![]() ![]() The primary goal of this paper is to provide a conceptual framework from which to understand the ecology of coastal habitats in the GoM including the physical and geological processes that control their formation. This geographic range spans geophysical boundaries and climatic zones (temperate, subtropical, and tropical), giving rise to physiographic and ecological classifications of shoreline habitats. The westernmost extent is approximately 98°W along the Tamaulipas shoreline of Mexico, and the far eastern extent is along the Matanzas shoreline in Cuba at about 80.6°W (Figure 6.1). The following review emphasizes vegetated habitats of coastal strand beaches, as well as adjacent saline wetlands and subaqueous environments.Ĭoastal strand beaches, and adjacent marsh and subaqueous habitats of the GoM, extend as far north as approximately 30.5°N near the Florida Panhandle shoreline to as far south as 18°N along the Veracruz-Tabascan shoreline of Mexico. Included in this habitat diversity are barrier islands, hypersaline lagoons, herbaceous marshes, forested wetlands of mangroves and cypress swamps, beaches, intertidal flats, oyster and coral reefs, subaquatic vegetation, and sponge beds (NOAA 2011). The GoM shoreline includes a variety of coastal habitats, ranging from submerged seagrass beds to intertidal wetlands to supratidal sand dunes and maritime forests. The Gulf provides a variety of important ecosystem services from regulating greenhouse gases to providing food to supporting recreational activities, all of which enhance the diverse social cultures within the GoM region (see Section 6.4.4). ![]() ![]() dollars annually for Mexico and the United States from oil and gas, fisheries, ports and shipping, and tourism (Yoskowitz 2009). ![]() The productive value (market value) of the Gulf has been estimated at 124 billion U.S. shrimp, oyster, and fishery landings, respectively (NOAA 2011). The Gulf is among the most biologically productive marine environments in the world, producing 78, 62, and 16 % of U.S. The Gulf encompasses an area of approximately 1.5 million km 2 (0.58 million mi 2), and with an average depth of about 1,615 meters (5,300 feet ), it provides habitat for a myriad of marine, shoreline, and estuarine flora and fauna that occupy a diverse suite of coastal ecosystems (NOAA 2011). The Gulf of Mexico (GoM) is the ninth largest body of water in the world (including ocean basins) with an outer shoreline extending approximately 6,077 kilometers (km) (3,776 miles ) from the Florida Keys to the northwest coast of Cuba (Moretzsohn et al. The information and analysis in this chapter should better enable effective management and restoration of coastal habitats in the Gulf as environmental change continues to alter their structure and function and reshape their associated biotic assemblages. These habitats, their depositional environments, and the ecology of their dominant flora and fauna are described within the context of major marine and terrestrial ecoregions. Emphasis has been placed on vegetated marine habitats that occur immediately adjacent to the Gulf of Mexico, including barrier islands and beaches, salt marshes and mangroves, seagrasses, intertidal and subtidal flats, and reed marshes at the mouth of the Mississippi River. These ecosystems provide a suite of services including carbon storage, pollution and nutrient abatement, soil formation, fisheries support, and flood and storm protection. Urbanization and industrial development pressures have seriously impacted coastal ecosystems, including vegetated intertidal and subtidal marine habitats such as barrier strands and associated wetlands and seagrasses. ![]()
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