Water-related ecosystems

Water-related ecosystems include “wetlands, swamps, bogs, peat, paddies, rivers, streams, canals, lakes, reservoirs, groundwater aquifers, estuaries, mangroves, and even the marine environment. Thus, the following definition is developed for this entry: ‘a water-related ecosystem is a dynamic complex of plant, animal, and microorganism communities and the non-living environment dominated by the presence of flowing (lotic) or still (lentic) water, interacting as a functional unit.’” (Dickens and McCartney, 2021)

Sources

Dickens, Chris, and Matthew McCartney. 2021. “Water-Related Ecosystems.” Online. In Clean Water and Sanitation. Springer Nature. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-70061-8_100-1.

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Overview

Estuaries are water bodies where freshwater from rivers and streams meets with seawater. Coastal and estuarine waters are important to humans as they are highly productive habitats supporting a variety of fish and wildlife. These environments also provide resources, economic benefits, and ecosystem services. That being said, the water quality of these coastal and estuarine areas is of great importance. This is heavily influenced by the flow of nutrients and sediment from land-based sources.

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