Welcome to the Dept.

Marine
Bioresources
Science

Estuarine & Marine

Ecology
 Estuary
From the Latin word aestuarium meaning tidal inlet of the sea,
which in itself is derived from the term aestus, meaning tide

There have been many definitions

proposed to describe an estuary.

The most widely accepted

definition was proposed by
Cameron and Pritchard (1963),
Pritchard (1967):

"a semi-enclosed coastal body of water, which has a free

connection with the open sea, and within which sea water is
measurably diluted with freshwater derived from land drainage".
a semi-enclosed coastal body of water,
which has a free connection with the open sea, and
within which sea water is measurably diluted with
freshwater derived from land drainage".
a semi-enclosed coastal body of water,
which has a free connection with the open sea, and
within which sea water is measurably diluted with
freshwater derived from land drainage".
More suitable definition of Fairbridge (1980) is,
 
‘an estuary is an inlet of the sea reaching into a river valley
as far as the upper limit of tidal rise, usually being divisible
into three sectors:

a) a marine or lower estuary, in free connections with the

open sea;
b) a middle estuary subject to strong salt and freshwater
mixing; and
c) an upper or fluvial estuary, characterized by
freshwater but subject to strong tidal action. The limits
between these sectors are variable and subject to
constant changes in the river discharges’
Characteristic features of estuaries include:

(i) Extensive intertidal areas including saltmarshes, mudflats and

sand flats;
(ii) Semi-diurnal or diurnal tidal regime;
(iii) Wave shelter;
(iv) Water layering and mixing;
(v) Temperature and salinity gradients;
Characteristic features of estuaries include:

(vi) Sediment suspension and transport;

(vii) High productivity;
(viii) High levels and rapid exchange of nutrients;
(ix) The presence of plants and animals particularly adapted to
these conditions; and
(x) The presence of migrant and seasonally fluctuating
populations of animals (particularly birds).
Estuarine ecology:

The fundamental goal of ecology is to understand the distribution

and abundance of organisms.

Ecology explores relationships between organisms and biotic (living)

factors or abiotic (non-living) factors in the environment.

Ecologists focus on three levels of organization in the natural world:

• population,
• community, and
• ecosystem.
A population is a group of individuals
of the same species living in a given
place.

A community is comprised of
populations of different species that
live together.

Ecologists studying populations or

communities focus on how organisms
affect each other, and how the
environment affects them.
An ecosystem, in contrast, refers to the flow of energy and nutrients
through an ecological system. Both ecosystems and habitats have
abiotic and biotic features.

Any area of nature that includes living and nonliving parts and
interacting to produce energy in a particular
Formation of Estuary
Most estuaries can be grouped into four geomorphic categories
based on the physical processes responsible for their formation:

1. Rising sea level: Drowned river valley or coastal plain estuaries

were formed by rising sea level during the last interglacial
period
2. Movement of sand and sandbars: The movement of sand and
formation of sandbars along the coastline can enclose bodies
of water and form lagoon-type or bar-built estuaries
3. Glacial processes: In colder climates, glaciers cut deep valleys
in the landscape. When glaciers recede during warmer climate
periods
4. Tectonic processes: Earthquakes and faulting (the development
of faults) may cause the rapid sinking of coastal areas below
sea level
 Classification of estuary

1. Classification based on geomorphology

2. Classification based on water circulation or
vertical structure of salinity
3. Classification of estuaries on the basis of water
balance
 Classification based on geomorphology
Estuaries may be classified according to their geomorphology
as
1. coastal plain,
2. fjord,
3. bar-built and
4. tectonic

-(Pritchard, 1952).

Many scientists showed

delta estuary as one
of the criteria
1. Drowned river valleys /
Coastal Plain Estuary

 formed at the end of the last ice

age.
 As the ice melted and the
waters warmed, sea level rose.
 The rising seas invaded low-lying
coastal river valleys.
 These valleys are usually shallow
with gentle sloping bottoms.
 Their depth increases toward
the river's mouth.
 Their width-to-depth ratio is
typically large,
2. Fjord-type Estuary
 Fjords are valleys that have been
cut deeper by moving glaciers
and then invaded by the sea.

 These U-shaped estuaries

typically have steep sides, rock
bottoms, and underwater sills
contoured by glacial movement.

 The estuary is shallowest at its

mouth, where terminal glacial
moraines or rock bars form sills
that restrict water flow.
2. Fjord-type Estuary
 They are narrow with steep sides and
usually straight and long.
 They have a shallow barrier at their
mouth that limits water exchange
between the deeper waters of the fjord
and the sea.
 The width-to-depth ratio is generally
small.
 Fjords are found in areas that have been
covered by glaciers.
3. Lagoon-type or Bar-Built
Estuary
 Bar-built estuaries are formed when
sandbars build up along the
coastline.
 These estuaries are semi-isolated
from ocean waters by barrier
beaches (barrier islands and barrier
spits).
 Formation of barrier beaches
partially encloses the estuary, with
only narrow inlets allowing contact
with the ocean waters.
 Bar-built estuaries are usually
shallow, with reduced tidal action
4. Tectonically produced

These estuaries are formed by

subsidence or land cut off from the
ocean by land movement associated
with faulting, volcanoes, and landslides

There are only a small number of

tectonically produced estuaries;
one example is the
San Francisco Bay
Delta estuary
• Deltas form at the mouths of
large rivers, when sediments
and silt accumulate rather than
being washed away by currents
or ocean waves.

• Over time, a complex set of

channels, sand barriers and
marshes form at the mouth of
the river. As sediments
continue to accumulate, the
course of the river may even
be changed.

3 types: fluvial, tide-dominated, & wave dominated

Classification of estuaries on the basis of water balance

On the basis of water balance,

estuaries can be classified as three
types: positive, inverse and
neutral estuaries (Pritchard, 1952).

Positive estuaries are those in

which freshwater additions from
river discharge, rain and ice
melting exceed freshwater losses
from evaporation or freezing and
establish a longitudinal density
gradient.
Inverse estuaries

 are typically found in arid regions

where freshwater losses from
evaporation exceed freshwater
additions from precipitation.
 There is no or scant river discharge
into these systems.
 They are called inverse, or negative,
because the longitudinal density
gradient has the opposite sign to that
in positive estuaries, i.e., water
density increases landward.
 Inverse estuaries exhibit net volume
inflows associated with stronger
surface inflows than near-bottom
outflows.
Neutral Estuary:
An estuary in which neither fresh-
water inflow nor evaporation
dominates.
Classification based on water circulation or vertical
structure of salinity

According to water column stratification or salinity

vertical structure, estuaries can be classified as
 salt wedge,
 strongly stratified,
 weakly stratified or vertically mixed
 Well mixed
1. Salt wedge
• river output greatly exceeds
marine input
• tidal effects have a minor
importance.
• Fresh water floats on top of the
seawater in a layer that gradually
thins as it moves seaward.
• The denser seawater moves
landward along the bottom of
the estuary,
• forming a wedge-shaped layer
that is thinner as it approaches
land.
2. Strongly stratified
estuaries

 Moderate to large river

discharge and weak to moderate
tidal forcing result in strongly
stratified estuaries.

 These estuaries have similar

stratification to salt wedge
estuaries, but the stratification
remains strong throughout the
tidal cycle as in fjords and other
deep (typically >20m deep)
estuaries.
The mean flow exhibits well-
established outflows and
inflows, but the inflows are
weak because of weak mixing
with freshwater and weak
horizontal density gradients.
 3. Partially mixed/ weakly stratified
• Partially mixed estuaries have a
tidal flow that provides a means of
erasing the salt wedge.
• The salt water is mixed upward
and fresh water is mixed
downward.
• Deeper estuaries such as Puget
Sound and San Francisco Bay are
examples of partially mixed
estuaries.
4. Vertically homogenous/ Well
Mixed Estuary

• Tidal mixing forces exceed river

output, resulting in a well mixed
water column and the
disappearance of the vertical
salinity gradient.
• The freshwater-seawater boundary
is eliminated due to the intense
turbulent mixing
• The mixing is so complete that
the salinity is the same top to
bottom and decreases from the
ocean to the river.
Estuaries provide:
• Habitat: Tens of thousands of birds, mammals, fish, and other
wildlife depend on estuaries.
• Nursery: Estuaries are commonly nicknamed the "nurseries of
the sea."
• Feeding ground: Many species use the estuary as a feeding
ground. Nekton are abundant and provide food for other
organisms.
• Productivity: A healthy, untended estuary produces from four
to ten times the weight of organic matter produced by a
cultivated corn field the same size.
 Estuaries provide:
 Water filtration: Water draining off the uplands carries a load of
sediments and nutrients. As the water flows through salt marsh
peat and the dense mesh of marsh grass blades, much of the
sediment and nutrient load is filtered out
 Flood control: Porous, resilient salt marsh soils and grasses
absorb floodwaters and dissipate storm surges.
 Transportation:
 Aesthetic value: Estuaries also provide a great deal of aesthetic
enjoyment for the people who live, work, or recreate in and
around them.
 Estuarine organisms
Anadromous fish are born in
freshwater, then migrate to the
ocean as juveniles where they
grow into adults before
migrating back into freshwater to
spawn.

Examples: salmon, smelt,

American shad, hickory
shad, striped bass, lamprey, gulf
sturgeon
 Estuarine organisms
Catadromous fish are born
in saltwater, then migrate
into freshwater as juveniles
where they grow into adults
before migrating back into
the ocean to spawn.

Examples: American eel,

European eel, inanga,
shortfin eel, longfin eel
Estuarine organisms

Amphidromous fish are born in

freshwater/estuaries, then drift into
the ocean as larvae before
migrating back into freshwater to
grow into adults and spawn.

Examples: bigmouth sleeper,

mountain mullet, sirajo goby, river
goby, torrentfish, Dolly Varden
Potamodromous 

fish are born in upstream freshwater habitats, then

migrate downstream (still in freshwater) as juveniles to
grow into adults before migrating back upstream to spawn.
Examples: sicklefin redhorse, 
lake sturgeon,
robust redhorse,
flathead catfish
Oceanodromous 
fish are born near spawning grounds, then drift on ocean
currents as larvae before settling as juveniles to grow into
adults before migrating back to spawning grounds.

Examples: black grouper,

mutton snapper,
goliath grouper
 Estuarine organisms

 Most estuarine organisms are euryhaline—they can tolerate

a wide range of salinities.
 A small number of stenohaline species—species that can
tolerate only a narrow range of salinities—inhabit estuaries,
but are usually very limited in their distribution.
Estuarine / coastal regions
 Estuarine organisms
Types of Estuarine Communities
The three distinctive communities associated with estuaries are

1. Supratidal communities
2. Intertidal communities
 open water communities
 mudflats communities
 salt marshes
 mangroves
3. Subtidal communities
 sea grasses
 oyster beds
 kelp forest
 coral reefs
 Seaweed communities
Estuarine organisms
 Estuarine Communities
1. Supratidal communities:
• the area above the spring high tide line, on coastlines
and estuaries.

• Seawater penetrates these elevated areas only during

storms with high tides.

• The supralittoral zone, also known as the splash

zone, spray zone or the supratidal zone

• Organisms in this sparse habitat include barnacles,

isopods, lichens, lice, limpets, periwinkles, and whelks.
Estuarine Communities
2. Intertidal Communities –
The intertidal zone is the
area that is exposed to the
air at low tide and
submerged at high tide.
• Organisms in the intertidal
zone are adapted to an
environment of harsh
extremes.
 Intertidal
2.a. Mangrove Forests
• Mangroves are flowering land
plants adapted to live in the
intertidal.
• Mangrove forests (mangals) are
not limited to estuaries, but in
some ways they are the tropical
equivalents of salt marshes,
though the two coexist in many
places.
2.b. Salt Marshes
Extensive grassy areas
called salt marshes that
extend inland from the
mudflats usually border
estuaries in temperate
and subarctic regions.
They are partially
flooded at high tide
2.b. Salt Marshes

• They replace mangroves in temperate and

arctic regions. The dominant flora is composed
of halophytic plant such
as grasses, shrubs and herbs. The flora is
rather species poor. The sediment consists of 
mud and sand. The salt marshes are normally
associated with mud flats but also occur on
sand flats.
Mudflats communities
• Mud flats (also known as tidal
flats) are the intertidal, soft-
bottomed areas of estuaries
that are exposed at low tide are
found next to salt marshes.

• They are especially extensive in

estuaries with a large tidal
range. Bivalves, crustaceans,
worms, and snails are four
common animals that live on
mudflats in estuaries.
 Mud flat communities

• primary producers: sea weeds, large numbers of benthic

diatoms, and photosynthetic bacteria. Phytoplankton and
zooplankton are abundant.
•
• filter-feeder: oysters and clams that live in mud flats because
of the availability of plankton.

• burrowing animals: such as clams, worms, and crustaceans

can be found about one inch below the surface of the mud,.
Because there is little or no oxygen, they breathe through
tubes to get oxygen from the surface.

• predators: fishes, crabs and birds

The requirements for development of salt marshes are:

• They need fine-grained sediments.

• There may be no strong waves or tidal currents.
• They need salty conditions to grow. They
are halotolerant and have adaptations to these
conditions.
• They need a temperate or cool temperature. Freezing
temperatures can occur, but are not damaging the
plants.
• They need a wide tidal range. This is important
because it limits the erosion, makes deposition of
sediments possible and causes a well-marked zonation.
 Open Water communities

• The open water community is the plankton,

fishes, and other organisms
• The plankton are mostly marine species.
• Estuaries are nurseries, where many species of
commercially important fishes and shellfish take
advantage of the abundant food and grow into
adults.
• Very few fishes spend their entire lives in
estuaries.
3. Subtidal Communities

• The subtidal zone is the part of the

continental shelf that is never exposed
at low tide.
• It is also called the sublittoral zone.
• The two types of subtidal communities
1. soft-bottom and
2. rocky (or hard-bottom)
communities.
 Seagrass beds/ Seagrass meadows

• The muddy bottoms of estuaries

below low-tide level may be
covered by beds, or meadows,
of grass-like flowering plants
known as sea grasses.

• The roots of sea grasses help to

stabilize the sediment, and the
beds provide shelter for many
organisms. Like mangrove
forests, sea grass beds are not
limited to estuaries.
 Oyster reefs.
In temperate waters, oysters
may form extensive beds or
reefs on the muddy bottoms of
estuaries.
The oysters build up over time,
growing on the dead shells of
their predecessors, until they
form a reef.
Many other organisms inhabit
oyster reefs.
 Kelp forest communities
• Kelp are a group of large brown
seaweeds that live in relatively
cold water and are restricted
to temperate and subpolar
regions.
• When they occur in dense
numbers and their fronds float
flat at the surface in a thick
mat, the result is a kelp forest.
 Coral Reefs

• Coral Reefs are

limestone ridges built by
tiny coral animals called
coral polyps. Coral
polyps secrete skeletons
of limestone (calcium
carbonate), which slowly
accumulate and form
coral reefs.
 Seaweed communities:
• Seaweeds of all types, shapes,
and colors are the most
conspicuous inhabitants of rocky
bottom communities in the
subtidal.
• Many are encrusting or have a
holdfast to anchor them in place.
• The holdfast is a root-like
structure in seaweeds that
anchors the body of the seaweed
(the thallus) to the substrate.
 Vertical Zones:
Estuaries can also be divided into tidal zones (supratidal,
intertidal and subtidal zone)

1. Suprtidal zone: Also called the Upper Littoral, the

Supralittoral Fringe, splash zone, spray zone, supratidal
zone
2. Intertidal Zone – The intertidal zone is the area that is
exposed to the air at low tide and submerged at high
tide.
3. Subtidal Zone
 Intertidal Zone

High Tide Zone: Also

called the Upper Mid-
littoral Zone and the high
intertidal zone

Middle Tide Zone: Also

called the Lower Mid-
littoral Zone

Low Tide Zone: Also

called the Lower
Littoral Zone.
 Estuarine Circulation

1. Gravitational circulation (due to fresh water runoff)

Circulation induced by density and elevation differences
between fresh water runoff and salt water
2. Tidal circulation: is responsible for the regular rise and fall of
the tide and the more complex oscillatory water currents.
3. Wind-driven circulation:
 Circulation Modes
Traditionally most estuaries were thought to have a two-layered
circulation with net outflow in the surface layer and net inflow in
the bottom layer. Elliott (1976) defined six circulation modes.

1. Classical circulation
2. Reverse circulation
3. Three-layered circulation
4. Reverse three-layered
circulation
5. Discharge circulation
6. Storage circulation
 Osmoconformers
Maintain osmotic balance simply by allowing their body fluids to
match the salinity of the surrounding water.

Examples include many molluscs and polychaete worms.

 Osmoregulators
They keep the salt concentration of their body fluids more or less
constant regardless of the water’s salinity.

If the solutes in the organism's body fluids are kept at a concentration

higher than that of the external medium (e.g., lake water), this
organism's body fluids are said to be hyperosmotic to the external
medium and the organism is a hyperosmotic osmoregulator

If the solutes of the organism's body fluids are kept at a

concentration lower than that of the external medium (
seawater for example) is a hypoosmotic osmoregulator
The solutes of the organism's body fluids are the same
concentration as that of the external medium, the organism is
isoosmotic