Nearshore Ecosystems

From Salish Sea Wiki


Nearshore Ecosystems is a general term to describe those areas that influence and are influenced by the tidal saltwater landscape that defines our Salish Sea. In the Southern Salish Sea there was extensive assessment and planning of nearshore ecosystems under a General Investigation by the State of Washington and the US Army Corps of Engineers. This resulted in a wide range of spatial data, white papers, and planning publications by the Puget Sound Nearshore Ecosystem Restoration Project.

In this wiki's system of ecosystem sites, and following PSNERP analysis, we divide the nearshore into River Deltas, Embayments and Beaches and Headlands (also called rocky shorelines, and which contain pocket beaches).