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Estuaries
People have lived along the shores of estuaries long before recorded history. These areas have provided human communities with easy access to food, resources, and transportation. Our use of these areas can come at a significant cost, though. Overharvesting has resulted in declining populations of some estuarine animals. Changes made to the movement of water through these estuarine systems, such as when canals are built through marshes, has resulted in the rapid loss of some types of habitat. Runoff from our roads, lawns, and fields has introduced chemicals into estuaries that can change the way the ecosystem functions. We're working hard now to restore habitat that has been lost or changed as a means of replacing lost functions within the estuary.
