Questions and Answers

Estuaries and You!

What is an estuary?

• Where river meets the sea

• Slow water (low energy)

• Low-lying lands• Salt tolerant plants

and animals

What is a salt marsh?

• low, wet area flooded by salt water during high tides

Common Plants and Animals

Why is the bottom of the salt marsh muddy?

• Calm water

• Decaying matter

How were the salt marshes formed?

• Began forming after last Ice Age (~10,000 ya)– when eroded soils from newly formed mountains were

deposited along the coast.

Today, sediment trapped by grasses continues expands our marshes.

How have plants & animals adapted?

SALT• Only some have

actually adapted to the salt water

• Some can excrete salt

• Most have developed ways to store fresh water

TIDES• Some move to escape rising

water• Some dig • Some have gills that can work

as long as they are wet

Why is the salt marsh important to sea animals ?

• Nursery

• Food source

Can marshland be re-created once it is destroyed?

• Efforts can be made to clean up and replant

• Better to avoid destroying them in the first place

Why is the estuary and salt marsh important to people?

• Food

• Buffer Zone

• Filters

• Economy

What are your ideas???

Here is what to do!

• Work as a group to create a plan to save, preserve, clean, or restore a marshland.

• Include a story behind your idea for your presentation to your peers.

• Make a poster to promote your idea to the public.

• Make sure the poster illustrates both the problem and the solution.