Estuaries

1
Estuaries

• Ehringer

2
Definition

• Estuaries are ecological systems that are
  influenced by tides where rivers and streams meet
  the sea and fresh water mixes with salt water.

3
Three sections

• A marine or lower estuary with a free connection
  to the sea
• A middle estuary subject to strong salt and
  freshwater mixing.
• An upper or fluvial estuary characterized by
  fresh water but subject to tidal influences.

4
Productivity

• Productivity in an estuary comes from the plants
  and the phytoplankton that inhabit the system.
  Since the estuaries in Florida have warm weather
  for most of the year, production occurs for most
  of the year. Abundant nutrients flow out of the
  rivers and streams into the bay, nourishing the
  plants, especially in the rainy season (July
  through September). The phytoplankton of an
  estuary are abundant and highly productive.

5
Primary phytoplankton

• 1. Dinoflagellates these are typically single
  celled photosynthetic organisms that build
  protective walls made of interlocking cellulose
  plates. Each has two flagella to aid them in
  movement.
• 2. Diatoms these are single celled
  photosynthetic organisms that build protective
  walls around themselves made of silicon. Their
  cell walls are composed of two halves that fit
  together

6
Fish

• 1. Some fish spend their entire lives in the
  bay. 
• 2. Some fresh water fish occasionally enter
  brackish water. 
• 3. Some marine species use the bay as a nursery
  ground, but may return seasonally to the bay for
  feeding. 
• 4. Some marine fish regularly visit the bay
  during a certain season, most often looking for
  food. 
• 5. Some fish come from the Gulf to the bay to
  reproduce, others come from fresh water to the
  bay to reproduce. In either case they only visit
  the bay to reproduce. Most reproduction of fish
  in Tampa Bay occurs in the spring with a second
  smaller reproductive period in the fall.
  Following spawning, many of the larval fish
  migrate to the shallow protected waters of the
  bay.
• 6. Some fish are just occasional visitors to the
  bay.

7
(No Transcript)
8
Estuaries in Florida

• Tampa Bay
• Apalachicola
• Charlotte Harbor
• Sarasota Bay

9
Sarasota Bay
10
(No Transcript)
11
(No Transcript)
12
(No Transcript)