Shallow Water Habitats
...key features of Virginia's bays and estuaries
Welcome to the Shallow Water Habitat Website
Just beyond the beaches and shorelines of our estuaries and bays, in shallow waters and mostly hidden from sight, are diverse and important underwater habitats. Highly productive communities of microbes, plants, invertebrates, crabs, fish and birds flourish in these waters, in part because sunlight reaches the bottom. The environments can be very dynamic due to factors such as seasonal temperature changes and storms. Positioned at the edge of land and sea, these shallow water habitats are increasingly in areas of high human activity.
This website is designed for those who are interested in learning more about the shallow water habitats, communities and ecosystems of Virginia’s estuaries and bays. You will also find information on human effects, such as pollution and eutrophication, and management issues. There is a brief introduction to the methods used by ecologists and coastal oceanographers to study shallow water habitats. Each section includes a list of references and websites that may be of further interest. Please use the navigation bar to the left or links in the text to find additional information on a given topic.
The development of this website was supported by a grant from the Department of Defense’s Strategic Environmental Research and Development Program (Project CS-1335) to Drs. Linda Schaffner and Iris Anderson. Additional continuing support comes from the Department of Biological Sciences, Virginia Institute of Marine Science. The Department of Biological Sciences includes over eighty faculty, staff and students who study estuaries, bays and oceans around the globe. Many of our studies focus on the science, restoration and management of Chesapeake Bay and Virginia’s coastal waters.