ESTUARY ECOSYSTEM

• Estuaries are located where river meets the sea. Estuaries are water bodies where the flow of freshwater from river mixes with salt water transported, by tide, from the ocean. Estuaries are the most productive water bodies in the world. They are located at the lower end of a river and are subject to tidal fluctuations.
• Estuaries are either once or twice, daily washed by the seawater.

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• An Estuary is a semi enclosed coastal body of water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it.
• It has a free connection with open sea.
• The complete salinity range from 0-35 ppt is seen from the head (river end) to the mouth (sea end) of an estuary.
• An estuary has very little wave action, so it provides a calm refuge from the open sea. It provides the shelter for some of the animals.
• It is the most productive region as it receives the high amount of nutrients from fresh and marine water.
• Estuaries are most heavily populated areas throughout the world, with about 60% of the world’s population living along estuaries and the coast.

Source: Environment by Shankar IAS