By: Dr. Roberta Bondar
Along coastlines, where salty oceans meet land, there are wetlands teeming with life. Coastal wetlands include salt and freshwater marshes, and hardwood and mangrove swamps. These ecosystems have many important functions, including flood protection, erosion control, and even improved water quality through the filtration of sediments and removal of harmful toxins. Furthermore, plants that grow in wetlands are fast-growing and slow to decompose, enabling them to store large amounts of carbon and reduce atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations. A large number of birds, including the endangered Whooping Crane (Grus americana), depend on coastal wetlands for survival. Here, birds can find food, shelter, nesting sites, and safe spaces to rest during long-distance seasonal migrations or to overwinter.
Video
Watch this video to learn about the Whooping Cranes at the Aransas National Wildlife Refuge. Credit: The Roberta Bondar Foundation
Did you know?
Natural processes that occur in aquatic habitats, such as wave action, wind gusts and storm activity, can greatly affect coastal wetlands. The force of a wave can damage the shore and the underwater environment, which in turn affects the survival of plants, animals and microbes. High tides make waves even more damaging. Waves erode new openings in the shoreline and the vegetation, causing some species to flow out of wetlands with the water current, thus reducing potential food sources for the species that are left behind (including the Whooping Crane). Human activities, such as commercial shipping and recreational boating, also play a role in the health of coastal ecosystems, since increased human activity is often associated with a decline in ecosystem health and stability.
An out-of-this-world view!
As hurricanes cross warm waters, they accumulate moisture and can become very large, dangerous storms capable of reshaping coastlines. Photographs from the International Space Station show us what these storms look like, while weather satellites can track changes in wind speed and cloud height as storms develop from tropical depressions into full-blown hurricanes. This data can then be reviewed so we can better prepare ourselves for future storms and the damaging effects of extreme weather.
Fun fact!
The preferred food of Whooping Cranes that overwinter in the coastal wetlands of Texas in the Gulf of Mexico is the blue crab (Callinectes sapidus). The cranes use their strong beaks to pluck these delicacies from the muddy bottoms of their wetland habitats.