What is a Coastal Wetland?
While some of the edge of the United States landmass is rocky and blunted against the oceans, there is a range of wetland habitat pooling behind juts of land and expanding into large open water areas like the Chesapeake Bay and Puget Sound. The lengthy edge habitat between the oceans and landmass is pocketed by many sizes and shapes of estuaries, or areas where saltwater meets fresh water in bays, rivers, and creeks and behind barrier peninsulas and islands. There are three factors that define the presence of a wetland: 1) the presence of water all or most of the time, 2) the presence of plants that have evolved to tolerate inundation by water, and 3) the presence of gray to black soils that indicate lack of oxygen and minerals. On the Atlantic, Gulf, and Pacific coasts, the water has a salt content from none to 30 parts per thousand. When saltier water inundates trees and plants unused to salt, they die. However, there are many other plants that have adapted to the range of saltiness
