Biotic Factors
There are many biotic factors that are found in estuaries. These include plants and animals such as shrimp, fish, and oysters. Life in estuaries are threatened by human activity. This is because these marine animals are being killed for food and water, from estuaries in specific, is being drained for drinking water. On top of shrimp, fish, and oysters, there are boring sponges, clown fish, sea anemones, slipper lampets, blue crabs, and zoo-plankton. Plants include mangrove trees, phytoplankton, algae, seaweed, marsh grasses, pickle weeds, salt grass, alkali heath, marsh grasses, and salt marshes.
Abiotic Factors
Similiar to biotic features, there are many abiotic features in estuaries. For example, temperature, sunlight, and the water in the estuary are all abiotic factors. In an estuary, the summer average rainfall is 4 inches, or 10 centimeters. The winter average rainfall is 56 inches, or 142 centimeters. Average temperatures vary upon location of the estuary.