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Introduction
The waters bordering WCP are described as brackish, which means that they are not as salty as one would encounter at the ocean front. They are more correctly "mesohaline", having salinity ranging from 5-18 ppt (parts per thousand). This of course is a large determining factor in what can live here. Each day the salt marshes of Little Creek experience 2 cycles of a high tide followed by a low tide. There are approximately six hours between these two tide levels. At high tide, the water is a bit saltier than at low tide. Tides bring in debris, some edible and some not, and out-flowing tides remove materials. Incoming salty tides stir up the bottom and fish are fed from the resulting mixing of edible material from it.
Some facts to consider
The waters bordering WCP are described as brackish, which means that they are not as salty as one would encounter at the ocean front. They are more correctly "mesohaline", having salinity ranging from 5-18 ppt (parts per thousand). This of course is a large determining factor in what can live here. Each day the salt marshes of Little Creek experience 2 cycles of a high tide followed by a low tide. There are approximately six hours between these two tide levels. At high tide, the water is a bit saltier than at low tide. Tides bring in debris, some edible and some not, and out-flowing tides remove materials. Incoming salty tides stir up the bottom and fish are fed from the resulting mixing of edible material from it.
Some facts to consider
- Grasses are the type of plant found typically in marshes. In looking over the WCP marsh, there are many different kinds of grasses, including Smooth Cord Grass, Big Cord Grass, Salt Meadow Hay, Phragmites, and Cattails. Another grass-like plant found in the marsh is Black Needle Rush. It is a member of the Rush family of flowering plants, distinguished by cylindrical stalks or hollow, stem-like leaves.
- Often tidal influxes bring in all kinds of debris and dead material, depositing them at the base of marsh plants as the tide subsides. This is actually a good thing for marsh soil because it enriches the soil nutrients and provides food for fiddler crabs, which eat all kinds of bacteria, dead material, and algae.
- Tidal marshes are very productive ecosystems. The many organisms here are capable of capturing sunlight and transforming it into living tissue. In marshes such as those at WCP, the densely packed grasses, phytoplankton in the water, and algae in the soil accomplish this.
Introduction
Among the different kinds of organisms that live in WCP are mammals—the group to which we humans belong. Mammals share several characteristics including having hair or fur, mammary glands, 3 inner ear bones and being able to regulate their heat through metabolism. The mammals that may inhabit WCP year-round are deer, rabbits, squirrels, raccoons, bats, opossums, red and grey foxes, muskrats, mink and coyotes. Coastal bottle nosed dolphins (which are mammals) may be occasionally seen in Cypress Creek.
Some facts to consider
Among the different kinds of organisms that live in WCP are mammals—the group to which we humans belong. Mammals share several characteristics including having hair or fur, mammary glands, 3 inner ear bones and being able to regulate their heat through metabolism. The mammals that may inhabit WCP year-round are deer, rabbits, squirrels, raccoons, bats, opossums, red and grey foxes, muskrats, mink and coyotes. Coastal bottle nosed dolphins (which are mammals) may be occasionally seen in Cypress Creek.
Some facts to consider
- Thanks in part to their bigger brains, mammals tend to be more socially advanced than other types of animals. Examples of social behavior in mammals include the herd behavior of cattle and sheep and the hunting prowess of wolf packs.
- One major difference between mammals and other major vertebrate families such as amphibians, reptiles, and fish is that all mammals give birth to live babies, which are then fed on their mother’s milk. Most newborns mammals require at least some parental attention in order to thrive.
- One of the most amazing things about mammals is the many different environments mammals live in. There are swimming mammals (whales and dolphins), flying mammals (bats), tree-climbing mammals (raccoons and squirrels), burrowing mammals (moles and rabbits), and countless other varieties.
