Chapter 25- coastal and wetland ecosystems

littoral zone

Between infalittola and supralillora- aka intertidal zone

Estuaries

Occur in bays where seawater mixes with freshwater

Why is primary productivity high in estuaries

They are nutrient sinks that settle in the channels

Mangrove forests

Dominant intertidal ecosystems in tropical regions. Helps to protect against hurricanes by weakening winds before they hit land

Prop roots

Anchors (against storms) and have air pores because below has oxygen poor sediments (still nutrient rich)

Freshwater wetlands

Influenced by periodic flooding from rains. There is a gradient of flooding.

How are wetlands different from lotic ecosystems

they are not stagnant and have complex flows with movement of surgace and grown water making marshes and bogs

Describe wetland soils

Acidic

Most of the worlds wetlands have been converted to

agricultural fields