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Estuaries

Estuaries. by Caitlin Mahoney & Jessica Andrich. What are they?. Body of water where freshwater flows into the sea and mixes with seawater Brackish water Examples: bays, lagoons, and harbors 22 of the 32 largest cities in the world are in estuaries (such as New York City).

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Estuaries

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  1. Estuaries by Caitlin Mahoney & Jessica Andrich

  2. What are they? • Body of water where freshwater flows into the sea and mixes with seawater • Brackish water • Examples: bays, lagoons, and harbors • 22 of the 32 largest cities in the world are in estuaries (such as New York City)

  3. Estuariesthroughout theWorld • Can be found all over the world, anywhere that salt and fresh water meet • Usually between land and sea • Coastal • Most productive ecosystem • "nursery of the sea": breeding grounds • Examples: • Northwest Florida to Texas coasts have shallow estuaries with salt marshes • San Francisco Bay is an estuary http://www.dep.state.fl.us/coastal/habitats/estuaries.htm

  4. Producers • Macrophytes: shrubs, grasses, reeds • Phytoplankton: blue and green algae • Benthic organisms: diatoms, bacteria • Example of major producers: • Marsh grass (Spartina) • Salt grass • Cordgrass • Mangroves http://visindavefur.hi.is/myndir/phytoplankton_070305.jpg http://www.fws.gov/humboldtbay/photos/spartina3.jpg

  5. Consumers • Primary: • zooplankton, • "filter feeders“: mussels, oysters, etc. • Secondary: • Invertebrates: horseshoe crabs • Birds: blue heron, brown pelican • Fish: stickleback fish, snook, grouper, trout • Tertiary: • Manatees, Atlantic bottle-nosed dolphin http://cathylwood.files.wordpress.com/2009/03/manatee.jpg http://t2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:VyceE3YLJucY2M:http://freerangegourmet.com/Graphics/3d3d42c746f1_F2EE/Oyster.jpg&t=1

  6. Food Chain • Marsh plant dies and decays • protozoa coats the marsh plant (detritus) and decompose it • amphipod (invertebrate) eats protozoa • stickleback fish eats amphipod • great blue heron eats stickleback fish http://www.hww.ca/hww2.asp?pid=0&id=226&cid=2

  7. Natural Resources • Source of food • Reeds and plants act as filters to filter the brackish water and clean it • recreation: boating, fishing, diving, hunting, etc. • scientific studies: biology, geology, chemistry • high level of nutrients due to the mixture of freshwater and seawater • Estuaries are the habitat for 75% of America's commercial fish catch, 80-90% of recreational fish catch http://www.squamishoceanfront.com/files/EstuaryCanoe.jpg http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/3f/Harchies_RN1gJPG.jpg/220px-Harchies_RN1gJPG.jpg

  8. Environmental Concerns • Coastal Development • Invasive Species • Polluted Runoff • Over Fishing • Dredging and Filling • Dams • Global Climate Change

  9. Endangered Species • Steelhead trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) • Also called Rainbow Trout and Redband Trout • Greatest DIVERSITY of life history patterns of ANY Pacific salmonid species

  10. Endangered Species • Varying degrees of Anadromy • Differences in reproductive biology & High plasticity of life style types between generations.  • Steelhead trout tend to develop a much more pointed head than Rainbow trout, and are also much larger and more silvery • Diet:  • Young – zooplankton • Adults - insects, mollusks, crustaceans, fish eggs, minnows, and other small fish (including other trout) • Lifespan: 11 years (max) • Size: 45 inches (max) • Weight: 55 lb (max) • Where??? • Washington, Oregon, and California • Threats: • logging, genetic introgression with hatchery fish, agriculture and development, excessive fishing, dams, and other manmade impediments

  11. Endangered Species http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5a/Salicornia_virginica.jpg • Pickleweed (Salicornia virginica) • Also known as Virginia Glasswort and Salt Marsh Pickleweed • Is being smothered by invasive spartina (marsh grasses) such as cordgrass • Perennial Herb • California Native, found throughout North America http://domesticfuel.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/Salicornia_virginica3.jpg

  12. Kosi Bay, Africa http://emptydb.blogsome.com/images/pix-phang-nga-bay.jpg http://www.cacciainsudafrica.com/images/altre03.jpg Phang Nga Bay, Thailand Klamath River Estuary, California http://c0190781.cdn.cloudfiles.rackspacecloud.com/504533615.jpg http://celebrating200years.noaa.gov/transformations/coastal_research/estuary650.jpg

  13. Works Cited • http://water.epa.gov/learn/kids/estuaries/about_index.cfm • http://oceanservice.noaa.gov/education/tutorial_estuaries/welcome.html • http://www.dep.state.fl.us/coastal/habitats/estuaries.htm • http://www.hww.ca/hww2.asp?pid=0&id=226&cid=2 • http://www.riverventure.org/charleston/resources/pdf/list%20of%20organisms.pdf • http://water.epa.gov/type/oceb/nep/about.cfm • http://www.naturalresources.nsw.gov.au/estuaries/factsheets/habitat/food_web.shtml • http://www.friendsofrietvlei.co.za/Estuaries-Productivity.html • http://teacher.ocps.net/theodore.klenk/ms/Estuary.htm • http://www.estuaries.gov/estuaries101/About/Default.aspx?ID=250 • http://www.estuaries.gov/estuaries101/About/FishFactsheet.aspx?id=359 • http://www.calflora.org/cgi-bin/species_query.cgi?where-calrecnum=7259

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