Salt Marsh Quiz

Salt Marshes: Functions, Characteristics, and Conservation

• Salt marshes serve multiple functions, including carbon sequestration, wave reduction, water and air purification, sediment trapping, biodiversity support, and cooling effects.
• They are transitional coastal wetland ecosystems that flood and drain with tides, found along rivers, coasts, and estuaries, and can be salt, brackish, or freshwater tidal marshes.
• Estuaries are partially enclosed coastal water bodies where freshwater from rivers and streams mixes with salt water from the ocean, providing protected habitat and serving as a transition from land to sea.
• Salt marshes occur along low wave energy coastlines, are among the most productive ecosystems on earth, and have three main types: pioneer zone, low marsh, and middle or high marsh.
• Salt marshes play a crucial role in reducing flooding, filtering pollutants, providing habitat for marine species, and serving as carbon sinks with a complex food web comprising primary producers and consumers.
• Tides supply nutrients for salt marsh plants, which over time build layers of deep mud and peat, serving as a physical barrier and protecting human habitats from flooding.
• Restoring hydrology to salt marshes involves removing obstacles, restoring tidal influence, and sediment flows to enable conditions for salt marsh development, while the "mud motor" process mimics natural sediment movement.
• The conservation project at Shorter's Wharf in Chesapeake Bay aimed to address marsh deterioration caused by invasive nutria and sea level rise, using a water:sediment ratio to rebuild the ecosystem and planting grasses to stabilize the soil.
• Nutria, an invasive rodent, caused marsh deterioration by dissolving salt hay roots, leading to marsh collapse and erosion, while sea level rise intensified erosion and brought storm surges closer inland.
• The conservation project involved a group of partners conducting experiments to stop marsh deterioration, including spraying sediment across inundated marshes and planting grasses to hold sediment in place.
• Planting mats, which involve growing plants on dense coconut mats placed in marshes, were used as a bioengineered technique for salt marsh restoration, facilitating the re-establishment of salt marsh species.
• In the Eastern Scheldt, The Netherlands, planting mats were used to re-establish pioneer salt marsh, with successful outcomes including the growth of Spartina plants in coconut fiber mats, providing coastal protection and biodiversity support.

Test your knowledge about salt marshes with this quiz on their functions, characteristics, and conservation. Explore the vital roles they play in ecosystems, their diverse types, and the measures taken to preserve and restore these valuable coastal wetlands.