Marine Ecosystems

The area in which the freshwater from a river mixes with salty ocean water.

The mixing of these waters creates a nutrient trap which allow these ecosystems to be extremely productive

Many of the worlds cities are built on estuaries (NYC, SF, & Shanghai)

Shallow light-filled waters allow many plants to live in the mud.

The plentiful nutrients allow for large populations of plankton, fish, oysters, otters and the birds that feed on them.

In early times, estuaries were used as landfills and constructed over such as in downtown S.F.

Largely affected by pollutants that runoff from land: sewage, pesticides & industrial waste.