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Tidal Freshwater Habitat

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  • First Online:
Encyclopedia of Estuaries

Part of the book series: Encyclopedia of Earth Sciences Series ((EESS))

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Synonyms

Tidal freshwater ecosystems; Tidal freshwater wetlands

Definition

Tidal freshwater habitat consists of wetland (See Wetlands ) ecosystems, which are located at the far upstream end of estuaries and downstream from nontidal freshwater ecosystems. The salinity of tidal freshwater habitat is generally less than 0.5 parts per thousand (ppt). A variety of animal species, including fish, amphibians, reptiles, and particularly birds, live in tidal freshwater habitat permanently or for at least part of the year.

Description

Tidal freshwater habitat is a transitional habitat type found along the ecological continuum between tidal saline wetlands and nontidal ecosystems in both tropical and temperate coastal regions. Such habitat occupies the upstream reaches of estuaries and large coastal wetland complexes. For example, in the temperate zone, tidal freshwater habitat can be found upstream from salt marshes in estuaries along the West, Southeast, and Gulf coasts of the United States...

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Correspondence to Judith Z. Drexler .

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© 2016 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht

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Drexler, J.Z. (2016). Tidal Freshwater Habitat. In: Kennish, M.J. (eds) Encyclopedia of Estuaries. Encyclopedia of Earth Sciences Series. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-8801-4_368

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