1. -A body of water that contains a mixture of fresh water and salt water that serves as a nursery ground

2. Mobile Bay Estuary

3. Image Credit: Geological Survey of Alabama & Alabama Aware Program of the Alabama Game & Fish Division; Funding by Federal Sport Fish Restoration Program Drainage Basin Index Map T e n n e s s e e F l o r i d a G e o r g i a M i s s i s s i p pi ESCATAWPA MOBILE DELTA CHATTAHOOCHEE PERDIDO MOBILE BAY BLACKWATER YELLOW CHIPOLA CHOCTAWHATCHEE

5. Smooth Cordgrass

6. Black Needle rush

7. Benthic Algae

8. Benthic Algae Producing Oxygen

9. Hydric Soil and Detritus

11. Ecological Functions of Salt Marshes Nursery habitat for juvenile fishery species Habitat for coastal birds Habitat for adult benthic organisms (worms, clams, oysters) and mammals (Nutria) Habitat for permanent residents: –Marsh Periwinkle snail –Olive Nerite snail –Fiddler Crab –Ribbed Mussel Traps sediments and impurities in run-off Production of detritus Supports a complex food web

12. Nursery habitat for juvenile fishery species

13. Habitat for coastal birds

14. Oysters and mussels Nutria Habitat for adult benthic organisms and mammals

15. Saltmarsh Periwinkle Habitat for permanent residents

16. Olive Nerite snail

17. Fiddler Crab

18. Ribbed Mussels

19. The word plankton comes from the greek word planktos which means “wanderer.” Plankton are Drifters

21. Mola mola can reach 8 ft. in length Photo Credit: National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration / Dept. of Commerce

22. Mola mola washed up on Dauphin Island January, 2004

23. Groupings of Plankton 1) Phytoplankton - primary producers 2) Zooplankton - consumers

24. Groupings of Plankton 3) Holoplankton - zooplankton that spend their whole lives as plankton 4) Meroplankton - zooplankton that spend only part of their lives as plankton

25. Common Phytoplankton

26. Photo Credit: Dr. Neil Sullivan, University of Southern Calif. / National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration / Dept. of Commerce Diatoms (Division Chrysophyta)

27. Diatom Frustules © www.micrographia.com

28. Common Zooplankton

29. Copepod with Eggs Copepod

30. Copepod with Increased Surface Area © www.micrographia.com

31. Photo Credit: OAR/National Undersea Research Program (NURP) Ctenophore

32. Krill

33. Photo Credit: OAR/National Undersea Research Program (NURP) Humpback Whales Feeding on Mostly Krill

34. Some Meroplankton….. Just to name a few

35. Photo Credit: M. Youngbluth; OAR/National Undersea Research Program (NURP); Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institution Jelly Feeding on Plankton within Watery Boundaries

36. Photo Credit: OAR/National Undersea Research Program (NURP) Collecting Larval Planktonic Fish off of California

37. Plankton Appreciation