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Panne
Salt pannes and pools are water retaining depressions located within salt and brackish marshes. Pools tend to retain water during the summer months between high tides, whereas pannes generally do not. Salt pannes generally start when a mat of organic debris (known as ''wrack'') is deposited upon existing vegetation, killing it. This creates a slight depression in the surrounding vegetation which retains water for varying periods of time. Upon successive cycles of inundation and evaporation the panne develops an increased salinity greater than that of the larger body of water. This increased salinity dictates the type of flora and fauna able to grow within the panne. Salt pools are also secondary formations, though the exact mechanism(s) of formation are not well understood; some have predicted they will increase in size and abundance in the future due to rising sea levels. Salt pannes and pools are unique microhabitats dominated by various species of halophytes, benthic plant ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
High Marsh
High marsh is a tidal marsh zone located above the Mean Highwater Mark (MHW) which, in contrast to the low marsh zone, is inundated infrequently during periods of extreme high tide and storm surge associated with coastal storms. This zone is impacted by spring tides, which is a bi-monthly lunar occurrence where the high marsh experiences higher inundation levels. The high marsh is the intermittent zone between the low marsh and the uplands, an entirely terrestrial area rarely flooded during events of extreme tidal action caused by severe coastal storms. The high marsh is distinguished from the low marsh by its sandy soil and higher elevation. The elevation of the high marsh allows this zone to be covered by the high tide for no more than an hour a day. With the soil exposed to air for long periods of time, evaporation occurs, leading to high salinity levels, up to four times that of sea water. Areas of extremely high salinity prohibit plant growth altogether. These barren sandy ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Salt Pannes And Pools High And Low Tide
Salt is a mineral composed primarily of sodium chloride (NaCl), a chemical compound belonging to the larger class of salts; salt in the form of a natural crystalline mineral is known as rock salt or halite. Salt is present in vast quantities in seawater. The open ocean has about of solids per liter of sea water, a salinity of 3.5%. Salt is essential for life in general, and saltiness is one of the basic human tastes. Salt is one of the oldest and most ubiquitous food seasonings, and is known to uniformly improve the taste perception of food, including otherwise unpalatable food. Salting, brining, and pickling are also ancient and important methods of food preservation. Some of the earliest evidence of salt processing dates to around 6,000 BC, when people living in the area of present-day Romania boiled spring water to extract salts; a salt-works in China dates to approximately the same period. Salt was also prized by the ancient Hebrews, Greeks, Romans, Byzantines, H ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fucus Vesiculosus
''Fucus vesiculosus'', known by the common names bladder wrack, black tang, rockweed, sea grapes, bladder fucus, sea oak, cut weed, dyers fucus, red fucus and rock wrack, is a seaweed found on the coasts of the North Sea, the western Baltic Sea and the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. It was the original source of iodine, discovered in 1811, and was used extensively to treat goitre, a swelling of the thyroid gland related to iodine deficiency. Description The fronds of ''F. vesiculosus'' grow to long and wide and have a prominent midrib throughout. It is attached by a basal disc-shaped holdfast. It has almost spherical air bladders, which are usually paired one on either side of the mid-rib but may be absent in young plants. The margin is smooth and the frond is dichotomously branched. It is sometimes confused with ''Fucus spiralis'' with which it hybridises and is similar to ''Fucus serratus''. Distribution ''Fucus vesiculosus'' is a common large alga on the shores of the Br ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Graminoid
In botany and ecology, graminoid refers to a herbaceous plant with a grass-like morphology, i.e. elongated culms with long, blade-like leaves. They are contrasted to forbs, herbaceous plants without grass-like features. The plants most often referred to include the families Poaceae (grasses in the strict sense), Cyperaceae (sedges), and Juncaceae (rushes). These are not closely related but belong to different clades in the order Poales. The grasses (Poaceae) are by far the largest family with some 12,000 species. Besides their similar morphology, graminoids share the widespread occurrence and often dominance in open habitats such as grasslands or marshes. They can however also be found in the understory of forests. Sedges and rushes tend to prefer wetter habitats than grasses. File:Pitrus (Juncus effusus) 05.JPG, alt=Common rush in shallow water, Common rush (''Juncus effusus''), Juncaceae File:Cyperus capitatus 01.jpg, alt=Nutsedge on dune, Nutsedge (''Cyperus capitatus' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Typha Angustifolia
''Typha angustifolia'' L. (also lesser bulrush, narrowleaf cattail or lesser reedmace) is a perennial herbaceous plant of genus ''Typha''. This cattail is an "obligate wetland" species that is commonly found in the northern hemisphere in brackish locations. Description The plant's leaves are flat, very narrow (¼"–½" wide), and 3'–6' tall when mature; 12–16 leaves arise from each vegetative shoot. At maturity, they have distinctive stalks that are about as tall as the leaves; the stalks are topped with brown, fluffy, sausage-shaped flowering heads. The plants have sturdy, rhizomatous roots that can extend 27" and are typically ¾"–1½" in diameter. Distribution It has been proposed that the species was introduced from Europe to North America. In North America, it is also thought to have been introduced from coastal to inland locations. The geographic range of ''Typha angustifolia'' overlaps with the very similar species ''Typha latifolia'' (broadleaf or common ca ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Distichlis Spicata
''Distichlis spicata'' is a species of grass known by several common names, including seashore saltgrass, inland saltgrass, and desert saltgrass. This grass is native to the Americas, where it is widespread. It can be found on other continents as well, where it is naturalized. It is extremely salt tolerant.Mojave Desert Wildflowers, Pam MacKay, 2nd ed. 2013, p 284 Distribution and habitat ''Distichlis spicata'' thrives along coastlines and on salt flats and disturbed soils, as well as forest, woodland, montane, and desert scrub habitats. It can form dense monotypic stands, and it often grows in clonal colonies. Non-clonal populations tend to be skewed toward a majority of one sex or the other. The grass forms sod with its hearty root system. Its rhizomes have sharp points which allow it to penetrate hard soils and aerenchymous tissues, which allow it to grow underwater and in mud. This plant grows easily in salty and alkaline soils, excreting salts from its tissues via salt g ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mummichog
The mummichog (''Fundulus heteroclitus'') is a small killifish found along the Atlantic coast of the United States and Canada. Also known as Atlantic killifish, mummies, gudgeons, and mud minnows, these fish inhabit brackish and coastal waters including estuaries and salt marshes. The species is noted for its hardiness and ability to tolerate highly variable salinity, temperature fluctuations from , very low oxygen levels (down to 1 mg/L), and heavily polluted ecosystems. As a result, the mummichog is a popular research subject in embryological, physiological, and toxicological studies. It is also the first fish ever sent to space, aboard Skylab in 1973. Taxonomy The genus name ''Fundulus'' comes from ', meaning bottom, from the fish's habit of swimming near muddy bottoms. The species name ''heteroclitus'' means irregular or unusual. The type specimen was first described by Carl Linnaeus in 1766, from near Charleston, South Carolina. Other scientific names now considered syno ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sheepshead Minnow
The sheepshead minnow or sheepshead pupfish (''Cyprinodon variegatus'') is a species of ray-finned fish in the family Cyprinodontidae, the pupfishes. It is found in salt marsh and estuary environments and is native to the eastern coasts of North and Central America. Description The sheepshead minnow is a deep-bodied fish growing to a length of up to though a more normal length is . It is nearly half as deep as it is long, excluding its tail. It is laterally compressed with flat sides, an arched back and a small head with a flattened top. The small mouth is at the end of the snout and the teeth are large and wedge-shaped with three cusps. The pectoral fins are large and extend past the origins of the small pelvic fins. The origin of the anal fin hardly overlaps the trailing edge of the dorsal fin. The caudal peduncle is thick and the caudal fin is truncated and square-ended. The arrangement of the fins, the deep body and the tri-cuspid teeth help to distinguish this fish from the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ruppia Maritima
''Ruppia maritima'' is an aquatic plant species commonly known as beaked tasselweed, ditch grass, tassel pondweed and widgeon grass. Despite its scientific name, it is not a marine plant; is perhaps best described as a salt-tolerant freshwater species.Kantrud, H. A. (1991)Classification and Distribution - Wigeongrass (''Ruppia maritima'' L.): A literature review. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The generic name ''Ruppia'' was dedicated by Linnaeus to the German botanist Heinrich Bernhard Ruppius (1689-1719) and the specific name (maritima) translates to "of the sea". Distribution It can be found throughout the world, most often in coastal areas, where it grows in brackish water bodies, such as marshes. It is a dominant plant in a great many shoreline regions. It does not grow well in turbid water or low-oxygen substrates.Kantrud, H. A. (1991)Habitat - Wigeongrass (''Ruppia maritima'' L.): A literature review. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Description ''Ruppia maritima'' i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Aedes Sollicitans
''Aedes sollicitans'', the eastern saltmarsh mosquito (also known as ''Ochlerotatus sollicitans''), is a species of mosquito native to the eastern seaboard of the United States and Canada as well as the entire Gulf coast and is also present in the Bahamas and Greater Antilles. While primarily found in coastal areas within a few miles of the coast, it is occasionally found inland in areas with saline pools, the species was reported as far west as Arizona. The species is a prime vector for Eastern equine encephalitis, Venezuelan equine encephalitis and dog heartworm. Description ''Aedes sollicitans'' has a conspicuous band of white scales around the central area of the proboscis and the anterior portion of the hind tarsomeres upon which there is also band a band of yellow scales in the middle. The abdomen has white basal bands and is divided by a medial longitudinal stripe. The thorax is white on the sides and the top is brown, yellow, golden and white. Similar Species ' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Spring Tide
Tides are the rise and fall of sea levels caused by the combined effects of the gravitational forces exerted by the Moon (and to a much lesser extent, the Sun) and are also caused by the Earth and Moon orbiting one another. Tide tables can be used for any given locale to find the predicted times and amplitude (or " tidal range"). The predictions are influenced by many factors including the alignment of the Sun and Moon, the phase and amplitude of the tide (pattern of tides in the deep ocean), the amphidromic systems of the oceans, and the shape of the coastline and near-shore bathymetry (see '' Timing''). They are however only predictions, the actual time and height of the tide is affected by wind and atmospheric pressure. Many shorelines experience semi-diurnal tides—two nearly equal high and low tides each day. Other locations have a diurnal tide—one high and low tide each day. A "mixed tide"—two uneven magnitude tides a day—is a third regular category. Tide ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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