Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
Salt marshes are important for many reasons. Hid- Salt marshes are often considered—incorrectly—to
den within the tangle of salt-marsh plants are animals have little value. In addition to providing nursery areas
in various stages of life. Ani- for fish, shellfish, and crustaceans, salt-marsh plants
mals hide from predators in have extensive root systems that enable them to with-
marsh vegetation because the stand storm surges and limit damage to uplands. Salt
shallow, brackish area physi- marshes also serve as filters. Tidal creeks meander
cally excludes larger fish. Many through the marshes, transporting nutrients and pol-
of Florida’s popular marine- lutants from uplands development. Salt marshes
fisheries species spend the absorb, or trap, some of these pollutants, reducing
early parts of their lives pro- the amount that enters estuary waters. Salt marshes
tected in salt marshes. also trap sediments, thereby improving water quality.
Young fish often have a var-
ied diet, foraging for food in Salt marsh losses in Florida
the mud of the marsh bottom, Salt marshes have been
on the plants themselves, and drained, filled, or dredged
Llyn French
M. Trexler
on smaller organisms that to provide land for devel-
dwell in the marsh system. opment or deep channels
After salt-marsh plants die, for boats. In Florida, at
Smooth cordgrass
they become detritus, a prod- Spartina alterniflora least 60,000 acres, or 8%,
What are salt marshes? uct of decomposition by of estuarine habitats, in-
Salt marshes are grassy coastal wetlands rich in ma- microorganisms. Detritus is food for many small ani- cluding salt marshes, have
rine life. They are also called tidal marshes because they mals. Tidal waters move up into the marsh and then been lost to permitted
M. Trexler
occur in the zone between low and high tides. Salt- retreat, carrying and distributing detritus throughout dredge-and-fill activities.
marsh plants cannot grow where waves are strong the estuary. Scientists at the Florida
but thrive along low-energy coasts. They also occur in Fish and Wildlife Conser-
estuaries, where fresh water from rivers mixes with sea Florida’s salt marshes vation Commission’s Fish
Marsh-hay
water, usually behind barrier islands or in bays. Salt marshes form along the mar- Spartina patens and Wildlife Research In-
A distinctive feature of salt marshes is the lack of gins of many north Florida stitute are using
trees. Salt marshes are composed of a variety of plants, estuaries. Gulf-coast salt marshes Geographic Information Systems to study changes in
mainly rushes, sedges, and grasses. Florida’s dominant occur along low-energy shore- Florida’s coastal habitats.
salt-marsh species are needle lines, at the mouths of rivers, and Changes can be evaluated by
rush ( Juncus roemerianus), the in bays, bayous, and sounds. The comparing digitized aerial
grayish-green, pointed rush oc- panhandle region west of photographs of the coast from
curring where tides reach Apalachicola Bay contains estu- different years. The changes
higher levels; and smooth cord- aries with few salt marshes. From often reflect a net loss of fish-
grass (Spartina alterniflora) Apalachicola Bay south to Tampa eries habitats.
found in lower areas that are in- Bay, however, salt marshes are Most salt-marsh loss has
undated daily. Other locally the main type of coastal vegeta- occurred in Florida’s five
abundant species include suc- tion. The most continuous northeast counties, which
Godfrey & Wooten
culents such as saltwort (Batis), saltmarsh acreage in Florida lies contain 11% of the state’s total
glassworts (Salicornia), and sea- in the coastal area known as “The salt-marsh acreage. Nassau
purselane (Sesuvium); sedges Big Bend,” which extends from County suffered its greatest
such as saw-grass (Cladium) and Saw-grass Apalachicola Bay to Cedar Key. loss when the Intracoastal Wa-
fringe-rush (Fimbristylis); and Cladium jamaicense South of Cedar Key, salt marshes terway was dredged. Duval
M. Trexler
M. Trexler
other grasses such as marsh- contain an increasing proportion of mangroves, which County has lost even more as
hay (Spartina patens), key grass are south Florida’s dominant coastal vegetation. On the a result of human activity.
Needle rush (Monanthochlöe), and salt joint- Atlantic coast, salt marshes occur from Daytona Beach Analysis of 3.5 miles on ei- Salt jointgrass
Juncus roemerianus grass (Paspalum vaginatum). northward. Nevertheless, salt-marsh plants can still ther side of St. Johns Inlet and Paspalum vaginatum
10 miles up the St. Johns River showed
a 36% loss of marsh habitat, principally
because of dredge-and-fill activities
since 1943. In Palm Beach County,
Lake Worth in the Indian River Lagoon
Florida’s
SALTMARSHES
lost 51% of its salt-marsh acreage be-
tween 1944 and 1982 because a
network of canals draining low-lying
uplands diverted the flow of fresh water
away from salt marshes.
In southwest Florida, both salt
marshes and mangroves occur along
D. Crewz
the shores of estuaries. Since 1940,
Tampa Bay has been one of the fastest- A high marsh of needle rush, Juncus roemerianus, with brown-
growing metropolitan areas in Florida. fringed clusters of giant leather fern, Acrostichum aureum.
Ship-channel dredging and port con-
For further information on salt-marsh plants, see Aquatic
struction have brought Tampa Bay the
Godfrey & Wooten