Salt Marshes
By Roxy
The Salt Marshes (Intro)
It is has a very salty smell. There is deep mud, and its very spongy, also a lot of grass. There is a lot of birds, so when going there to visit you'll see many birds. You'll find my Ecosystem in the margins of North Florida. Trying to find something similar you could also go to the salt marsh lagoon state park. Since the salt marshes has 1 VERY important endangered animal it is protected by the government.You can find 10% of Floridas salt marshes at the Indian river lagoon. The one endangered animal in the salt marshes is the salt marsh vole. One thing I found very interesting about my ecosystem is there is this rotten egg smell, that is caused by a anaerobic bacteria, that breaks down organic material. While at the salt marshes you can always look for the endangered vole, or in general look for animals.
Abiotic Factors
My ecosystem is a aquatic ecosystem. The soil is muddy and filled with soggy peat. The temperature in the water is cold, because of winds. The water is a mix of salt and fresh. There is also a variety of tides. The average humidity is 45 to 65%. Wind and weather affect organisms. There is a lot of sun, but since my ecosystem is located at the North of the peninsula of Florida it gets a lot wind. The nutrients come from the marsh plant decay. There is a lot of pollution and many changes happening to salt marshes, because of the many changes in weather and tides pollution then comes in.
Biotic Factors
The important plants of my ecosystem are..
- Cord Grass
- Salt Hay
- Salt Bushes
- Salt Grasses
- Raccoons
- Blue Crabs
- Shell Fish
- Mollusks
- Manatees
The decomposers of my ecosystem are.....
- Fungi
- Bacteria
- Fiddler Crab
Florida's Lifeblood
The salt marsh has provided essential food, refuge, and nursery habitat for more than 75 percent of fisheries species, for shrimp, blue crab, and many finfish. They also protect shorelines from erosion. One last important thing they do is they reduce flooding.
Food Web
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1yp-bM39n7jdFg-2wQvgDGwAj4UtJV4ovggwOwnPtfgI/edit
My food web wouldn't load so I put the link instead.
Human Impact
A positive impact is their water is removing pathogens and pollutants. They also support both marine and wildlife populations.
A negative impact is salt marsh habits are being slowly destroyed. There are oil spills, drainage, and a lot of development. Climate change has also been a huge impact also sea level rise.
Vole
Classification of the Vole
- Domain: The archaea, bacteria, and eukaryotes.
- Kingdom: Animalia
- Phylum: Chordata
- Class: Mammalia
- Order: Rodentia
- Family: Cricetidae
- Genus: Microtus
- Species: Microtus Arvalis
Websites I used for my Intro
Websites I used for My Abiotic Factors
Websites I used for my Biotic Factors
Website I used for my Floridas lifeblood
Pictures I used for my food web
- http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5018/5436861928_2260ba7683.jpg
- http://www.chesapeakebay.net/images/field_guide/Marsh_Periwinkle_page_image.jpg
- http://speciesinfonb.ca/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/13.-Gull-Herring-HS-450x300.jpg
- http://focusonnature.laserfiche.com/Weblink8/splash/Pictures/SAimages/bluecrab.jpg
- http://siera104.com/images/bio/ecology/grassPalaemonetes%20vulgaris.jpg
- http://www.roughfish.com/sites/default/files/sheephead-minnow.jpg
- http://www.doeni.gov.uk/niea/otter10114-2.jpg