Where do Dunlins nest?

How many dunlin are there on the Pacific Coast?

Of that group, 500,000 birds make up the Pacific Coast population. Dunlin are currently the second most common shorebird in Washington, and the most common of Washington’s wintering shorebirds, but numbers have declined in the Northwest in recent decades.

Are there any coastal lowlands on the Pacific Coast?

Extensive coastal lowlands with sedimentary marine and glacial deposits border both sets of uplands and are more extensive in the Chehalis River basin. Grays Harbor and Willapa Bay are two of the most important estuaries on the Pacific Coast.

What are the two most important estuaries on the Pacific Coast?

Grays Harbor and Willapa Bay are two of the most important estuaries on the Pacific Coast. Pleistocene glaciation carved valleys and cirques in the Olympics and extended south to the Chehalis River.

What two bodies of water border the Pacific coast ecoregions?

It is bordered on the east by the Puget Trough lowlands, and on the south by the Columbia River. The ecoregion itself extends north to Vancouver Island and south through much of the Coast Ranges of Oregon.

What is the bird population like in the Pacific Northwest?

There has been a decline in the bird population of the Pacific Northwest. There are reports of plummeting populations of various bird species such as Ducks, Loons, Seagulls, and Scoters on the Pacific Northwest coast. Western Grebes, for example, had a population reaching hundreds of thousands.

What are the terrestrial inputs to the Pacific coast estuaries?

Terrestrial inputs to Pacific Coast estuaries vary substantially along the steep rainfall gradient from very wet conditions in the north to arid conditions in southern and Baja California, with precipitation increasing again from central Mexico through Panama.

How are estuaries protected from the ocean?

Most estuaries, however, are protected from the ocean’s full force. Geographical features such as reef s, islands, mud, and sand act as barriers from ocean waves and wind. There are four different kinds of estuaries, each created a different way: 1) coastal plain estuaries; 2) tectonic estuaries; 3) bar-built estuaries; and 4) fjord estuaries.

What are estuaries?

Estuaries are transition zones where fresh water mixes with salt water; they occur where rivers meet the sea. Like all transition ecosystems, estuaries are places of tremendous biological diversity.

How are coastal plain estuaries formed?

Coastal plain estuaries (1) are created when sea levels rise and fill in an existing river valley. The Chesapeake Bay, on the East Coast of the United States, is a coastal plain estuary. Chesapeake Bay was formed at the end of the last ice age. Massive glaciers retreated, leaving a carved-out landscape behind.

What is the fauna of the Pacific coastal plain in Mexico?

The fauna of the Pacific Coastal Plain in Mexico is favored by the presence of large areas covered by mangroves. These mangroves and their associated wetlands also serve as one of the most important winter habitats, owning 80% of Pacific migratory shorebird populations. They are a total of 252 species of birds.

What are some examples of estuaries?

Because estuaries can be found all over the globe, here are a few examples from different parts of the earth to give you a sense of how what the climate of an estuary is and how it differs from place to place: The Chesapeake Bay Estuary is the largest estuary in the United States, having an area of about 4,479 square miles.

What is ecoregion 2 of the Gulf Coast?

Ecoregion 2 – Gulf Coast Prairies and Marshes. A narrow band about 60 miles wide along the Texas coast from the Louisiana border to Brownsville roughly outlines the Gulf Coast Prairies and Marshes. This area is characterized by long and continual confrontations with the sea, wind and rain.

What is the Pacific Maritime Ecozone?

The Pacific Maritime ecozone is Canada’s western coastline. Here is where one finds the wettest weather, tallest trees, and deepest fjords in the country. Being so close to the Pacific Ocean, the climate is extremely altered. Summers are cooler, winters more mild.

What are the different types of bodies of water?

When most of us picture bodies of water, we think of lakes, rivers, streams, and oceans. However, there are dozens of different types of bodies of water out there, each of which plays a vital role in its local ecosystems.

What is the ecoregion of the Columbia River?

The ecoregion extends across a wide swath of the Columbia River Basin from The Dalles, Oregon to Lewiston, Idaho to Okanogan, Washington near the Canada–US border. It includes nearly 500 miles (800 km) of the Columbia River, as well as the lower reaches of major tributaries such as the Snake and Yakima rivers and the associated drainage basins.

How have human activities affected North American estuarine carbon dynamics?

While North American estuarine conditions vary along coasts according to upstream land use, the most significant human-induced change to estuarine carbon dynamics over the past century is certainly increased nutrient loading (Schlesinger 2009), which has led to eutrophication and hypoxia in estuaries and continental shelves.

What is the carbon flux from North American coastal and estuarine environments?

The carbon flux from North American estuaries to the shelf waters, estimated as a residual, is 106 ± 30 Tg C per year. All indications suggest that most North American coastal and estuarine environments, from Canada to Mexico, are changing rapidly as a result of global- and local-scale changes induced by climate alteration and human activities.

What are the characteristics of an estuary?

Estuaries occur where freshwater rivers meet the oceanic salty waters, are influenced by tidal flooding, and experience frequent periodic changes in salinity, water levels, sunlight, and oxygen. Estuaries are a Strategy Habitat within the Coast Range ecoregion and are also discussed within the Oregon Nearshore Strategy.

What is the difference between ocean water and estuaries?

In estuaries, the salty ocean mixes with a freshwater river, resulting in brackish water. Brackish water is somewhat salty, but not as salty as the ocean. An estuary may also be called a bay, lagoon, sound, or slough. Water continually circulates into and out of an estuary.

What is an estuary?

An estuary is a coastal area where freshwater from rivers and streams mixes with saltwater from the ocean. Estuaries are protected from the full force of the ocean by mudflats, sandspits and barrier islands. You’ll find estuaries all over the world and there are lots of different names for them.

What are the characteristics of an estuarine environment?

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.

What is the importance of estuaries to animals?

Many plant and animal species thrive in estuaries. The calm waters provide a safe area for small fish, shellfish, migrating birds and shore animals. The waters are rich in nutrients such as plankton and bacteria. Decomposing plant matter, called detritus, provides food for many species.

What do birds like about estuaries?

Beneath the mud are millions of worms, tiny shellfish and creepy-crawly things – that’s what birds like about estuaries. Estuaries are important for fish – seahorses have even been found in the Thames Estuary recently!

What causes estuaries in New Zealand?

Tectonic estuaries are caused by the folding or faulting of land surfaces. These estuaries are found along major fault lines, like the Manukau Harbour in Auckland. Coastal lain estuaries are formed by the sea level rising and filling an existing river valley. Examples of this are the Okura estuary, North Auckland.

What are the 4 types of estuaries?

Types of Estuaries. There are four different kinds of estuaries, each created a different way: 1) coastal plain estuaries; 2) tectonic estuaries; 3) bar-built estuaries; and 4) fjord estuaries. Coastal plain estuaries (1) are created when sea levels rise and fill in an existing river valley.

Which plant species predominates in the coastal plain of the Pacific?

In the Coastal Plain of the Pacific, broad-leaved species abound. These plants are characterized by having leaves with a flat and relatively wide surface. Its coverage in the area is at the open forest level. These forests are interspersed with cultivated pastures and areas covered by mangroves. The one that predominates is the red mangrove.