1. Near-Shore Ecosystems

2. Vocabulary Atoll Fringing reef Hammock Barrier Reef Lagoon Coral Reef
Mangrove
Detritus
Mudflat
Dredge
Salt marsh
Estuary
Swamp
Everglades
Temperature
Wetlands

3. Near-Shore Ecosystems
Wetlands and Coral reefs thrive along the oceans coast.
In the Florida Key’s the mangrove system are dominate structure
Wetlands- describes any area that is a combination of land and water.
Wetlands have been destroyed by developers

4. Wetlands: Zone between land and Sea
Wetlands serve as purifiers water runoff from land contains wastes, or pollutants, as it flows in the wetlands.
Bacteria on the roots or plants and trees break down pollutants into compounds that are less harmful.
However, polluted runoff is starting to become a problem in Florida as wetlands are destroyed.
Cornell note : Summarize the slide to get the main idea. What is the main topic why is it important

5. Wetlands = nursery Cornell note : Summarize
Provide an ideal breeding ground for many aquatic animals.
Muddy bottom provides food and shelter for many organisms.
Perfect place for laying eggs, after hatching the young thrive on plankton and tiny pieces of decaying plants and animals.
The shallow water provides protection from ocean predators or larger animals.
For example the snapper spends the first part of his life in the wetland environment.
Cornell note : Summarize

6. Nutrient Rich
Wetlands provide rich sources of nutrients for both plant and animal growth.
They may be so rich in organic material that their waters may be murky.
Detritus, or decaying plant and animal material, is the first link in the wetland food chain.
The abundance of food and shelter in the wetlands provide a perfect near shore habitat for many organisms throughout their adult life

7. Estuaries: Where Saltwater and Freshwater Meet
one type of wetland is an Estuary- an area where freshwater from the land and saltwater from the sea flow together.
Estuary are the nurseries of the sea
Located where rivers empties into the ocean
Because of this the estuary varies in salinities
Since saltwater is denser then fresh water, salt water will sink and freshwater will float.
Thus, the deeper depths in an estuary’s water column will be saltier, where the shallow depths will be less salty.

8. Unique Estuary Environment
The mixing of fresh and salt water creates a unique environment for organisms.
Cannot tolerate changing salinities
Oysters have adapted to living in nearby marine and freshwater habitats.
Others include Blue crabs, worms, mussels and barnacles

9. Organisms separated by zonation
Organisms are restricted to certain zones with the estuary.
Freshwater organisms are restricted to the upper end of the estuary, and saltwater organisms are restricted to the upper end of the estuary
The snapper for example only moves in and out with the tides and tend to stay in areas with constant salinity.
Other organisms like mussels and periwinkles can regulate their salt levels

10. Seagrass beds
Seagrass beds are common in the sublittoral estuarine environments.
They provide food and protection for smaller animals.
Common seagrass include widgeon, shoal, turtle, and manatee grass

11. Salt Marshes: Part of the Ocean Nursery
Salt marshes are low, flat coastal wetlands bordering estuaries and well protected bays in temperate areas.
Salt marshes are dominated by salt-tolerant grasses such as Spartina and Juncus.
These grass survive being partially covered with saltwater by excreting excess salt through special pores.
The roots trap particles of dirt and detritus thus preventing erosion and building up salt marshes

12. Animals using the Salt Marshes
Many animals use salt marshes as resting places during migration.
Ducks, geese and shorebirds are very common in marshes, feeding on the wide variety of organisms .
Others will enter the marsh during low tide example turtles, raccoons
Permanent residents include periwinkle snails, fiddler crab, and killifish.

13. Mudflats
Are environments that have slightly sloping dark beaches, that are very muddy and sandy areas that are unvegetated.
They lack seagrass and marsh grass.
Little to no oxygen due to lack of wave action
Accumulation of detritus
Known as the graveyard of wetlands lots of waste = lots of bacteria
Mudflats smell bad Hydrogen sulfide from decay Due to the oxygen deficient in the mud.

14. But are Mudflats Important
To many people believe that mudflat environments are devoid of life and importance.
However, scientist have found that mudflats are a very important structure of the food web.
Mudflats provide an environment for bacteria
Bacteria help convert waste into useful nutrients for other organisms
Transported by tides into other areas to be used by plankton

15. Swamps Swamps are marked by their trees
Usually develop further inland from the ocean than do estuaries and salt marshes
Swaps are cleansing areas for the water that flows through them
Ground covered by detritus rich mud filled with bacteria that break it down.

16. Florida Swamps In Florida the most common tree is the cypress
Cypress has the large roots or knees that stick up out of the water
Release Tannic acid thus making the swamps slightly acidic
This acid makes the water appear dark, as well as leaving rings or stains, showing the water level on trees or other objects
Some swamps have scattered mounds of land known as hammocks

17. Mangrove swamps
Mangrove swamps are wetlands that cover a large part of the coast in the tropical and semi tropical areas
In Florida , mangrove trees are found in the southern Florida and the Keys. The mangrove tree is particularly adapted to tolerate the salt mud that covers the coastal areas.
Can excrete excess salt to regulate its biochemistry

18. Mangroves nursery Offer shelter and protection
Help trap sediment, thus trapping detritus which is the basis for most of the mangrove food chain
Like mudflats the products of the decay from the mangroves enrich the mangrove environment with nutrients
Provide shelter to organisms that live in the water, as well as land and air dwellers

19. Mangroves Mangroves Protect the shore from erosion Hold sand in place
The entire community protects the shoreline from storms

20. Four types of mangrove trees
Red Mangrove
Black Mangrove
White Mangrove
4. Buttonwood 1 2 3 4

21. Everglades: grassy water
The Florida Everglades is a very large wetland are in southern Florida.
It is a mixed wetland dominated by grasses.
Native Americans called it Pa-Hay-Okee, or grassy water
Main source of water is from Lake Okeechobee and nearby rivers.
Provides habitat and food for both marine and land animals
However, this unique habitat has been changed due to pollution and diverting of water flow

22. Destruction of Wetlands
In spite of the benefits wetlands provide, we have continued to destroy them.
In the United States wetlands have been reduced by over 40% percent since the 1950’s
They have been dredge, they are filled in for commercial development. Hotels, bars, shopping centers ect.
This reduction in wetlands has decreased the wetland’s ability to filter and clean stormwater runoff before it reaches our lakes, rivers and oceans

24. Florida Everglades Destruction
Millions of acres of Florida Everglades have already been destroyed, and the water flow the fed this wetland has been completely changed.
Wetlands serve as natural buffer against storms. As we build on and destroy these buffer zones, we leave ourselves more vulnerable to destructive forces in nature

26. Coral Reefs:
Reefs are made of corals – tiny sea animals that have a hard skeleton made of calcium carbonate.
Corals build layers upon layers up toward the ocean’s surface.
Algae help cement the coral shells, other types of shells and sand together to help produce the reef formation.
The base of the reef is formed by skeletons of dead corals; only the top of the reef is living coral and algae

27. What Are Corals?

28. Coral and Algae
Symbiotic, relationship mutualism – each depends on the other to survive.
Zooxanthella are captured by the coral polyps, which are the basic structure of the coral animal.
Algae grow with in the coral
Lives safely inside the coral polyp’s cells and use the waste products of the coral.
In return algae supply oxygen and nutrients to the coral animal

29. Coral Habitat
Reef-building corals require warm, tropical water where the temperature does not drop below 20°C (68°F).
Water must be clear and shallow-less then 100 feet deep
Need sunlight to produce food

30. Hard vs. Soft Corals Corals are classified into two types, Hard corals
Soft Corals or flexible corals
Both provide environment for over 3,000 animal species

31. The Three different types of Coral Reefs
Fringing reef
Develop in shallow water along the edge of a volcanic island or land mass.
Create a fringe of living coral on the border of the land form
Commonly found in the Hawaiian Islands on the South Pacific and parts of the Caribbean.

32. Barrier Reef
Unlike fringing reef, the barrier reef is separated from the land by a body water called lagoon.
Great Barrier Reef
1,250 miles long
Largest reef in the world

33. Atoll Atolls are ring shaped reefs that develop from fringing reefs
As a volcanic island or land mass begins to sink corals continue to grow, until is submerged
Lagoon in the middle or center
Common in the Pacific and Indian ocean and can exist in deep water.
Largest atoll Kwajalein
-lagoon 60 miles

34. Red Mangrove
The red mangrove’s shallow prop roots extend from the lower stem like arching spider legs, giving it the nickname “the walking tree”. Drop roots hang down from the branches of the upper stem.

35. Salt Extruder
Parts of the roots that are above ground (and above water) contain small pores or lenticels that allow the roots to take in oxygen, which then moves down through the tissue and prevents water and salt from entering during high tide.

36. Red Mangrove Leaf
The dark green leaves of the red mangrove are larger than those of the other mangrove species, and help the tree retain water. The red mangrove gets its name from the reddish layer just beneath its thin greyish bark.

37. Cigar-like Propagule
Its seedling, or propagule, is long and cigar shaped. The red mangrove grows closest to the coast and is even found in off-shore mud flats and sand bars. Propagules contain fresh water and are often preyed upon by animals such as raccoons or crabs for their fresh water content.

38. Black Mangrove
More inland is the black mangrove. Its root system consists of shallow underground cable-like roots that radiate outward many feet away from the stem.  

39. Pneumatophores
Black mangroves have peg-like aerial roots called pneumatophores that extend upwards from the cable roots. These pneumatophores contain lenticels that help in oxygen exchange.

40. Silvery underside of leaf
The black mangrove gets its name from the dark, blackish bark. The leaves have a silvery underside and are able to excrete salt.

41. Lima bean-shaped propagule
Its propagule looks like a lima bean.

42. White mangrove
The white mangrove is found even further inland and its root system is able to exclude salt by filtering brackish water.  

43. Glands on petioles
It is the smallest of the true mangroves and has oval shaped leaves with a distinct gland-like opening on the leaf stem, called a petiole.

44. Triangular propagule

45. Mangrove Zonation
Intertidal
zone
red
white
black

46. What are Ecosystem Services?
Ecosystem services are benefits that people get from healthy ecosystems. Things like clean drinking water, clean air, and the plants used for many medicines are all examples of ecosystem services.
The health and well-being of people depend on these services. Natural ecosystems of south Florida and the plants and animals within them provide people with benefits that would be very difficult to duplicate. Many of these benefits are performed for ‘free’, but are worth trillions of dollars.

47. Mangrove Ecosystem Services
The mangrove swamp provides many ecosystem services, such as providing nurseries for the young of about 30% of commercial fishes and recreation. Mangroves are also a first line of defense to protect the coast from soil erosion.

48. Effects of Climate Change on Mangroves
Temperature
CO2 Concentrations
Changes in Salinity
Sea Level Rise
Severe Weather
Hurricanes, Storm Surge