Necochea Parque Miguel Lillo Buenos Aires Argentina

A maritime forest is an

ocean The ocean is the body of salt water that covers approximately 70.8% of Earth. The ocean is conventionally divided into large bodies of water, which are also referred to as ''oceans'' (the Pacific, Atlantic, Indian Ocean, Indian, Southern Ocean ...

coast A coast (coastline, shoreline, seashore) is the land next to the sea or the line that forms the boundary between the land and the ocean or a lake. Coasts are influenced by the topography of the surrounding landscape and by aquatic erosion, su ...

wooded A woodland () is, in the broad sense, land covered with woody plants (trees and shrubs), or in a narrow sense, synonymous with wood (or in the U.S., the '' plurale tantum'' woods), a low-density forest forming open habitats with plenty of sunli ...

habitat In ecology, habitat refers to the array of resources, biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species' habitat can be seen as the physical manifestation of its ...

found on higher ground than

dune A dune is a landform composed of wind- or water-driven sand. It typically takes the form of a mound, ridge, or hill. An area with dunes is called a dune system or a dune complex. A large dune complex is called a dune field, while broad, flat ...

areas within range of

salt spray Sea spray consists of aerosol particles formed from the ocean, primarily by ejection into Earth's atmosphere through bursting bubbles at the air-sea interface Sea spray contains both organic matter and inorganic salts that form sea salt aerosol ...

. They can be found along the

Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the Age of Discovery, it was known for se ...

and

Pacific Northwest The Pacific Northwest (PNW; ) is a geographic region in Western North America bounded by its coastal waters of the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains to the east. Though no official boundary exists, the most common ...

coasts of the United States. The maritime forests of the southeast U.S. are often laurel forests. They can also be found in areas of

South-East Asia Southeast Asia is the geographical southeastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of China, east of the Indian subcontinent, and northwest of the Australian mainland, which is part of Oceania. Southeast Asia i ...

, for example

Chek Jawa Tanjong Chek Jawa (or Tanjung Chek Jawa or simply Chek Jawa) is a cape and the name of its 100-hectare wetlands located on the south-eastern tip of Pulau Ubin, an island off the north-eastern coast of the Pulau Ujong, main island of Singapore. C ...

, a wetland reserve which also features a maritime forest as one of the independent

ecosystem An ecosystem (or ecological system) is a system formed by Organism, organisms in interaction with their Biophysical environment, environment. The Biotic material, biotic and abiotic components are linked together through nutrient cycles and en ...

Flora

High winds, salt spray, and sandy soil provide a harsh environment for plant life. Maritime forests are composed of

deciduous In the fields of horticulture and botany, the term deciduous () means "falling off at maturity" and "tending to fall off", in reference to trees and shrubs that seasonally shed Leaf, leaves, usually in the autumn; to the shedding of petals, aft ...

, coniferous, and broadleaf evergreens. Trees in maritime forests include the southern sugar maple, swamp dogwood, mockernut hickory, white ash, and the

white poplar White poplar is a common name used to refer to several trees in the genus ''Populus ''Populus'' is a genus of 25–30 species of deciduous flowering plants in the family Salicaceae, native to most of the Northern Hemisphere. English names vari ...

. Many plants in the maritime forests have a natural waxy coating to protect them from the salt spray. Most of the plants found in maritime forests are evergreens and shrubs along with a low population on pitcher plants.

Fauna

Animals that live in these forests include foxes, deer, rabbits, tree frogs, raccoons, toads, silver-back gorillas, and painted buntings.

Places

Some places where maritime forests can be found are: Bald Head Island (North Carolina),

Necochea Necochea is a port and beach city in the southwest of Buenos Aires Province, Argentina. The city is located on the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast, along the mouth of the Quequén Grande River, from Buenos Aires and southwest of Mar del Plata. T ...

(Argentina), Jekyll Island (Georgia), and on almost all

barrier islands Barrier islands are a coastal landform, a type of dune system and sand island, where an area of sand has been formed by wave and tidal action parallel to the mainland coast. They usually occur in chains, consisting of anything from a few is ...

, such as the Currituck Banks Reserve in the

Outer Banks The Outer Banks (frequently abbreviated OBX) are a string of barrier islands and spits off the coast of North Carolina and southeastern Virginia, on the east coast of the United States. They line most of the North Carolina coastline, separatin ...

North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...

References

{{Reflist Habitats Ecosystems