Editing Salt marsh (section)

==Basic information ==
[[File:HeathcoteRiverEstuarySaltmarsh.jpg|thumb|An [[Estuary|estuarine]] salt marsh along the [[Ōpāwaho / Heathcote River]], [[Christchurch]], New Zealand]]
[[File:Salt marsh.jpg|right|thumb|Salt marsh on [[Sapelo Island, Georgia|Sapelo Island, Georgia, US]] ]]

Salt marshes occur on low-energy [[shore]]lines in [[Temperateness|temperate]] and [[Polar region|high-latitudes]]<ref name="allen">Allen, JRL, Pye, K (1992). Saltmarshes: [[morphodynamics]], conservation, and engineering significance. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge, UK.</ref> which can be stable, emerging, or submerging depending if the [[sedimentation]] is greater, equal to, or lower than relative [[sea level rise]] ([[subsidence]] rate plus sea level change), respectively. Commonly these shorelines consist of mud or sand flats (known also as [[tidal flats]] or abbreviated to [[mudflat]]s) which are nourished with [[sediment]] from inflowing rivers and streams.<ref name="chapman">Chapman, V. J. (1974). Salt marshes and salt deserts of the world. Phyllis Claire Chapman, Germany.</ref> These typically include sheltered environments such as embankments, [[Estuary|estuaries]] and the leeward side of [[barrier island]]s and [[spit (landform)|spits]]. In the [[tropics]] and [[subtropics|sub-tropics]] they are replaced by [[mangrove]]s; an area that differs from a salt marsh in that instead of [[herbaceous plant]]s, they are dominated by salt-tolerant trees.<ref name="adam"/>

Most salt marshes have a low [[topography]] with low elevations but a vast wide area, making them hugely popular for human populations.<ref name="bromberg">{{Cite journal |last=Gedan |first=K. Bromberg |last2=Silliman |first2=B.R. |last3=Bertness |first3=M.D. |date=2009-01-01 |title=Centuries of Human-Driven Change in Salt Marsh Ecosystems |url=https://www.annualreviews.org/content/journals/10.1146/annurev.marine.010908.163930 |journal=Annual Review of Marine Science |language=en |volume=1 |issue=1 |pages=117–141 |doi=10.1146/annurev.marine.010908.163930 |issn=1941-1405}}</ref>
Salt marshes are located among different landforms based on their physical and geomorphological settings. Such marsh landforms include [[river delta|deltaic]] marshes, estuarine, back-barrier, open coast, embayments and [[ria|drowned-valley]] marshes. Deltaic marshes are associated with large [[river]]s where many occur in Southern Europe such as the [[Camargue]], France in the [[Rhône]] delta or the [[Ebro]] delta in Spain. They are also extensive within the rivers of the [[Mississippi River Delta]] in the [[United States]].<ref name="woodroffe"/> In New Zealand, most salt marshes occur at the head of estuaries in areas where there is little wave action and high sedimentation.<ref name="te ara">''Te Ara – The Encyclopedia of New Zealand'' (2005–2010). [http://www.teara.govt.nz/en/estuaries/3 "Plants of the Estuary"]. Retrieved 15 March 2010</ref> Such marshes are located in Awhitu Regional Park in [[Auckland]], the [[Manawatū Estuary]], and the [[Avon Heathcote Estuary|Avon Heathcote Estuary / Ihutai]] in [[Christchurch]]. Back-barrier marshes are sensitive to the reshaping of barriers in the landward side of which they have been formed.<ref name="woodroffe"/> They are common along much of the eastern coast of the United States and the [[Frisian Islands]]. Large, shallow coastal embayments can hold salt marshes with examples including [[Morecambe Bay]] and [[Portsmouth]] in [[United Kingdom|Britain]] and the [[Bay of Fundy]] in North America.<ref name="woodroffe"/>

Salt marshes are sometimes included in lagoons, and the difference is not very marked; the [[Venetian Lagoon]] in [[Italy]], for example, is made up of these sorts of animals and or living organisms belonging to this ecosystem. They have a big impact on the biodiversity of the area. Salt marsh ecology involves complex food webs which include primary producers (vascular plants, macroalgae, diatoms, epiphytes, and phytoplankton), primary consumers (zooplankton, macrozoa, molluscs, insects), and secondary consumers.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Vernberg |first=F. John |date=1993-12-01 |title=Salt-marsh processes: A Review |url=https://academic.oup.com/etc/article/12/12/2167/7861870 |journal=Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry |language=en |volume=12 |issue=12 |pages=2167–2195 |doi=10.1002/etc.5620121203 |issn=0730-7268|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

The low physical energy and high grasses provide a refuge for animals. Many marine fish use salt marshes as nursery grounds for their young before they move to open waters. Birds may raise their young among the high grasses, because the marsh provides both sanctuary from predators and abundant food sources which include fish trapped in pools, insects, shellfish, and worms.<ref name="Scott, D. B. 2014">Scott, D. B., J. Frail-Gauthier, and P. J. Mudie. 2014. ''Coastal wetlands of the world: geology, ecology, distribution and applications''. Cambridge University Press, New York</ref>