Salt marshes are important areas of diversity, supporting the lives of many different organisms. They are the nursery grounds of commercial species, such as shrimp, clams, blue crabs, oysters, and many kinds of fish. They are important recreational areas for fishing. They protect inland areas from the effects of storm waves. And they support the lives of salt marsh creatures like ospreys, egrets, terrapins, and other animals and plants that live nowhere else on earth. Yet salt marshes are threatened in many ways.
Photo
Pesticides, manure, and fertilizers run off farm fields and enter the food chain of the marsh. Chemicals from factories are also added to the rivers and end up downstream in the salt marsh, where they...