Salt Marshes in Florida
Description: Salt marshes form along the margin of many north Florida estuaries. Gulf coast salt marshes occur along low energy shorelines, at the mouths of rivers, and in bays, bayous and sounds. the panhandle region west Apalachicola bay consists mainly of estuaries with few salt marshes. Salt marshes are composed of a variety of plants: rushes, sedges and grasses.
Location: The coastal area known as big bend has the greatest salt marsh acreage in Florida, extending from Apalachicola bay to cedar key. South of Cedar kay salt marshes begin to be replaced by mangroves as the predominant plants. On the Atlantic coast, salt marshes occur from Daytona beach northward.
Plants and Animals: Glasswort, Blue eras, Saltwort, redfish, fielder crabs, and Salt grass.
Food Chain:
Cut off animals: Otter, Sheepshead minnow, Periwinkle, Diamondback terrapin
Endangered/Threatened Species: Manatees, and Birds beak plant
Historical/archeological Impacts: Excess nutrients are a particular problem in salt marshes because they lead to eutrophication, Southern California today has already lost three-quarters of its salt marshes. Global climate change and sea level rise, agricultural and industrial development and loss of sediment supply.
Main reason/causes for human impacts: Dredging and diking can dramatically increase or decrease the water flow through the marsh, stressing or drowning marsh plants and increasing erosion. Changed to natural hydrology, pollution, coastal development, fill/improper marsh elevations, and non-native/invasive species.
Current ecosystem management efforts: Restoring tidal flow through the removal of manmade barriers, like dikes, dams, tide gates, undersized pipes and culverts. Removing pollutants such as herbicides, pesticides, and heavy metals out of the water flowing through it.
Future outlook of salt marshes: More then 90% of the world's salt marshes are likely to be underwater by the end of the century. Climate change, with its melting glaciers and warming seas, threatens to drown the remaining coastal marshes out of existence
How the nitrogen cycle influences salt marshes: Nitrification can affect the internal circulation of nitrogen, while denitrification combined with tidal water exchange results in nitrogen removal from salt marshes.
How the water cycle influences salt marshes: The twice-daily ebb and flow of the tides greatly influence life in the salt marsh.
definition of ebb: the movement of the tide out to sea.
How the carbon cycle influences salt marshes: Salt marshes, mangroves, and seagrass beds absorb large quantities of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and store it, thus decreasing the effects of global warming.
