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Temperate Deciduous Forest Animal Printouts

Temperate deciduous forests are forests in cool, rainy areas; they have trees that lose their leaves in Fall and regrow them in Spring. Temperate deciduous forests are found in the middle latitudes around the globe and have four distinct seasons: Spring, Summer, Fall, and Winter. In the Northern Hemisphere, these forests are found in North America, Europe, and Asia. In the Southern Hemisphere, there are smaller areas of these forests, in South America, Africa, and Australia. The growing season in these forests is about 6 months long.

Temperature and Precipitation: The average temperature in temperate deciduous forests is roughly 75°F (24°C) but gets as high as 86°F (30°C), depending on the altitude of the forest. Forests higher in the mountains are colder. Deciduous forests receive from 2 to 5 feet (0.5-1.5 m) of precipitation (both rain and snow) each year. Humidity in these forests is high, from 60% to 80%.

Fall Colors: In the Fall, the number of hours of daylight decreases. This causes some plants and trees (called deciduous) to stop producing chlorophyll (a green pigment that converts sunlight into chemical energy) and eventually lose their leaves. During this time, these leaves turn brilliant colors, ranging from red to orange to yellow to brown.

Soil: The soil in the deciduous forests is quite fertile, since it is often enriched with falling leaves, twigs, logs, and dead organisms.

Layers of the Temperate Deciduous Forest: There are five layers (also called zones or strata) in the temperate deciduous forest. These include the:

Tree stratum, the tallest layer, 60 -100 feet high, with large oak, maple, beech, chestnut, hickory, elm, basswood, linden, walnut, or sweet gum trees.

Small tree or sapling layer - short tree species and young trees.

Shrub layer - shrubs like rhododendrons, azaleas, mountain laurels, and huckleberries.

Herb layer - short plants.

Ground layer - lichens, clubmosses, and true mosses.

Some Animals Found in Temperate Deciduous Forests:

Brown Bear
The Brown Bear is a large bear with a muscular hump on its shoulders.

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taiga animal coloring pages taigas cold forest boreal forest cold climate forest northern coniferous forest

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Temperate Deciduous Forest Animal Printouts - EnchantedLearning.com

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Advertisement. EnchantedLearning.com is a user-supported site. As a bonus, site members have access to a banner-ad-free version of the site, with print-friendly pages. Click here to learn more. (Already a member? Click here.) Temperate Deciduous Forest Animal Printouts Temperate deciduous forests are forests in cool, rainy areas; they have trees that lose their leaves in Fall and regrow them in Spring.

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Kids learn about the tundra grasslands biome. This cold and dry ecosystem is located far to the north.

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Science for Kids: Tropical Rainforest Biome

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Kids learn about the tropical rainforest biome. This diverse ecosystem produces much of the Earth's biodiversity.

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Ocean Animal Printouts

Oceans cover almost 3/4 of the Earth's surface and contain roughly 97% of the Earth's water supply. Life on Earth originated in the salty seas, and contines to be home to an incredibly diverse web of life.

The Earth's oceans are all connected to one another. There are five oceans: the Pacific, Atlantic, Indian, Arctic, and Southern. There are also many seas (smaller branches of an ocean); seas are partly enclosed by land. The largest seas are the South China Sea, the Caribbean Sea, and the Mediterranean Sea.

To find out why the oceans are salty and what causes waves and tides, click here.

Click on an animal below to go to a printout:

Make an ocean animals word wheel using this 2-page print-out; it consists of a base page together with a wheel that spins around. When you spin the wheel, eight ocean animals appear one at a time: spider, crab, sea anemone, seahorse, whale, squid, starfish, sponge, octopus, shark, jellyfish, clam, lobster, crab, and sea anemone. The student then writes down the word wheel ocean animals -- in alphabetical order.

Ocean Animals,
A Rainbow Under the Sea
A Printable Book
A short, printable book about colorful ocean animals for early readers. The book has pages for the student to cut out, animal sentences to read and copy (like, "The lobster is red."), activities to do (like labeling the pictures, connect the dots, and matching), and pictures to color. The pages are: lobster, crab, clown fish, starfish, octopus, tuna, sea urchin, seal, orca, beluga whale, and shark.

Circle the starting sounds of ocean animal names, and color the picture of the word. The words are fish, octopus, whale, shark, dolphin, seal, starfish, jellyfish, lobster, and crab. Or go to the answers.

See if you can think of and write down names of things you find under the sea for each letter of the alphabet. Or go to a sample answer page.

Bony Fish

Bony Fish (Class Osteichthyes) are fish that have a skeleton made of bones.

A bottlenose dolphin is a small, toothed whale. Go to a dolphin quiz or go to the answers.

A blunt-nosed, dangerous, gray shark that can also live in fresh water rivers and lakes.

Octopuses have eight legs and live on the sea floor. Go to a simple version (just the image).

Click here for an Ocean Theme page

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Ocean Animal Printouts - EnchantedLearning.com

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Advertisement. EnchantedLearning.com is a user-supported site. As a bonus, site members have access to a banner-ad-free version of the site, with print-friendly pages. Click here to learn more. (Already a member? Click here.) Ocean Animal Printouts Oceans cover almost 3/4 of the Earth's surface and contain roughly 97% of the Earth's water supply.

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Kids learn about the desert biome. The dryest areas on Earth still have plant and animal life.

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Science for Kids: Temperate Forest Biome

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Kids learn about the temperate forest biome. Four distinct seasons and lots of trees.

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Deserts cover about one fifth (20 percent) of the earth's land area. The desert is a harsh environment with very little rainfall and extreme temperatures; a desert is defined as a region that gets less than ten inches of precipitation per year. Because of these dry conditions, there is limited plant and animal life in deserts. Desert plants (like cacti) are not abundant; neither is animal life.

Some deserts get both very hot (during the day) and very cold (during the night, when temperatures can drop well below freezing). Some deserts, however, are always cold (for example, the Gobi Desert in Asia, and the desert on the continent of Antarctica).

Different animals live in the different types of deserts. Animals that live in the desert have adaptations to cope with the lack of water, the extreme temperatures, and the shortage of food. To avoid daytime heat, many desert animals are nocturnal; they burrow beneath the surface or hide in the shade during the day, emerging at night to eat. Many desert animals do not have to drink at all; they get all the water they need from their food. Most desert animals are small.

Desert Extremes: The biggest desert is northern Africa's Sahara Desert; it covers roughly 3,500,000 square miles (9,065,000 square kilometers). The driest deserts are the Atacama desert of northern Chile, South America, and the Lut Desert in eastern Iran; these extreme deserts get less than half an inch (about 1 centimeter) of precipitation each year - and it is from condensed fog, and not from rain.

Type of Desert

Name of Deserts

Location

Animals

Hot Desert

Great Sandy Desert, Great Victoria, Simpson, Gibson, Tanami

Australia

bilby, dingo, kangaroo, marsupial mole, quokka, rabbit-eared bandicoot, etc.

Hot Desert

Arabian Desert

Arabian Peninsula

dromedary, dung beetle, camel, civet, Egyptian vulture, flamingo, fox, gazelle, hare, hedgehog, Arabian horse, hyena, ibex, jackal, jerboa, lesser bustard, lizard, locust, oryx, peregrine falcon, porcupine, sand cobra, scorpion, skink, veiled chameleon, viper, etc.

Hot Desert

Chihuahuan

Mexico/S.W. USA

big free-tailed bat, coyote, diamondback rattlesnake, kangaroo rat, roadrunner, vampire bat, etc.

Hot Desert

Kalahari

S.W. Africa

gazelle, gerbil, ground squirrel, hyena, jackal, meerkat, springbok, etc.

Hot Desert

Mojave

S.W. USA

bighorn sheep, coyote, desert tortoise, jack rabbit, pupfish, sidewinder, etc.

Hot Desert

Sahara

North Africa

addax antelope, barn owls, cape hare, dama deer, desert hedgehog, dorcas gazelle, fan-tailed raven, Fennec fox, gerbil, horned viper, jackal, jerboa, mouse, Nubian bustard, ostrich, sand fox, shrew, slender mongoose, spiny-tailed lizard, spotted hyena, etc.

Hot Desert

Sonoran

S.W. USA, Mexico

barn owl, big free-tailed bat, black widow spider, bobcat, chuckwallas, coati, collared peccary, desert iguana, desert tortoise, dragonfly, elf owl, gila monster, kangaroo rat, pack rat, Mexican gray wolf, mule deer, pupfish, rattlesnake, red-tailed hawk, roadrunner, scorpion, sidewinder, tarantula, turkey vulture, wild burros, etc.

Cold and Hot Desert

Gobi

China, Mongolia

Bactrian camel, beetles, blue hill pigeon, desert wheatear, gazelle, gecko, Mongolian gerbil, jerboa, Gobi bear, jerboa, lizards, onager, Pallas cat, Pallas sandgrouse, Przewalski horse, short-toed larks, snow leopard, wild mountain sheep, wolf, etc.

Cold and Hot Desert

Iranian

Iran, Afghanistan, and Pakistan

monitor lizard, onager, oryx, scorpion, etc.

Cold and Hot Desert

Namib

S. W. Africa

fringe-toed lizard, golden mole, jackal, sidewinder, viper, web-footed gecko, etc.

Cold Desert

Patagonian

Argentina, South America

guanaco, lesser rhea, mara, pygmy armadillo, tuco-tuco, Patagonian weasel, foxes, puma, hawks, eagles, etc.

Cold Desert

Turkestan

Middle East

Asian tortoise, gazelle, gerbil, saiga antelope, etc.

Desert activities to print:

Label the major deserts of the world.
Answers

A short, printable worksheet quiz about deserts. The short-answer worksheet asks 14 general questions about deserts, for example, "A desert gets less than ten inches of ______ per year." Or

Desert Quiz
A Worksheet to Print go to the answers.

Some desert animals from around the world:

A large constricting snake from South and Central America.

California Quail
The California Quail (also known as the Valley Quail) is a plump bird with a forward-facing head plume.

Valley Quail
The Valley Quail (also known as the California Quail) is a plump bird with a forward-facing head plume.

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Desert Animal Printouts - EnchantedLearning.com

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Deserts cover about one fifth (20 percent) of the earth's land area. The desert is a harsh environment with very little rainfall and extreme temperatures; a desert is defined as a region that gets less than ten inches of precipitation per year. Because of these dry conditions, there is limited plant and animal life in deserts.

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Tundra Animal Printouts

The tundra is a cold, treeless area; it is the coldest biome. The tundra is characterized by very low temperatures, very little precipitation (rain or snow), a short growing season, few nutrients, and low biological diversity. The word tundra comes from the Finnish word tunturia, which means "treeless plain."

There are two types of tundras, Arctic tundras and alpine tundras.

Arctic tundras are frozen, windy, desert-like plains in the Arctic that are dotted with bogs and ponds. Permafrost (a layer of frozen subsoil) covers the ground, so there is very little drainage of water. The short growing season lasts for only 50 to 60 days. Arctic tundras are located in the far north of Greenland, Alaska, Canada, Europe, and Russia. Some animals of the Arctic tundra include:

Mammals - Arctic foxes, Arctic hares, caribou, ermine, lemmings, musk oxen, polar bears, porcupines, Arctic shrews, squirrels, voles, weasels, wolves

Birds - Arctic loons, snowy owls, falcons, ptarmigans, ravens, snow buntings, snow birds, snow geese, sandpipers, Arctic terns, tundra swans, many species of gulls

Fish - cod, flatfish, salmon, trout

Insects - Arctic bumblebees, blackflies, flies, grasshoppers, mosquitoes, and moths.

Alpine tundras are located high in mountains worldwide, above the tree line. The growing season is about 180 days, and nighttime temperatures are usually below freezing. The soil is well-drained (unlike the Arctic tundra). Some animals of the alpine tundra include:

Mammals - elk, marmots, mountain goats, pikas, sheep

Birds - grouse-like birds

Insects - beetles, butterflies, grasshoppers, and springtails.

Printable Activities:

A short, printable worksheet quiz about the tundra. The short-answer worksheet asks 15 general questions about tundras, for example, "Tundra comes from a Finnish word meaning "treeless ______." Select the answers from a word bank. Or

Tundra Quiz
A Worksheet to Print go to the answers.

Arctic Tern
A small bird that flies from the Arctic to the Antarctic and back again each year.

Snow Geese are migratory birds from North America.

Wolverine
The Wolverine is a large, ferocious weasel that lives in cold areas.

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Tundra Animal Printouts - EnchantedLearning.com

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Advertisement. EnchantedLearning.com is a user-supported site. As a bonus, site members have access to a banner-ad-free version of the site, with print-friendly pages. Click here to learn more. (Already a member? Click here.) Tundra Animal Printouts The tundra is a cold, treeless area; it is the coldest biome.

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Pond Life Animal Printouts

Ponds are teeming with both animal and plant life. Some animals live in the water (fish, crayfish, tadpoles, etc.), some live above the water (ducks, insects, etc.), and others live in the area surrounding the pond (raccoons, earthworms, etc.).
Printouts of Pond Life:

Capybara
The capybara is the biggest rodent in the world.

The Flamingo is a pink bird that eats with its head upside down. Go to a
Flamingo simple version (just the image).

Frog Life Cycle
A short printable shape book for early readers about the life cycle of a frog, with pages on the eggs, tadpole, tadpole with legs, froglet, and adult frog.

A goldfish is a type of carp that makes a nice pet. Go to a simple version (just the image).

The Mallard is a common wild duck that is the ancestor of most domestic ducks. Or go to a simple version of the duck printout (unlabeled diagram and no information).

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pond life animal printouts pond animals animal coloring pages

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Pond Life Animal Printouts - EnchantedLearning.com

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Pond Life Animal Printouts. Ponds are teeming with both animal and plant life. Some animals live in the water (fish, crayfish, etc.), some live above the water (ducks, insects, etc), and others live in the area surrounding the pond (raccoons, earthworms, etc.).

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Kids learn about the grasslands biome. Flat with few trees, these ecosystems feed much of the world.

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Kids learn about the freshwater aquatic biome. Ecosystems such as rivers, streams, ponds, lakes, wetlands, swamps, and bogs.

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Freshwater Marsh Animal Printouts

Freshwater marshes are a type of wetland that is teeming with both animal and plant life. Freshwater marshes are usually low-lying, open areas located near creeks, streams, rivers and lakes, where water flows into the marsh. Marshes are especially common at the mouths of rivers. The water level in freshwater marshes usually ranges from 1 to 6 feet deep (for most of the year); this water is rich in minerals and the water level varies seasonally. In the United States, the biggest freshwater marsh in the United States is the Florida Everglades (in southwestern Florida).

The waterlogged land in marshes supports many low-growing plants, like grasses and sedges; there are few trees in marshes. Some marsh plants are cattail, sawgrass, water lily, pickerel weed, spike rush, and bullrush.

Some animals live in the water (including fish, crabs, shrimp, tadpoles, insect larvae, etc.), some animals live at the surface of the water (like frogs, turtles, beavers, etc.), some animals live above the water (like birds, insects, frogs, etc.), and other animals live in the spongy areas of land surrounding the swamp (like raccoons, opossums, muskrats, deer, snails, earthworms, etc.), using the marsh for feeding, shelter, and/or nesting areas.

Printouts of Freshwater Marsh Animals:

deer
Deer are long-legged mammals that have hoofed, two-toed feet.

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freshwater marsh marshes life wetlands animal printouts swamps everglades animals animal coloring pages

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Freshwater Marsh Life Animal Printouts - EnchantedLearning.com

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Freshwater Marsh Life Animal Printouts. Freshwater marshes are teeming with both animal and plant life. Some animals live in the water (fish, crabs, etc.), some live above the water (birds, ducks, insects, etc.), and others live in the drier area surrounding the marsh (raccoons, earthworms, etc.).

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Swamp Animal Printouts

Swamps are warm, wet areas that are teeming with both animal and plant life; the water-logged land in swamps is often heavily forested, with trees like cypress and tupelo. Some animals live in the low-oxygen water (some fish, crayfish, shrimp, tadpoles, insect larvae, etc.), some animals live at the surface of the water (like alligators, caiman, nutria, etc.), some animals live above the water (like birds, insects, frogs, etc.), and other animals live in the spongy areas of land surrounding the swamp (like raccoons, deer, earthworms, etc.).

Printouts of Swamp Life:

Alligators are large, meat-eating reptiles. Go to a simple version (unlabeled and with no information).

Anaconda
The anaconda is the biggest snake in the world; it is from South American swamps.

Take a quiz on this constricting snake or
Anaconda Read-and-Answer Quiz go to the answers.

The bald eagle is a large bird of prey. It is the symbol of the USA and is found in many biomes.

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swamp life wetlands animal printouts swamps everglades animals animal coloring pages

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Swamp Life Animal Printouts. Swamps are teeming with both animal and plant life. Some animals live in the water (fish, crayfish, etc.), some live above the water (birds, ducks, insects, etc.), and others live in the drier area surrounding the swamp (raccoons, earthworms, etc.).

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Kids learn about the marine biome. The largest biome by far, the oceans cover most of the Earth's surface.

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Grasslands and Grasslands Animals

What is a Grassland? A grassland is a grassy, windy, partly-dry biome, a sea of grass. Almost one-fourth of the Earth's land area is grassland. In many areas, grasslands separate forests from deserts. Deep-rooted grasses dominate the flora in a grassland; there are very few trees and shrubs in a grassland, less than one tree per acre. There are many different words for grassland environments around the world, including savannas, pampas, campos, plains, steppes, prairies and veldts.

There are two types of grasslands, including:

Tropical grassland - hot all year with wet seasons that bring torrential rains. Located between the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn, sometimes called savannas.

Temperate grasslands - hot summers and cold winters. The evaporation rate is high, so little rain makes it into the rich soil. Located north of the Tropic of Cancer and south of the Tropic of Capricorn.

Animal Adaptations: The animals that live in grasslands have adapted to dry, windy conditions. There are grazing animals (that eat the grass), burrowing animals, and their predators; insects are abundant. A moderate of level species diversity exists on a grassland.

Where are Grasslands? Grasslands are located in North America's interior (called prairies), in southeastern South America (Argentina's pampas and the campos of Uruguay and Brazil), in Eurasia (the Eurasian steppe in Mongolia and parts of the former Soviet Union), in Africa (the semi-arid steppes of the Sahel of north-central Africa and the wetter grasslands, veldts, of East Africa and Madagascar), and in Australia and New Zealand (called rangelands).

Animals that Live in Grasslands: Many animals live in grasslands, from invertebrates (like grasshoppers and beetles) to large mammals (like antelopes and bison). The different grasslands of the world support different populations of animals.

Africa - aardvark, African wild cat, African elephant, many antelopes, baboon, buffalo, Cape hunting dog, cheetah, giraffe, gnu, hartebeest, hippopotamus, hyena, impala, jackals, kudu, leopard, lion, meerkat, mongoose, oryx, ostrich, red-billed oxpecker, rhinoceros, vulture, wildebeest, zebra, and many other animals.

Australia - dingo, emu, kangaroo, wallaby, wombat, and many other animals. Many non-native animals have been introduced, including the camel, donkey, goat, horse, rabbit, and sheep.

North America - American toad, badger, black-footed ferret, bison, black-tailed jack rabbit, bumble bee, burrowing owl, California condor, carrion beetle, common snipe, coyote, deer, dragonfly, eagles, eastern cottontail, elk, ferruginous hawk, fox snake, golden owl, gopher snake, grasshopper, gray wolf, ground squirrels, killdeer, lady beetle, larks, long-billled curlew, meadow vole, monarch butterfly, northern grasshopper mouse, prairie chicken, prairie dog, prairie rattlesnake, prairie skink, pronghorn antelope, red fox, red-tailed hawk, shrew, skunk, stink bug, tiger beetle, western meadowlark, western tiger swallowtail, white-tailed jack rabbit, and many other animals.

South America - armadillo, opossum, fox, jaguar, llama, puma, rhea, tapir, many rodents, and many other animals.

Eurasia - golden pheasant, leopard gecko, snow leopard, vole, and many other animals.

Printouts on Grasslands and Grassland Animals:

A short, printable worksheet quiz about grasslands. The short-answer worksheet asks 15 general questions about grasslands, for example, "The dominant plants in grasslands are grasses and ______." Select the answers from a word bank. Or

Grasslands Quiz
A Worksheet to Print go to the answers.

Mosquito
Mosquitos are flying insects that live in moist areas and can often carry diseases.

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grassland  animal coloring pages tall grass prairie steppe

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short grass prairie biome veld campos pampas veldt

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Advertisement. EnchantedLearning.com is a user-supported site. As a bonus, site members have access to a banner-ad-free version of the site, with print-friendly pages. Click here to learn more. (Already a member? Click here.) Grasslands and Grasslands Animals What is a Grassland? A grassland is a grassy, windy, partly-dry biome, a sea of grass.

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Estuaries and their surrounding wetlands are bodies of water usually found where rivers meet the sea. Estuaries are home to unique plant and animal communities that have adapted to brackish water-a mixture of fresh water draining from the land and salty seawater.

However, there are also several types of entirely freshwater ecosystems that have many similar characteristics to the traditional brackish estuaries. For example, along the Great Lakes, river water with very different chemical and physical characteristics mixes with lake water in coastal wetlands that are affected by tides and storms just like estuaries along the oceanic coasts. These freshwater estuaries also provide many of the ecosystem services and functions that brackish estuaries do, such as serving as natural filters for runoff and providing nursery grounds for many species of birds, fish, and other animals.

Estuaries are among the most productive ecosystems in the world. Many animals rely on estuaries for food, places to breed, and migration stopovers.

Estuaries are delicate ecosystems. Congress created the National Estuarine Research Reserve System to protect more than one million acres of estuarine land and water. These estuarine reserves provide essential habitat for wildlife, offer educational opportunities for students, and serve as living laboratories for scientists.

Video Transcript

Estuaries: Where the River Meets the Sea. Estuaries. Where freshwater rivers meet the salty open sea. There is a lot to love in an estuary. A popular destination for fishing, boating, birding and hiking, estuaries are a beautiful place to be. Miles of beaches, flowing grasses, marshes, creeks, and streams. This salty freshwater mix is where life begins and is the nursing grounds for 75% of the fish we catch. Estuaries are lined with marshes and sea grasses that filter water flowing to the ocean and act as a buffer protecting us from coastal storms. NOAA works closely with coastal states to manage the National Estuarine Research Reserve System of 28 protected areas along the nation's coasts. These valuable reserves are living laboratories for scientists and exciting, hands-on classrooms for students and teachers. At the reserves, scientists study sea level rise, water pollution, erosion, and impacts of human development. These studies provide strong scientific knowledge to help us create healthy, productive estuaries. The Chesapeake Bay, the ACE Basin in South Carolina, and San Francisco Bay in California, are just a few of the 28 reserves that can be found near you . So visit an estuary and experience firsthand the beauty and wildlife where the river meets the sea.

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national oceanic and atmospheric administration

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Estuaries and their surrounding wetlands are bodies of water usually found where rivers meet the sea.

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On this page:

What is an Estuary?

An estuary is a partially enclosed, coastal water body where freshwater from rivers and streams mixes with salt water from the ocean. Estuaries, and their surrounding lands, are places of transition from land to sea. Although influenced by the tides, they are protected from the full force of ocean waves, winds and storms by land forms such as barrier islands or peninsulas.

Estuarine environments are among the most productive on earth, creating more organic matter each year than comparably-sized areas of forest, grassland or agricultural land. The sheltered waters of estuaries also support unique communities of plants and animals specially adapted for life at the margin of the sea.

Many different habitat types are found in and around estuaries, including shallow open waters, freshwater and saltwater marshes, swamps, sandy beaches, mud and sand flats, rocky shores, oyster reefs, mangrove forests, river deltas, tidal pools and seagrass beds.

Why are Estuaries Important?

Estuaries provide us with a suite of resources, benefits and services. Some of these can be measured in dollars and cents, while others cannot. Estuaries provide places for recreational activities, scientific study and aesthetic enjoyment. Estuaries are an irreplaceable natural resource that must be managed carefully for the mutual benefit of all who enjoy and depend on them. Below are additional ways in which estuaries are important (click to expand):

Estuaries Are Critical Natural Habitats

Thousands of species of birds, mammals, fish and other wildlife depend on estuarine habitats as places to live, feed and reproduce. And many marine organisms, including most commercially-important species of fish, depend on estuaries at some point during their development.

Because they are biologically productive, estuaries provide ideal areas for migratory birds to rest and refuel during their long journeys. Because many species of fish and wildlife rely on the sheltered waters of estuaries as protected spawning places, estuaries are often called the "nurseries of the sea."

Estuaries Have Economic Value

Estuaries have important commercial value and their resources provide economic benefits for tourism, fisheries and recreational activities. The protected coastal waters of estuaries also support important public infrastructure, serving as harbors and ports vital for shipping and transportation.

The economy of many coastal areas is based primarily on the natural beauty and bounty of estuaries. When those natural resources are imperiled, so too are the livelihoods of those who live and work in estuarine watersheds. Over half the U.S. population lives in coastal areas, including along the shores of estuaries. Coastal watershed counties provided 69 million jobs and contributed $7.9 trillion to the Gross Domestic Product in 2007 (National Ocean Economics Program, 2009).

Estuaries Perform Environmental Services

Estuaries also perform other valuable services. Water draining from uplands carries sediments, nutrients and other pollutants to estuaries. As the water flows through wetlands such as swamps and salt marshes, much of the sediments and pollutants are filtered out. This filtration process creates cleaner and clearer water, which benefits both people and marine life.

Salt marsh grasses and other estuarine plants also help prevent erosion and stabilize shorelines.

Estuaries Act as Protective Buffers

Wetland plants and soils also act as natural buffers between the land and ocean, absorbing flood waters and dissipating storm surges. This protects upland habitat as well as valuable real estate from storm and flood damage.

How are Estuaries Threatened?

Coastal counties are growing three times faster than counties elsewhere in the nation. Unfortunately, this increasing concentration of people:

upsets the natural balance of estuarine ecosystems;

threatens their integrity; and

imposes increased pressures on vital natural resources like estuaries.

What happens on the land affects the quality of the water and health of the organisms that live in an estuary. For example, if a river or stream flows through an agricultural area, it picks up fertilizer, manure and pesticides from farming operations that run off the land after a rainstorm. As it passes urbanized and suburbanized areas, it gathers substances such as:

fertilizers or pet waste that wash off lawns;

untreated sewage from failing septic tanks;

wastewater discharges from industrial facilities;

sediment from construction sites; and

runoff from impervious surfaces like parking lots.

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Basic Information about Estuaries | US EPA

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On this page: An estuary is a partially enclosed, coastal water body where freshwater from rivers and streams mixes with salt water from the ocean. Estuaries, and their surrounding lands, are places of transition from land to sea.

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LOCATION:An estuary is an area where seawater mixes with freshwater. Estuaries can be found along the coast. Each day as the tide rises, saltwater is brought into the estuary. Freshwater comes down the rivers and creeks and mixes with this saltwater. During the dry season there may not be much freshwater flowing down the rivers. This can make the estuary very salty. Also, during the dry season water evaporates out of the estuary making it even more salty. If you have ever tasted the water in the ocean, you know it is very salty. Estuaries can become even saltier! (But don't try tasting the water, not only will it taste bad, but it can be bad for your health.)
PLANTS: Plants found in estuaries need to be adapted to salty conditions. Having too much salt can kill many types of plants. Some plants, like pickle weed, can absorb the salt water and store the salt in special compartments, called vacuoles, in the leaves. This makes the plant taste very salty which may be one of the reasons it is called pickle weed. Can you see the other reason in this picture? Other plants, like salt grass and alkali heath, are able to push the salt out onto the surface of the leaves. The salt crystals can be seen if you look very closely.

ANIMALS: Many types of animals are found in estuaries. In fact, the complex food web found in an estuary helps to support an amazing diversity of animals. The decaying plants are eaten by microorganisms (animals so tiny you need a microscope to see them.) The microorganisms are eaten by small invertebrates (animals without backbones.) Fish, like carp and stickleback, then eat the invertebrates. Many of the fish we eat depend upon estuaries. They are sheltered places where fish can have their young and the young fish can grow before moving out into the open ocean. Without estuaries, the number of fish in our oceans would decrease greatly. Occasionally, water in certain areas of the estuary can dry up and all that is left is a mud flat. It may seem like there is no life in this mud flat at all, but there are all kinds of mussels, shrimp, worms and other invertebrates living in the mud. Often you can see birds probing the mud with their beaks looking for a tasty meal.

There are a large number of birds found in estuaries. The migrating birds such as geese use them to rest and feed. There are also birds who are permanent residents of the estuaries. Many of these birds, such as the Great Blue Heron, and the Great Egret, have long legs that they use for wading in the water. Egrets are excellent at hunting fish. Some wiggle their toes in the sand to attract fish, which they can snap up for a meal. If you look at the different types of birds, you will notice that they all have different lengths of bills. This means that each type of bird is adapted to eating different things. This reduces the amount of direct competition between the birds and allows more types of birds to live in the same area.

People and Estuaries: Everyone wants to live near the ocean, right? Unfortunately, in order to build houses near the ocean, estuaries were drained and filled in with dirt so that houses could be built on top of them. Many of our estuaries were destroyed before people realized their value.

Estuaries are valuable for a number of reasons. Many countries and coastal communities around the world rely mainly on fish as their primary source of protein. Estuaries help maintain fish populations in the ocean, and without them we would have fewer fish to eat. Estuaries are also natural water filters. They filter the river water that flows into them, helping to keep our ocean water clean and safe for everyone to enjoy. Another important service they provide is protection from large storms and hurricanes. Large waves caused by these storms can cause incredible amounts of damage when they come onshore. Estuaries create a natural barrier that absorbs the energy of the waves and prevents them from flooding cities, destroying houses and injuring people.
GAME: Water Life: Where Rivers Meet the Sea LINKS: Estuaries.gov National Estuarine Research Reserve System EPA: Exploring Estuaries EPA: National Estuary Program Discovery of Estuarine Environments Office of Naval Research - Ocean Habitats Restore America's Estuaries Natural History of Nova Scotia - Tidal Marsh
Back to Biomes Index

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LOCATION:An estuary is an area where seawater mixes with freshwater. Estuaries can be found along the coast. Each day as the tide rises, saltwater is brought into the estuary. Freshwater comes down the rivers and creeks and mixes with this saltwater. During the dry season there may not be much freshwater flowing down the rivers.