Tidal salt marshes of the southeast Atlantic Coast: A community profile
This report is part of a series of community profiles on the ecology of wetland and marine communities. This particular profile considers tidal marshes of the southeastern Atlantic coast, from North Carolina south to northern Florida. Alone among the earth's ecosystems, coastal communities are subjected to a bidirectional flooding sometimes occurring twice each day; this flooding affects successional development, species composition, stability, and productivity. In the tidally influenced salt marsh, salinity ranges from less than 1 ppt to that of seawater. Dominant plant species include cordgrasses (Spartina alterniflora and S. cynosuroides), black needlerush (Juncus romerianus), and salt marsh bulrush (Scirpus robustus). Both terrestrail and aquatic animals occur in salt marshes and include herons, egrets ospreys (Pandion haliaetus), bald eagles (Haliaeetus leucocephalus), alligators (Alligator Mississippiensis), manatees (Trichecus manatus), oysters, mussels, and fiddler crabs. Currently, the only significant direct commercial use of the tidal salt marshes is by crabbers seeking the blue crab Callinectes sapidus, but the marshes are quite important recreationally, aesthetically, and educationally. 151 refs., 45 figs., 6 tabs.
- Research Organization:
- Georgia Univ., Athens, GA (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- DOI; Department of the Interior, Washington, DC (United States)
- OSTI ID:
- 5032823
- Report Number(s):
- BR-85(7.29); ON: TI92001842
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
An ecological risk evaluation of sediment metal toxicity and bioavailability in a Gulf Coast estuary
Ecology of San Francisco Bay tidal marshes: a community profile
Related Subjects
MARSHES
BASELINE ECOLOGY
ECOLOGICAL SUCCESSION
PRODUCTIVITY
SPECIES DIVERSITY
AQUATIC ECOSYSTEMS
ATLANTIC OCEAN
BIRDS
CARBON CYCLE
COASTAL REGIONS
COMMUNITIES
COMPUTERIZED SIMULATION
ECOLOGY
FISHES
FLORIDA
GEORGIA
HABITAT
INVERTEBRATES
MAMMALS
NORTH CAROLINA
PLANTS
POPULATION DENSITY
POPULATION DYNAMICS
REPTILES
SALINITY
SOUTH CAROLINA
TAXONOMY
TERRESTRIAL ECOSYSTEMS
TIDE
WETLANDS
ANIMALS
AQUATIC ORGANISMS
BIOLOGY
DEVELOPED COUNTRIES
ECOSYSTEMS
FEDERAL REGION IV
NORTH AMERICA
SEAS
SIMULATION
SURFACE WATERS
USA
VERTEBRATES
540210* - Environment
Terrestrial- Basic Studies- (1990-)
540310 - Environment
Aquatic- Basic Studies- (1990-)