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Environmental Importance
Estuaries are vital ecosystems providing diverse habitat and nursery areas for many important organisms.
Estuaries provide diverse habitat for birds, mammals, fish, shellfish, insects, reptiles, amphibians, worms and many other types of wildlife. Estuaries are place were organisms live, feed and reproduce.
Estuaries are important nursery areas for many commercially important organisms. Fish, shrimp, and crab species depend on estuaries at some point in their development.
Estuaries can filter small amounts of pollutants and runoff. Vegetation helps filter and trap silt. However, too much nutrient or sediment input will create an unbalanced situation causing the health of the ecosystem to decline. |
Last Updated on: 06-23-2008
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