What is estuary habitat and why is it important?
The essence of our estuaries is found in their habitats: salt marshes, eel grass beds, fish runs, mudflats, and mangroves. These estuary habitats are the places where plants and wildlife live and create the web of life which makes estuaries extraordinary. In estuaries, soil, nutrients, and water combine in a special way to nurture marsh grasses, sea grasses, and other types of vegetation. At first glimpse, these estuary habitats might appear to be very simple and insignificant, but they provide creatures with shelter and food. By nurturing this bounty of life, habitats make estuaries the ecological, cultural, and economic powerhouses that we treasure. Unfortunately, much of our estuary habitat has been damaged and destroyed over the past 100 years with little regard for its many benefits. When estuary habitats are paved over, polluted by runoff, or lost to coastal land subsidence, it cripples an estuary’s ability to support life. When a salt marsh is filled, it can no longer filter sed
