salt marshes
Alan Chamblin mrs.jensen 2nd pd
introduction
salt marshes are along the coastline
abiotic factors
TOPOGRAPHY: Relatively flat, intertidal areas on, or sloping up slightly from, permanent water edge.
PROCESSES / DYNAMICS / ABIOTIC FACTORS: Rate of net primary production of organic matter among highest of any global ecosystem; aerial habitat above water dominated by marsh grasses and insect / spider / bird food webs.
Biotic factors
FAUNA: Abundant food and cover for resident and transient animals; nursery grounds for many fish and shellfish of commercial and recreational importance; many visiting birds and three exclusive residents—clapper rails, long-billed marsh wrens, and seaside sparrows; endangered Atlantic salt marsh snake.
Black needlerush: Juncus roemerianus
Blue crab: Callinectes sapidus
Christmas Berry: Lycium carolinianum
Clapper Rail: Rallus longirostris
Glasswort: Salicornia perennis
Horseshoe crab: Limulus polyphemus
Leather Fern: Acrostichum aureum
animals in salt marshes
apex predator the bonnethead
Kingdom:Animalia
Phylum:Chordata
Class:Chondrichthyes
Subclass:Elasmobranchii
Superorder:Selachimorpha
Order:Carcharhiniformes
Family:Sphyrnidae
Genus:Sphyrna
Species:S. tiburo