Welcome to the Little Hell Gate Salt Marsh

Welcome to the Little Hell Gate Salt Marsh. Where the Land Meets the Sea. , About the Little Hell Gate Salt Marsh , Bringing Habitat Back , originally the Little Hell Gate Inlet was a more extensive channel separating Randall's Island to the north from Wards Island to the south. By the 1960's, the two islands and a nearby marsh were joined together with landfill to create the present-day Randall's Island. All that is left of the channel is the Little Hell Gate Inlet., In 2007, the Randall's Island Park Alliance began restoration of the Inlet, which had become a dumping ground for garbage and construction debris. Approximately 30,000 cubic yards of fill were removed and the site was regraded with clean sand, and the intertidal zone was planted with native salt marsh plantings such as smooth cordgrass and salt meadow hay. The upland border of the marsh was planted with native coastal grasses like switchgrass and big bluestem and with woody plants like staghorn sumac, northern bayberry, eastern red cedar, and groundsel tree., What is a Salt Marsh? , A salt marsh is a type of wetland found next to water bodies that are salty or brackish (a mix of saltwater and freshwater). After Europeans arrived in New York City, nearly 85% of its native salt marshes were filled in or destroyed. It wasn't until the 1970s that the importance of these ecosystems was recognized, and protection and restoration began. Marshes like the Little Hell Gate Salt Marsh are among the most productive ecological systems on earth, with very rapid rates of photosynthesis. They are usually tidal, which means that the water flows in and out of the wetland twice a day; this daily change creates different zones and microhabitats for diverse plant and animal communities. The tide flows into the Little hell Gate Salt Marsh from the Harlem River, which feeds into New York Harbor and the Long Island Sound, which in turn connect to the Atlantic Ocean., Benefits of the Marsh , Hundreds of different birds, fish, crustaceans, mollusks, insects, and even mammals call the marsh home and can be found here throughout the year., Nurseries , Salt marshes offer shallow water protection against the larger predators that swim in open waters, and thus provide safer nurseries for fish, crustaceans, reptiles, insects, and mammals. Further, as marsh grasses are broken down by bacteria, the decaying material supports a complex food web. It is estimated that nearly 75% of all commercially important fish species spend at least part of their lives in a salt marsh nursery, before helping to feed humans and marine wildlife such as harbor seals and whales., Protection from Climate Change , As coastal areas face sea-level rise and increased storm intensity, salt marshes offer a defense against flooding. Grasses, oyster reefs, and other structures in salt marshes provide a barrier and help break up strong waves created during storms. In addition, scientists are studying how salt marshes sequester carbon from the environment; some estimate they sequester 100x more carbon than forests., Water Quality , Salt marshes improve water quality in the estuary. Excess nutrients in the water are taken up by marsh grasses and stored in their roots, and bacteria in the mud break these nutrients down into less harmful elements. Additionally, marshes help to filter out sediments, improving water clarity and light penetration, and sediment accretion elevates the marshes and helps them adapt to rising sea levels., Mosquito Control , Salt marshes offer essential habitat for species that eat larval and adult mosquitos, including dragonflies, damselflies, and mummichog fish. The Little Hell Gate Inlet's restored wetland and improved tidal flow support these valued mosquito predators at Randall's Island Park., Estuaries , Estuaries are partially-protected bodies of water where rivers flow into the ocean. These transition zones are where saltwater from the ocean and freshwater from rivers mix to create water that is brackish (a mix of freshwater and saltwater). The mixing of these systems provides estuaries with many nutrients, making them productive natural habitats. Salt concentration in estuaries changes depending on temperature, physical forces like tides and storms, and freshwater inundation such as snowmelt and rain from upstream. Fish use estuaries to transition between the ocean and riverine habitat.