What mammals live in salt marsh estuaries?
Mammals, including the bottlenose dolphin, otter, mink, raccoon, and marsh rabbit, come to salt marshes to feed, both on prey and the seeds and leaves of marsh vegetation.
What are some of the characteristics of estuaries and salt marshes?
The water in salt marshes varies from completely saturated with salt to freshwater. Estuaries are partly sheltered areas found near river mouths where freshwater mixes with seawater. Both salt marshes and estuaries are affected by high and low tides.
What are the characteristics of a salt marsh?
Salt marshes are coastal wetlands that are flooded and drained by tides. They grow in marshy soils composed of deep mud and peat. Peat is made of decomposing plant matter in layers several feet thick.
Do salt marshes have animals?
Although the local diversity of plants and animals found in salt marshes is comparatively low, the abundance of organisms that do occur in marshes is often breathtaking.
How are salt marshes and estuaries alike and different?
The water in salt marshes varies from completely saturated with salt to freshwater. Estuaries are partly sheltered areas found near river mouths where freshwater mixes with seawater. Both salt marshes and estuaries are affected by high and low tides.
How are animals adapted to live in salt marshes?
Plants and animals living in low salt marshes must have adaptations to deal with the harsh physical stressors found in this intertidal habitat, including high salt concentrations, intense heat, and low oxygen in waterlogged soils. Some typical adaptations are discussed below. The saline environment causes waterstress.
What kind of water is found in a salt marsh?
Estuaries, Salt Marshes & Mangroves ~ MarineBio Conservation Society. A salt marsh is a marshy area found near estuaries and sounds. The water in salt marshes varies from completely saturated with salt to freshwater.
How is the salt marsh an intertidal habitat?
As an intertidal habitat, the surface of the salt marsh is under water at high tide and dry at low tide. A dendritic, or finger-like, network of tidal creeks winds through the marsh and facilitates the movement of tidal water onto the marsh surface and back into the estuary.
