What is a salt marsh?

Salt wetlands are coastal wetlands, drained with salt water flooded. They are wetlands as the soil may be composed of deep mud and peat. Peat is made from degraded vegetable matter and is usually several feet thick. The peat flooded, the roots filled, and it looks like a very sponge. Because salt swamps are often immersed in the tide and contain a large amount of degraded plant material, the oxygen content of the peat may be very low - this condition is called hypoxia. Hypoxia is caused by the growth of bacteria, and the smell of sulfur rotten eggs produced by bacteria is usually associated with wetlands and tidal flats.

Salt wetlands occur around the world, especially at mid-latitudes. Growing along a protected coastline, they are a common habitat for estuaries. In the US, there are salty wetlands on all the coasts. About half of the nation's salt wetlands lie along the Gulf.

These intertidal habitats are essential to healthy fisheries, coastlines, and communities - they are an integral part of our economy and culture. They also provide food, shelter, or nurseries that are essential to more than 75% of the fishery species including shrimp, crab and many fish.

Salt wetlands also protect coastlines from erosion by buffering waves and capturing sediments. They protect water quality by reducing and absorbing rainwater, reducing floods and filtering outflow and metabolizing excessive nutrients.

Despite these long established salty wetland losses, there are still things that continue to provide valuable wildlife habitats that are still present. At the estuary of Colwood Creek in the Esquimalt lagoon there is a small salt wetland and the edge of a narrow salt wetland lies on the west bank of the lagoon. At the entrance of Millstream Creek at Esquimalt Port there is also Saltumauma. Gorge Waterway and Portage Inlet still have a small salt wetland. The new development and restoration project will provide a great opportunity to repair some salty wetlands that existed before.

Salt wetlands are on the edge of the land and sea of ​​the coast protected by waves and waves. They are dominated by lowland, salt tolerant vegetation with a network of tidal flats and pools. Salt wetlands are emergency herbaceous plants, grasslands or shrub communities rooted in soil and alternately drained by submergence by tidal action. Like many parts of the world, many salt swamps, which were formerly the major city ports of Victoria, have been filled and replaced with farmland and urban development. For example, near the Empress Hotel there is a salty wetland located at the mouth of a small river flowing from wetlands near the current Cook Street and Moss Street. Today there is another salt wetland near the Point Hope shipyard. Long-term local people may remember other salt swamp lost

Salt wetlands are very valuable and productive ecosystems, but they are also vulnerable. They are usually located in areas where agriculture, shipping, industry, urban development are ideal. So far, the biggest threat to salt wetlands is to fill them up for buildings related to these activities. In many cases, this process begins with drought and drainage of salt wetlands. Since 1800, 70% of salt wetlands in the Canadian Pacific has been drained or lost other functions. Other threats to salty wetlands include the following: