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What are Estuaries? An estuary is a body of water along the coast where freshwater from rivers and streams meet and mix with salt water from the ocean. Estuaries and the lands surrounding them are places of transition from land to sea, and although influenced by the tides, they are protected from the full force of ocean waves, winds, and storms by such landforms as barrier islands or peninsulas.
Abiotic Factors • Nutrients such as nitrogen phosphorus • pH of the water • Temperature and air of water • Dissolved oxygen
Biotic Factors • Species Diversity (such as zooplankton, and other species living in estuaries) • Chlorophyll • Sunlight energy
Where is it located in the biosphere? Located mostly on the mouths of rivers where it meets into oceans. many estuaries are located in 22 of the 32 largest cites in the world. the closest estuary to New York is the Hudson River Estuary. the largest estuary in North America is Chesapeake Bay. all estuaries located in the cities are in danger due to human effects.
Why are Estuaries valuable? Estuaries are valuable to us both environmentally and economically. estuaries protect water quality by filtering out dirt and pollution. In addition, estuaries and the land surrounding them are places where people live, sail, fish, swim, and bird watch. As a result, estuaries are often the centers of our coastal communities and is home to many species such as horseshoe crabs, ospreys, manatees, mangroves, and seagrasses, fish and shellfish live in estuaries at some point in their life.
Challenges and Threats to estuaries Most estuaries are on cities and under threat from humans. Humans affect estuaries by pollution, overfishing, land runoff, dumping waste into rivers, plastic and pesticides. many fish and other species live in estuaries and by polluting these waters it affects their habitat and ours. most cases of fish disappearing is due to hypoxia in which the oxygen levels get low and fish suffocate due to low oxygen. for example Chesapeake bay has dealt with overfishing, and the Amur river has had devastated fish stocks and damaged estuary soil.
Foodwebs in Estuaries The biodiversity in estuaries consists of Producer, comsumers, and decomposers. In this foodweb phytoplankton serve as the producers, meanwhile the consumers are the zooplankton and fish. Dead matter serves as the decomposers.
