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Estuaries
Estuaries are partially closed bodies of water, open to the sea (at least sometimes), with salinity changes due to freshwater input. Estuaries are basically places where rivers meet the sea. They are geologically young ecosystems and always transitional or, forever changing, making them dynamic in makeup and as a result difficult to manage.
The plants and animals that live within the estuarine environment have to handle many fluctuating environmental parameters including turbidity, salinity, oxygen content and nutrient availability. As a result the biota inhabiting these ecosystems are tough but also specialised, generally restricted in size and are characterised by few species living as large populations.
Estuaries provide sheltered habitats in which seagrasses, mangroves, saltmarshes and mudflats exist. These environments can be economically viable particularly in the sense of commercial fisheries.
Much time is being invested into the protection of estuaries including the implementation of international treaties such as the Ramsar Convention (protection of internationally significant wetlands), JAMBA and CAMBA (Japan/China Australia Migratory Bird Agreement).
The running of sewage works and the handling of discharges as well as the monitoring of developments are left to local councils and through community involvement and assistance Pittwater's estuaries may be managed and kept clean and functional well into the future.
Updated: 22 Dec 2011