Ecology of Tidal Freshwater Marshes of the United States East Coast: A Community Profile

摘要

Tidal freshwater marshes are a distinctive type of estuarine ecosystem located upstream from tidal saline marshes and downstream from non-tidal freshwater marshes. They are characterized by freshwater or nearly freshwater conditions most of the time, flora and fauna dominated by freshwater species, and daily lunar tidal flushing. This report examines the ecology of this community as it occurs along the Atlantic seaboard from southern New England to northern Florida. This marsh community is heavily influenced by river flow, which maintains freshwater conditions and deposits sediments high in silt and clay. The plant assemblage in tidal freshwater marshes is diverse both in numbers of species and structural plant types. The diverse niches in this heterogeneous environment are exploited by a very diverse animal community of as many as 125 species of fish, 102 species of amphibians and reptiles, 280 species of birds, and 46 species of mammals over the community's broad range. This use, coupled with the marshes' capacity to be natural buffers and water filters, argue for their high value as natural resources.