- Roadmap to Resouces - Tutorial PDF - Subject Review - Podcast
- Estuaries - What is an Estuary? - Economy and Environment -
Ecosystem Services - Water Circulation - Estuarine Habitats -
Adaptations to Life in the Estuary - Monitoring Estuaries - The
Future Why Are Estuaries Important? Disturbances to Estuaries
Why Are Estuaries Important? Ecosystem Services In addition to
providing economic, cultural and ecological benefits to
communities, estuaries deliver invaluable ecosystem services.
Ecosystem services are fundamental life-support processes upon
which all organisms depend (Daily et al., 1997). 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. As
water flows through a salt marsh, marsh grasses and peat (a
spongy matrix of live roots, decomposing organic material, and
soil) filter pollutants such as herbicides, pesticides, and
heavy metals out of the water, as