Who inhabits Salt Marshes?

Some common examples of salt marsh characters are: 

Flora 

* Spartina alterniflora 

* Phragmites (invasive) 

* Groundsel tree

* Salt marsh hay 

* Marsh elder 

* Smooth cordgrass 

* Mudflat 

* Eelgrass 

Fauna 

* Great Blue Heron 

* Osprey 

* American black duck 

* Salt marsh sparrow 

* Willet 

* Common Tern

* Black crowned night Heron 

* Meadow vole 

* Muskrat 

* Diamondback Terrapin 

* Mudsnail 

* Periwinkle snail 

* Quahog 

* Mummichog 

* Marsh fiddler crab 

* Three-spined stickleback

* Tautog

* Sheepshead minnow 

* Striped killifish 

* Lined seahorse 

* Blue Crab 

* Northern pike fish 

* Horseshoe crab 

* Ribbed muscle 

* Asian shore crab (invasive) 

Threats to Salt Marshes: 

• Sea level rise due to climate change. As sea levels rise- marshes cannot keep up with higher tides and higher storm surges. This has been increasing the amount of edge erosion along the marshes. 
  
• Human development/interaction: in recent history marshes were undesirable as a natural environment and therefore were developed on. Ex: JFK airport was built on salt marsh land. 
  

Salt Marsh Conservation: 

• TMA Conservation department takes part in salt marsh conservation/ restoration. 
  
• Salt marsh grass planting 
  
• Removal of invasive species (phragmites) 
  
• Studying of how marsh grasses will change with a changing climate 
  

* Video of Dr. Crosby 

Salt marsh in the Arts

• Artists of all kinds turn to salt marshes as their muse. The beauty of salt marshes has compelled painters, writers, weavers, and sculptors for centuries. 
  
• Explore this collection of creative works dating from the 1800s to today on the art wall in Life Among the Grasses exhibit. Historically underrepresented artists are featured as well.
  

Marshing Through Time 

• Kiosks located in the exhibit space with 4 main focuses. 
  
• Ecology and geology 
  
• Indigenous peoples   
• Uses and perceptions of the marsh.  
• Crossroads (historically underrepresented stories of the marsh) 
• Each section goes into detail and contains games, information, snd some video or audio elements.  
  
• Encourage guests to go through this timeline at one of the 4 available kiosks in the exhibit space. 
  

Helpful links: 

https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/saltmarsh.html

https://www.nps.gov/subjects/oceans/salt-marshes.htm

https://www.epa.gov/sciencematters/marshing-forward-despite-uncertainty-how-epa-researchers-are-reframing-approaches 

Life Among the Grasses Species: 

Diamondback Terrapin 

Region: coastal salt marshes along the US Atlantic Coast and Gulf Coast (Cape Cod, Mass – Corpus Christi, TX) 

Lifespan: 25-40 years 

Size:

* Males: 5.5 in

* Females: 11 in (wider jaw, larger head, and shorter tail than males) 

Diet: carnivorous- snails, crabs, bivalves, small fish, insects, worms, and carrion 

Adaptations:

* Get their name from unique dooming shaped ridges and grooves on the scutes of their carapace.

* Carapace color ranges from black to lighter gray with brown mixed in- this enables them to blend into their muddy environment.

* Can live in brackish waters. They rely on these environments for survival- they have glands to remove excess salt from their bodies. 

* Hide in marsh mud all winter long waiting for warmer temperatures.

* Strong jaws used for crushing prey of hard-shelled animals. 

* Large, webbed feet assist them in strong swimming in frequent tidal changes. 

Reproduction:

* Mating is early spring followed by nesting in summer.

* Females lay multiple clutches per year (2-3) each containing anywhere from 4-23 eggs. Survival rate is very low due to predation and floods. 

Predators: nesting females are hunted by raccoon. Hatchlings are hunted by crabs, crows, gulls, herons, rats, muskrats, foxes, raccoons, skunks and mink. 

Conservation: Vulnerable status, in CT they are listed as special species status. Populations steeply declined due to overhunting in 20th century. Current threats are due to rapid loss of salt marsh habitat and nesting beaches and road mortality. 

Marsh Fiddler Crab 

Region: salt marshes along east coast, gulf coast, into South America 

Lifespan: 1.5 years 

Size: 1.5 inches 

Diet: dead plant/ animal matter 

Adaptations:

·      Males have one distinct large claw they use for fighting and digging, females have 2 small claws 

·      Fiddler crabs hide in their air tight burrows during high tide, and feed during low tide 

Reproduction:

·      Males use large claw to attract female 

·      Mate in burrow 

·      Lay eggs into water 2 weeks later 

Predators: birds (herons, egrets, gulls, ext.), mammals (including racoons), terrapins 

Striped Seahorse

Region: western Atlantic from Nova Scotia to Uruguay 

Lifespan: 1-4 years

Size: up to 6 inches 

Diet: larval shrimp, amphipods, copepods, worms and small snails.

Adaptations:

·      Brownish yellow color with light stripes to camouflage 

·      Extremely boney body- unappealing to predators

·      Tails are prehensile, use this to grab eelgrass rather than flowing with the tide. 

Reproduction:

·      Intense courtship, hold tails and lips together

·      Female deposits eggs into male pouch, he fertilizes and incubates 

·      Monogamous

Predators: limited due to adaptations

Conservation: IUCN Vulnerable due to habitat loss

Common Periwinkle

Region: Brought from Western Europe, currently inhabit eastern North America as the most common marine snail on the shoreline.  

Lifespan: 3-5 years

Size: 10-12 mm

Diet: Algae, sometimes newly formed barnacles 

Adaptations:

·      Can reach up to 200-800 individuals in a group

·      Have gills, adapted to closed themselves off into their shell with a small amount of water to continue breathing during the low tide. 

·      To avoid drying out they excrete a sticky mucus that hardens to attach themselves to a moist rock 

·       Their foot is divided into a right and a left half, which the snail moves alternately in order to propel itself forward over the surface in search of food. 

·       Their stalked tentacles are sensory organs that are used to see and taste, directing the snail to the best patches of algae for grazing. 

Reproduction: Sexual reproduction, females lay eggs in capsules (2-9 eggs) which hatch after only a few days. 

Predators: Whelks, crabs, sea stars, sea birds

Smooth Cordgrass 

Region:  Along the east coast from Canada to the Gulf of Mexico.  Also found on the west coast from Washington to California.

Lifespan: due to asexual nature it is hard to pinpoint a true lifespan

Size: Can grow 3-8 ft 

Adaptations:

·      Can excrete “spit out” excess salt 

·      Long root systems that aid in trapping sediment slowing erosion

·      Tiny white flowers when in bloom (July-Sept)

·      Form dense colonies 

·     Smooth cordgrass acts as a pollution filter and helps buffer the shoreline against flooding and erosion

Reproduction:  reproduces asexually. Its long, underground rhizomes (underground portions of a plant’s stem) spread and form new stems. Flowers mature into foot-long seed spikes in autumn.

Predators: West Indian Manatee, snow geese, muskrats 

Click on the species for more information!  

Tautog 

Cunner 

Feather blenny 

Oyster 

Oyster toadfish 

Quahog 

Mummichog 

Atlantic Silverside 

Striped Killifish 

Spotfin Killifish 

Hogchoker 

Skilletfish 

Ribbed muscle 

Sheepshead Minnow

Touching Cord Grass:

• No official AZA regulations on guests touching grasses. 
  
• Please monitor guests as they touch the cord grasses, ensure they are gently touching and not pulling on the cordgrass. 
  
• Please demonstrate caution as the tops of cord grass can be sharp to the touch. If guests are respectfully touching the grass it is unlikely they will be cut.