Estuary Research Biome Project
Spenser Geideman
Description
Abiotic Factors
Biotic Factos
Organisms that live in estuaries have developed unique adaptations to help them survive. The mangrove tree, for example, have developed the ability to survive in brackish waters by using filters in their roots to remove salt from the water they take in. Blue crabs have also adapted to life in estuaries by releasing their offspring into ocean water to develop before returning to estuaries and either moving upstream as males or downstream as females.
Food Chain
Food Web
Why They are Important
How Have Humans Impacted Them?
2. Another way humans have impacted estuaries is through large-scale conversion of estuaries with draining, filling, damming, or dredging. This results in the loss of estuarine habitats.
3. Pollution is another impact humans have had on estuary biomes. Historically, estuaries have been considered areas to discard wastes. Pollutants like chemicals, heavy metals, and pathogens have severely degraded the water quality of the estuary and harmed the delicate and commercially important fish and shellfish that live in estuarine areas.
Sources
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-Dalloran, L. (n.d.). Abiotic and Biotic Factors in Estuaries. Retrieved February 11, 2016, from http://www.slideshare.net/landalloran/abiotic-and-biotic-factors-in-estuaries
-National Estuarine Research Reserve System. (n.d.). Retrieved February 11, 2016, from http://nerrs.noaa.gov/about/what-is-an-estuary.html
-Climate: Estuary. (n.d.). Retrieved February 11, 2016, from http://en.climate-data.org/location/107996/
-Learning More about Estuarine Eutrophication - News and Features. (2004, December 23). Retrieved February 11, 2016, from http://coastalscience.noaa.gov/news/coastal-pollution/learning-more-about-estuarine-eutrophication/
-Estuaries. (n.d.). Retrieved February 11, 2016, from http://oceanservice.noaa.gov/education/tutorial_estuaries/welcome.html
-Wassilieff, M. (2013, July 9). Te Ara Encyclopedia of New Zealand. Retrieved February 15, 2016, from http://www.teara.govt.nz/en/diagram/4620/estuary-food-web
-Estuaries. (2008, March 25). Retrieved February 15, 2016, from http://oceanservice.noaa.gov/education/kits/estuaries/estuaries07_adaptations.html
-NOAA. (2015, May 4). Estuaries: Where the River Meets the Sea. Retrieved February 15, 2016, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qrYQFdukGMg
-Estuaries. (n.d.). Retrieved February 15, 2016, from http://oceanservice.noaa.gov/education/kits/estuaries/estuaries03_ecosystem.html