WHERE

RIVERS
meet T
H
SEA E
ESTUARIES
E STUAR I E S
Types of species
living in an idealized
estuary in relation to
salinity. The width of
the bars represents
the relative number
of species, or
biodiversity.
The salinity of the body fluids of
estuarine animals responds in various
ways to the salinity of the surrounding
water. In a perfect osmoconformer, the
salinity of the blood exactly matches
that of the water. In a perfect
osmoregulator, blood salinity stays the
same no matter what the water
salinity is. The important point is not
the actual salinity of the blood but the
fact that it remains relatively constant.
Notice that some organisms, like the
crab in the diagram, can only
osmoregulate within a certain range of
salinity; they are osmoconformers
outside this range.
Cordgrass Pickleweed
(Spartina) (Salicornia)
TYPES OF ESTUARINE ECOSYSTEMS
TYPES OF ESTUARINE ECOSYSTEMS
OPEN WATER
MUDFLATS
SALT MARSHES
MANGROVE FORESTS
OPEN WATER
OPEN WATER
MUDFLATS
MUDFLATS
MANGROVE
MANGROVE FORESTS
FORESTS
The daily tides play a crucial role in salt
marshes. They help circulate detritus
and nutrients and expose mudflat
organisms to predation by shorebirds
and other animals.
SALT MARSHES
SALT MARSHES
A salt marsh near Atlantic Beach, North Carolina. As in other Atlantic marshes, the smooth
cordgrass (Spartina alterniflora) occupies the edge of the marsh that is flooded the most by
seawater. It is replaced higher up in the marsh by saltmeadow grass, or salt-marsh hay
(Spartina patens), a shorter and finer grass that is less salt tolerant and can form extensive
meadows. It grows where the marsh is flooded only at high tide.
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