WOE172 Scarborough Marsh (saltwater), Maine Photo Gallery

January 2009

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Saltwater marshes are coastal wetlands dominated by grasses and are influenced by the tides. These saltwater marshes are extremely productive ecosystems that perform many services including naturally filtering pollutants from coastal waters, providing fish and wildlife habitats, and protecting inland areas from storm erosion and flooding. Important fish species such as striped bass and winter flounder use the salt marshes as feeding areas and nurseries for their young. Many of the salt marshes along the coast have been degraded or destroyed. Many filled and drained, their tidal flooding blocked, and the land converted to upland pasture or human development. About 61 square miles of saltwater marshes are found around the Gulf of Maine, representing a small, but ecologically important fraction of the coastline. The Scarborough Marsh accounts for 15% of the Maine's total tidal marsh area, making it the largest contiguous marsh system in the State.