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Published byFrank Randall Modified over 8 years ago
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Welcome to the Salt Marsh!!! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3HXyTMnj7ac https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mHXVSF71a4Y https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gvKe5iStJSc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eP3hRkX03Q8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IWdPBXuCWmY
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A Trip Back In Time… Estuaries – A partially enclosed body of water where saltwater and freshwater meet. – Example: Long Island Sound Fiddler Crab
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Salt Marsh Estuaries are bordered by extensive grassy areas that are partially flooded at high tide – THESE AREAS are SALT MARSHES! Salt marsh – grass dominated tidal wetland that borders the land- water boundary Heron
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Features of Salt Marsh Form in areas that are well protected (low energy environments) Fine grain sediment Tidal Salinity, temperature, and depth varies Muddy bottom held together by a few grasses and salt-tolerant land plants Coffee Bean Snail
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Value of a Salt Marsh Salt Marshes are the most productive land on EARTH!!!!! – 50% of the CT salt marshes have been destroyed Today marshes are destroyed at about 1% per year Why?? – Housing – Mosquitoes – habitat destruction – Roads
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Importance of SMs 1.) Provide food and shelter for many organisms – Fiddler crabs, ribbed mussels, etc. – Also provide food and shelter for many types of birds!!
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Importance of SMs 2.) Storm buffers – Marsh is spongy and can absorb a lot of water Spongy material is called PEAT and can be 15 feet thick
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Importance of SMs 3.) Natural filter systems to control pollution – Can purify industrial and agriculture waste – Scientists are trying to use artificial marshes as a way of filtering pollution
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Formation of a SM Developed in the last 3,000-4,000 years – Gradual sea level rise 1mm per year Distinct vegetation pattern – Usually SM are not very diverse but high in biomass Mud in the marsh – LOW Oxygen and high salinity (40-60 ppt)
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What is causing these patterns?
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What leads to these patterns? Flooding, salinity, bottom material, oxygen, nutrient availability ALL LEAD TO distinctive vegetation pattern!!!
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Importance of Tides – Deliver necessary sediments for continued vertical growth of the marsh – Deliver oxygen to help plant growth – Deliver salt water – Essential for reproduction and nutrition of organisms and movement of eggs
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Transition ZONE = marine to terrestrial
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Marsh Plants Saltwater Cordgrass Saltmeadow Cordgrass Phragmites (Common Reed – “Cat tails”) Glasswort Marsh Elder
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Saltwater Cordgrass
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1 st to arrive Binds mud together Found along water’s edge but not submerged completely Adapted to living in the salt water Has salt glands to release salt
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Saltmeadow cordgrass
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Phragmites (“Cat tails”)
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Glasswort
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Marsh Elder
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Marsh Cycle 1.) Many plants in the marsh – when they die, they break down – Decaying organic matter is called detritus – Detritus releases nutrients into the estuary waters during the decay it is eaten by the plankton – Plankton is eaten by the ribbed mussel and others – Mussel cilia create mini currents that increase circulation of the cordgrass
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Marsh Cycle 2.) At low tide fiddler crabs emerge from the mud and feed on the organic matter – Return to the hole before high tide and plug it up Provide an ideal habitat for offspring – Fish, birds, mollusks, crabs
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Decomposers Detritus – Particles of dead organic matter Decomposers – organisms that break down dead organic matter into smaller molecules – Channel dead organic matter back food chain – Extremely important to the salt marsh community because they recycle the nutrients back into the environment!!
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Fiddler Crab Genus: Uca Type of Feeder: deposit feeder Deposit feeder – an organism that feeds on organic matter that settles on the bottom. – Use pinchers to scoop up mud and extract the detritus Lives in burrows in the mud and sand flats of estuaries
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