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Neritic Zone
Salt Marsh
Tidal wetlands dominated by salt-tolerant grasses - critical nursery habitat, storm buffer, and carbon sink.
Depth: 0-2m Light: Sunlight
📖 Overview
Salt marshes are among the most productive ecosystems on Earth. Cordgrass (Spartina) fields drain and flood twice daily with tides. Fiddler crabs, killifish, sheepshead minnow, and young flounder, striped bass, and blue crab spend juvenile stages here. Marshes protect coastlines from storm surge - the destruction of Louisiana marshes has amplified hurricane damage year over year.
🌿 Ecology
Cordgrass roots stabilise mud. Detritus food web fuels killifish, shrimp, and juvenile game fish. Wading birds (herons, egrets) top the food chain.