Module 12

Estuarine Ecosystem

Introduction

Estuaries or transitional waters represent the transition between freshwater and marine
environments and are influenced by both aquatic realms. Salinity level are indicative of the position
within the mixing zones of an estuary. The upper limit of an estuary is referred to as its head while the
lower limit is called the mouth of the estuary. They are classified by the geology that defines them or the
way in which water circulates throughout them. Estuaries are subject to both to marine influence such
as tides and waves and influx of saline water and to riverine influences such as flow of freshwater and
sediment. The mixing of seawater and freshwater provides high levels of nutrients both in water column
and in sediments making estuaries the most productive habitats in the world.

Learning Objectives:

At the end of the lesson, students should be able to:

1. Describe what is an estuary.

2. Give reasons why estuary is the most productive habitat in the world.
3. Make a diagram of economically important species that live in estuarine.

Pre-Assessment

Choose the letter of the best answer.

1. When salt and freshwater mix, what is the new water substance called?
a. Brackish acid
b. Freshwater
c. Saltwater
d. Brackish water

2. True or False: sharks can live in estuaries.

a. True
b. False
Why?

3. What is an estuary?
a. Land area that drains water into a lake
b. Area where river meets ocean
c. Large body of saltwater
d. Underground water system

1
 4. Estuaries can out pollutants.
a. Push
b. Filter
c. Force
d. Absorb

5. Reason why estuaries are important

a. They are habitat to thousands of species of animals
b. Commercially important species rely on estuaries
c. Serve as nursery of species
d. All the choices

Lesson Presentation

An estuary is a partially enclosed body of water and its surrounding coastal habitats where
saltwater from the ocean typically mixes with freshwater from rivers or streams.

https://microbewiki.kenyon.edu/index.php/File:Overview.jpg

Two ecosystem services that estuaries provide are water filtration and habitat protection.
Habitats associated with estuaries, such as salt marshes and mangrove forests act like enormous filters.
Estuaries are very productive ecosystems because they constantly receive fresh nutrients from the river.
They are important natural places because they provide goods and services that economically
indispensable.

Physical Environment. An estuary is a transition area between river and sea. Seawater flows up
the estuary channel during a rising tide and flows back down during the falling tide. Often, higher-
density seawater occupies the bottom of the channel and mixes little with the lower-density river water
at the surface.

Chemical Environment. Salinity varies spatially within estuaries, from nearly that of freshwater
to that of seawater. Salinity also varies with the rise and fall of the tides. Nutrients from the river make
estuaries, like wetlands, among the most productive biomes.
 Geologic Features. Estuarine flow patterns combined with the sediments carried by river and
tidal waters create a complex network of tidal channels, islands, natural levees, and mudflats.

Photosynthetic Organisms. Saltmarsh grasses and algae, including phytoplankton, are the major
procedures in estuaries.

Heterotrophs. Estuaries support an abundance of worms, oysters, crabs, and many fish species
that humans consume. Many marine invertebrates and fishes use estuaries as a breeding ground or
migrate through them to freshwater habitats upstream. Estuaries are also crucial feeding areas for
waterfowl and some marine mammals.

Human Impact. Filling, dredging, and pollution from upstream have disrupted estuaries
worldwide.

ECOSYSTEMS SERVICES OF ESTUARINE

Estuaries support diverse and abundant ecological communities of plants and animals and
provide important habitats for many fishes, birds, and shellfish. It also provides a range of valuable
ecosystem services for humans such as food provision, water filtration, nutrient regulation, and storm
protection. Estuaries can also remove toxins from the environment. The filtered water brings nutrients
from the watershed and also many other pollutants. Estuaries and their surrounding wetlands filter out
pollutants such as herbicides, pesticides, heavy metals, and excess nutrients and sediments.

Reference:

What is an Estuary?

- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XLumSN4G5P4

Activity/Evaluation

Estuaries are made up of many different habitats which include oyster reefs, coral reefs, rocky
shores, submerged vegetation marshes, and mangroves. There are also different animals that live in
each of these habitats like shellfishes, birds, oysters, mud crabs, clams, and many kinds of fishes.

Create a Venn diagram of the animals found in Philippine estuaries showing the animals from
seawater in the first circle and the animals from freshwater in the second circle.

Reinforcement

An estuary is a partial enclosed coastal body of brackish water with one or more rivers or
streams flowing into it and with a free connection to the open sea.
 Rivers, streams, and lakes are also part of the aquatic ecosystem but unlike estuarine, their water
is not salty. Freshwater ecosystem will be discussed in the next module.