• Clearing of riparian vegetation for tourism, urban and agricultural purposes degrades estuaries. Use of this habitat type by humans and livestock has led to bank erosion, soil compaction and the lack of regeneration of plant zones. Disturbance due to clearing has allowed the infiltration of pest and weed species.
• Structures such as sea walls, rock walls, and breakwaters all affect the passage of water and can alter the conditions within an estuary. • Urban development, agriculture and grazing can all increase erosion that causes sediment and nutrient loss to estuaries. This may smother seagrass which is an important place for food production and a nursery area for fish. • Seagrass destroy putrification is usually caused by a man-made object that traps seagrass blades and stops them from dispersing naturally. This causes putrification which can cause odor problems. Some of these man-made traps are misplaced dredging, works, moorings of the fore and aft pole variety, sea walls, groynes, marinas and jetties. • Insects breed in the wetland areas, saltmarshes and tidal fringes of an estuary and are an important component of a healthy and balanced estuarine ecosystem. Often there is pressure on the local council to eliminate or reduce insect nuisance by filling or draining breeding areas, or by use of pesticides. All of these activities have adverse effects on the estuarine environment. |
Estuaries
The human impact on estuaries ecosystems
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