Estuaries
Introduction
Estuaries are unique ecosystems where freshwater and salt water mix. Freshwater and ocean species may interact in these places, and migratory species such as birds and certain fish species use estuaries as they travel between biomes.
Benefits of Estuaries
Biodiversity
These are super important ecosystems as they host some countless species year round, as well as both aquatic and air-born migrators generation after generation.
Acidification
Ocean acidification is negatively impacting many ecosystems including seagrass meadows and reefs. Data shows that estuaries can have lower acidification, perhaps helping to protect our oceans from our mistreatment. - Study of Estuaries Finds Lower Acidification than in Oceans
Flood Control
Permeable spaces, particularly wetlands help protect our communities and lands from flooding and sea-level rise. The healthier and less impeded or altered they are, the better they function.
Species
Always check the native range of species before introducing/using them in a project. Introducing invasive species often causes more harm than good!
Animals
Birds
Some birds live in estuaries year round, while others rely on them as resting spots along their migratory routes.
Click the Birds button to learn more about birds and how to help them.
Plants & Algae
Seagrasses
Depending on salinity levels, many types of seagrass can't live in estuaries, while other plants which are salt-tolerant may be well suited to estuaries.
Zostera noltii "is a species of seagrass known by the common name dwarf eelgrass. It is found in shallow coastal waters in north western Europe, the Mediterranean Sea, Black Sea, Caspian Sea and Aral Sea and on islands in the Atlantic off the coast of northwest Africa. It is an important part of the intertidal and shallow subtidal ecosystems of estuaries, bays and lagoons." - Wikipedia
Waterweeds
Invasives
NEMESIS "Welcome to the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center's National Estuarine and Marine Exotic Species Information System (NEMESIS). Here you will find information on marine and estuarine invertebrates and algae introduced to the United States."
Oceana
Australia
Seagrass Restoration, Mourilyan Harbour QLD "OzFish Cairns Chapter is working towards re-establishing seagrass meadows in an intertidal estuarine system in Mourilyan Harbour south-east of Innisfail. The pilot project has input from local recreational anglers and university researchers and will assess the success of a unique seagrass ..."
Resources & Guides
Oceana
Australia
NSW
Salinity Indicator Plants (PDF) "This booklet is based on information provided in Spotting Salinity Using Indicator Plants, which was produced by the NSW Department of Land and Water Conservation, Hunter Region in 1998, with assistance from the Hunter Catchment Management Trust and NSW Agriculture. Information contained in the plant description section and pictures of some species have been taken with permission directly from the 1998 publication."
Queensland
The Flora Wetland Indicator Species List (WISL) "has been compiled to support the determination of whether a site is a wetland. The Wetland Indicator Species (WIS) in WISL have adapted to living in wetlands and are dependent on them.
The presence of a WIS at a site does not, in itself, confirm the site to be a wetland, but is one line of evidence towards determining the wetland status of a site."
Organizations
Europe
OSPAR "is the mechanism by which 15 Governments & the EU cooperate to protect the marine environment of the North-East Atlantic.
OSPAR started in 1972 with the Oslo Convention against dumping and was broadened to cover land-based sources of marine pollution and the offshore industry by the Paris Convention of 1974. These two conventions were unified, up-dated and extended by the 1992 OSPAR Convention. The new annex on biodiversity and ecosystems was adopted in 1998 to cover non-polluting human activities that can adversely affect the sea.
The fifteen Governments are Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, Luxembourg, The Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and United Kingdom.
OSPAR is so named because of the original Oslo and Paris Conventions ("OS" for Oslo and "PAR" for Paris)."
North America
USA
NEMESIS "Welcome to the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center's National Estuarine and Marine Exotic Species Information System (NEMESIS). Here you will find information on marine and estuarine invertebrates and algae introduced to the United States."
Maps
North America
USA
Florida