ESTUARY

Characteristics
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It is an enclosed body of water where rivers and seawaters or freshwater and

salt waters meet and mix.

Display characteristics of both marine and freshwater biomes, because they

typically have substantial inflows of fresh water from the nearby land, along
with large fluctuations of salt water resulting from tidal cycles. Examples of
estuaries include coastal bays, sounds, river mouths, salt marshes, and
tropical mangrove forests.

Estuaries are highly productive ecosystems because their large water-borne

inputs of terrestrial nutrients are partially retained by their semi-enclosed
water circulation.

Estuaries provide important habitat for juvenile stages of many commercially

important species of fish, shellfish, and crustaceans, and they are often
characterized as "nursery" habitat for these species.

The tidal, sheltered waters of estuaries support unique communities of

plants and animals, specially adapted for life at the margin of the sea.

They are the most productive environment on earth that they create
more organic matter than comparably sized areas of forest, grassland,
or agricultural land.

Productivity and variety of estuarine habitats promote abundance and

diversity of wild life.

There exist different types of estuaries which are either classified on the basis of their
geomorphology or on the basis of their water circulation.

Drowned River Valleys or Coastal Plains sea invaded lowlands;

most common
Bar Built Sand builds up to form sand bars and barrier
Tectonic Land sinks or earth moves
Fjord-Glacier Carved retreating glaciers cut deep valleys that are
partially submerged
Physical Characteristics
Salinity in a salt wedge
substrate

Abiotic Factors
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Because an estuary is a transition zone, it has abiotic factors which affect the
fresh water biome such as fresh water flow and sedimentation, and also in
marine biomes such as tides and waves.
1. Salinity of water varies across the estuary from no salt to seawater,
2. Amount of sunshine plants and other organisms rely on the amount of
sunlight for photosynthesis
3. Nutrient concentration With the increased usage of fertilizer, rains can
cause the nutrients to flow into the rivers and then the bay. The addition
of too much nutrients, called eutrophication, can cause algae blooms,
which then cause the O2 concentration to drop because of the
decomposers use the oxygen.
4. Dissolved oxygen concentration organisms living in estuaries rely on the
amount of oxygen for survival
5. Climate estuaries only consists 3 seasons (Fall is not present). During the
spring season a lot of rainfall occurs in the estuaries. In the summer hot
spells occur causing estuaries to be still, low oxygen levels come about
along with high temperatures. Winter brings thin layers of ice that
removes algae and small organisms on the rocks.

ADDITIONAL:
Ecological interaction
Animal/Plant Interaction
Commensalism mosquitos benefit
from sucking the blood of animals
such as birds and mammals.
Mutualism Some crocodiles live
with small black birds which keep
them clean. At the same time, birds
benefit from having protection.
Parasitism Bacteria are abundant
in estuaries, special in waters kept
still. Bacteria coming from the
ocean may cause harmful diseases such as hepatitis, staff infections, or
dysentery.

SOURCES:
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Read more: Biome - Major Biomes And Their Characteristics, Freshwater

Biomes - Terrestrial biomes, Marine biomes, Human-dominated biomes
- Species, Forest, Ecosystems, and Water - JRank
Articles http://science.jrank.org/pages/897/Biome.html#ixzz3Aa9mAKIg
http://www.thewildclassroom.com/biomes/estuaries.html
http://w3.lasallehs.org/courses/science/biology/html/biomes__estuary.html
http://www.buzzle.com/articles/estuary-biome.html

http://sanfranciscoestuarybiomeproject.wikispaces.com/Abiotic+and+Biotic+
Factors
https://sites.google.com/site/estuarybiomechowilawu/what-is-an-estuary