Montezuma Vs. Joice Island Slough

7 Pages 1832 Words

Joice Island Slough VS Montezuma Slough
Introduction
Marshes or Estuarine are found between open salt water of the bays and the uplands of cost. Marshes are usually protected from waves by natural sources, which helps create breeding place for species absolutely necessary for the prosperity of our food chain. Marshes can also be found by fresh water that drains into bay. Different PH levels and subtle and settled water waves make marshes different from lakes, rivers, and sea. Marsh water is usually basic due to the calcium carbonate levels. Suisun Marsh is one of the largest brackish water marshes on the west cost. The Marsh supports sensitive plant species such as the Suisun thistle, which is a Marsh endemic and found nowhere else in the world.
Dissolved oxygen, salinity levels, plant community composition, the size of marsh, trophic gradient, all effect the biological makeup of marshes. In the Journal of Plankton Research, study conducted by Ward Appeltan in estuaries showed that “ …factors such as salinity, temperature and oxygen in addition to biotic factors such as predation, competition, and food supply determines the population size of a marsh.” (Ward Appeltans, 2003). Moreover an experiment conducted, over the span of five years that sought the relationship between macrophytes , phytoplankton, and nutrient concentration, indicated that estuarine with high level of submerged macrophytes inhibit high concentrations of phytoplankton and nutrient concentration (Kyle D Zimmer, 2003). Meanwhile, another Journal of Plankton Research conducted an experiment that showed that within an estuarine, the presence of zooplankton concentration depends upon the depth of the water of an estuary (Gyung Soo Park, 2000). Sometimes the invertebrate species like small fish move to different places, as supported by Paterson experiment, because “… shallow estuarine may provide refugia for fishes vulnerable to predation.”( Paterson &Whit...