-tidal freshwater marshes.  Influenced by tidal flux  Near-freshwater conditions (average salinity 0.5 ppt or below) enable plant and animal communities to be dominated by freshwater species.  Spike rush is the dominant plant species.  Marsh lily, lizard’s tail, bulltongue, blue flag, three-square, pickerelweed, beak rush, mock bishop weed, marsh fleabane, knotweed, bull whip, wild rice, square-leafed spike rush, water parsnip and regal fern are common.  These communities may border stands of bald cypress, tupelo or black gum.

 Pine-dominated upland habitats that include hardwood s and a variety of understory trees and shrubs.  Specifically, longleaf and loblolly pines mixed with beech, oaks, southern magnolia, sweet gum, black gum, and hickory.  Understory trees include flowering dogwood, tree huckleberry, American holly, red maple and black cherry.  Common shrubs include yaupon, large gallberry and edible blueberries.  Maintained through fires.

 a narrow band of forest dominated by slash pine or oak.  found on old coastal dunes (cheniers) that have stabilized long enough for tree growth.  Live oak, cabbage palm and redbay combine to form dense growth.  Other typical plants include American holly, southern magnolia, red cedar, sea grape, wild olive, saw palmetto, beautyberry, poison ivy, coral bean and ferns.  These forests provide food and shelter for trans-oceanic and trans-gulf migratory birds.

 Wet scrub shrub habitats occur in seasonally flooded, and poorly drained flat areas in the lower coastal plain.  Water table is at or near the surface most of the year.  Underlying soil is often acidic clay pan causing the trees and shrubs to be stunted in growth.  Scattered tress and shrubs  no overstory present  slash pine, sweet bay, wax myrtles black gum, swamp cyrilla, and oaks.  Carnivorous plants and various members of the lily, orchid and sunflower families.  Fire control is essential.

 Longleaf, loblolly, slash, and spruce pine  Water oak, laurel oak, sweetbay, red and maple may be present.  Wetter sites may have bald cypress, pond cypress, sweetgum, and black gum.  Mid- and understory plants include palmetto, gallberry, swamp cyrilla, fetterbush, wax myrtle, summersweet, blueberries, huckleberries, St. John’s worts, indigo, blazing stars, blackberries, bluestems and panic grasses.  Fire important for maintaining the ecosystem.

 Main elements of diversity for the beaches are the migratory and resident birds.  Least terns, black skimmers, and snowy plovers nest in summer.  Migratory gulls and plovers, turnstone, sandpipers, sanderlings visit in the winter.  The most common plants on the beaches are the sea oats and railroad vines.

 Acid depression  Alluvial  Are bog-like areas characterized by low pH and acid- loving vegetation.  Refers to deposition by running water; soils resulting from riverine flooding and sediment deposition.

 Clay hard pan  Clay pan  Salt pan  Soil with poor drainage as a result of repeated compaction of soil particles.  Soils that are nearly imperious to water as a result of the binding of soil particles by calcium carbonate and iron oxides.  Shallow basin where salt is deposited through evaporation by the sun.