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Biological Effects of Salinity

• Invertebrates – salt content in the blood like in water
• Vertebrates – maintain lower salt content in their blood ? tend to loose water and increase salts due to osmosis
• Osmoregulation: active, energy-requiring metabolic process
• Sharks – rectal gland to excrete NaCl
• Marine birds – nasal gland
  

Ecological Effects of Salinity



• Species diversity is lowest in brackish water (Adolf Remane)
• Species that tolerate wide range of salinities = euryhaline; species with narrow salinity tolerance = stenohaline


Remane, A., Schlieper C. (1971) Biology of Brackish Water. John Wiley, N.Y.