Selection 10

Life and Death of the Salt Marsh

John Teal and Mildred Teal

This article discusses the salt marshes that are found along the eastern coast of North America. These salt marshes can contain grass, salt water, and different kinds of biological organisms. Healthy salt marshes can have many different smells, most pleasant, but sick marshes smell of hydrogen sulfide. The north marsh, the Spartina patens, is covered with dense grass and can be harder if it has been harvested or spongy if it hasn't. The marshes in the south are covered only by Spartina alterniflora, with more separation between plants and the ground is stiff. As you get closer to the ocean and rivers you notice a change in the composition of the ground and depending on whether the tide is high or low the amount of water present. Dangers to salt marshes are from human activities and can be caused by pollution, dredging, filling, and building. These marshes are valuable ecosystems and our increase in population pressure is increasing their destruction. Some destruction is inevitable, such as creating the infrastructure around the marshes in order to preserve and enjoy them. We need to plan on the international level for the entire marsh system. We must preserve marshes by safeguarding against increased pressure due to population and industry blackmail. These salt marshes are an important natural resource that must be protected and preserved in its entirety.