Plants and Animals of Carpenteria Salt Marsh

Carpenteria Salt Marsh:

The Carpenteria Salt Marsh is home to many unique plants that can survive in the salty conditions of the marsh.The plants help the marsh survive by holding the sediment (dirt) in place so it does not wash away.

One of these helpful and unique plants is Pickle Weed (right). It is a Summer flowering plant that turns bright red in cooler weather.

The Salt Marsh Bird's Beak is an annual and it lives for only one year and then dies. It uses Pickle Weed to extend its life.

Both plants and animals help each other. One example is when a plant dies and falls into the water and animals such as crabs and fish (pictures below of Fiddler Crab and California Halibut) eat the decomposing plants with the nutrients and the waste the animals produce becomes fertilizer for the new plants.








                                                                                    The California Halibut (below) is a food source for the endangered Brown Pelican (Below right ).