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Salt Marshes Coastal Environments

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Animal Life

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Salt Marshes

General

What are salt marshes?Salt marshes are transitional areas between land and water, occurring along the intertidal shore of estuaries and sounds where salinity ranges from near ocean strength to near fresh in upriver marshes. They provide habitat for wildlife, serve as nurseries for fish and shellfish, store floodwaters, and protect shorelines against damage from storms. Where do salt marshes form and how big are they?Salt marshes form along low energy shorelines, at the mouth of rivers, and in bays, bayous, and sounds. Salt marshes can be very large in size. For example the total acreage of salt marshes in Georgia is 378,000 acres while the total acreage in South Carolina is 344,000 acres. However, while those numbers are large, they have been falling because of the lack of coastal protection in the past. Where are salt marshes located?Salt marshes are located all along the coasts. Some places where salt marshes are located are San Francisco Bay in California, Narragansett Bay in Rhode Island, Cape Cod in Massachusetts and Apalachicola Bay in Florida. They also are located in a lot of other regions such as North and South Carolina and Georgia. What plans are in place for salt marshes?Salt marshes are protected under the general Coastal Zone Management Program which is run by NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) and by local towns that have their own coastal management plans. For example, Cape Cod has their own coastal management plan because they have better knowledge on how to conserve their own area better than a national agency like NOAA is. Cape Cod CZM program is the APCC (Association to Preserve Cape Cod).
Animal Life

BIRDS

MAMMALS

In Salt Marshes most mammals are nocturnal. This makes them fairly difficult to observe. Also, in a Salt Marsh most of the land is wet and filled with high grass. Most of the area is the water itself. Some examples of the mammals are raccoons, muskrats, and the marsh rabbit.

Birds are the most easy to observe in a Salt Marsh. They are consistently out during the day looking for food and are able to easily transition between staying on the land and going in the water. Some examples are the clapper rail, the seaside sparrow, and marsh wren.

OTHER ANIMALSSome of the other animals include a variety of invertibrates such as mollusks, shrimp, crabs, fish, and worms. There are also some examples of reptiles being found in salt marshes. The diamondback terrapin is sometimes found and alligators are occasionally found in Salt Marshes if the salinity is not too high.
No Frame

Plant Life

Spartina Patens

Spartina Alterniflora

Juncus Gerardii

The plant life in salt marshes could generally be split up into two zones: the lower marsh zone, and upper marsh zone. The difference between these two zones can mostly be attributed to the salinity and water levels. Plants living in the lower marsh zones tend to be more durable towards high levels of salinity, and can be submerged in water to deal with high tides. Reasons for this include the fact that lower marsh zones have high levels of salinity, and are usually submerged in water. A trait also sometimes shared between plants in lower marsh zones is their ability to withstand lower levels of oxygen.In upper marsh zones, the conditions for survival are slightly different, because of the amount of water which flows in. These zones generally have lower levels of salinity, less nutrients, and are drier compared to the lower marsh zones. As a result, plants living in these areas tend to be less resistant to high levels of salinity, but also require fewer nutrients, and can withstand drier conditions.A plant most commonly found in lower level salt marshes is the Saltmarsh Cordgrass or Spartina Alterniflora. Plants more commonly found in upper marsh zones vary slightly more, and include the Spartina patens, Juncus gerardii, and Iva frutascens.
Human Impact

ABOUT

Major impacts on the salt marsh include hydrological modification, global warming, and elevated C02 levels. The major human impacts on salt marshes are coastal development, land reclamation, mosquito control, and nitrogen loading. Humans are also responsible for the amount of nutrients and organisms that are exchanged between the adjacent tidal creek and impoundment through manipulation of the water control structure. Manipulations of the salt marshes include diking and impounding. Many concerns about dikes have been risen because the restrict water exchange which limits the movement of many aquatic species. Impoundments have proven to serve as a valuable habitat to the waterfowl. Recently there has been cases of marsh die-off, which has been occurring along the eastern and southeastern coasts, however, it has not yet, and cannot be linked to one single factor as to why there has been die-off of the salt marshes.Diking: to provide land with a wall or embankment to prevent floodingImpounding: to accumulate and store in a reservoir
Contact

Contributors

Ben Bryant: bbryant1_bryant.edu

Anthony DeJulio: ddejulio_bryant.edu

Justin McCann: jmccann_bryant.edu

Mitchell Tang: mtang_bryant.edu

Sources

http://www.conservationmaven.com/frontpage/human-impacts-on-salt-marshes.html

http://www.dnr.sc.gov/marine/pub/seascience/dynamic.html

http://apcc.org/content/salt-marsh-program

http://www.dep.state.fl.us/coastal/habitats/saltmarshes.htm

http://coastalmanagement.noaa.gov/programs/czm.html

http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/nge/Article.jsp?id=h-1183

http://www.dnr.sc.gov/marine/pub/seascience/dynamic.html

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Created by: Ben Bryant, Anthony DeJulio, Justin McCann, & Mitchell Tang

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