Primary Producers Plant Production and Its Availability

Abstract

Within the estuarine ecosystem there may be several sources of plant production. Growing on the intertidal zones are usually a number of salt marsh plants. In most European estuaries the salt marsh plants are confined to the topmost part of the intertidal zone where they are not covered by the tide every day, but in many American estuaries the salt marsh plants may occupy the major part of the intertidal area and be immersed at each tide. In other parts of intertidal zone may often be found the eel-grass (Zostera), which is a true flowering plant, or representatives of the algae. Some of the algae are attached to rocky outcrops such as the typical seaweeds, e.g. Fucus species. Also growing directly on the surface of the mudflats may be the filamentous algae, Enteromorpha species, or the single-celled microphytobenthos (also known as epibenthic algae). Within the water body are found floating members of the phytoplankton, for example diatoms or dinoflagellates.