Ecology
Estuaries are transition zones between the world's freshwater and marine ecosystems where fresh water mixes with salt water.
Long Island's South Shore estuary is a dynamic ecosystem, formed during the past 5,000 years by the interaction of a rising sea level with the glacially-deposited material that makes up Long Island. In this estuarine environment, tidal marshes, mud and sand flats, underwater plant beds and broad shallows support microscopic plants and animals which, in turn, support the finfish, shellfish, waterfowl and other wildlife that typify the South Shore estuary.
The entire natural system, including the New York barrier islands and the 173 square miles (450 km2) of shallow bays behind them, is still changing and evolving in response to wave action, tides, coastal storms, and the continuing rise of sea level.
Read more about this topic: South Shore Estuary
Famous quotes containing the word ecology:
“... the fundamental principles of ecology govern our lives wherever we live, and ... we must wake up to this fact or be lost.”
—Karin Sheldon (b. c. 1945)