15 Facts About Salt marsh

Salt marsh ecology involves complex food webs which include primary producers, primary consumers, and secondary consumers.

Once vegetation is established on depositional terraces further sediment trapping and accretion can allow rapid upward growth of the Salt marsh surface such that there is an associated rapid decrease in the depth and duration of tidal flooding.

Soil salinity in the lower Salt marsh zone is fairly constant due to everyday annual tidal flow.

The flora of a salt marsh is differentiated into levels according to the plants' individual tolerance of salinity and water table levels.

New England salt marsh is subject to strong tidal influences and shows distinct patterns of zonation.

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Sediment deposition can occur when Salt marsh species provide a surface for the sediment to adhere to, followed by deposition onto the Salt marsh surface when the sediment flakes off at low tide.

The amount of sediment adhering to salt marsh species is dependent on the type of marsh species, the proximity of the species to the sediment supply, the amount of plant biomass, and the elevation of the species.

Salt marsh species facilitate sediment accretion by decreasing current velocities and encouraging sediment to settle out of suspension.

Current velocities can be reduced as the stems of tall Salt marsh species induce hydraulic drag, with the effect of minimising re-suspension of sediment and encouraging deposition.

Elevation of Salt marsh species is important; those species at lower elevations experience longer and more frequent tidal floods and therefore have the opportunity for more sediment deposition to occur.

Cultivation of land upstream from the salt marsh can introduce increased silt inputs and raise the rate of primary sediment accretion on the tidal flats, so that pioneer species can spread further onto the flats and grow rapidly upwards out of the level of tidal inundation.

The New England salt marsh is experiencing a shift in vegetation structure where S alterniflora is spreading from the lower marsh where it predominately resides up into the upper marsh zone.

Salt marsh vegetation captures sediment to stay in the system which in turn allows for the plants to grow better and thus the plants are better at trapping sediment and accumulate more organic matter.

Salt marsh vegetation helps to increase sediment settling because it slows current velocities, disrupts turbulent eddies, and helps to dissipate wave energy.

The timescale for salt marsh recovery is dependent on the development stage of the marsh, type and extent of the disturbance, geographical location and the environmental and physiological stress factors to the marsh-associated flora and fauna.