Productivity • Invertebrates • Birds
Fish • Amphibians • Mammals

Mammals

Smaller mammals, such as voles and shrews, may be abundant on the upper marsh and provide an important source of food for birds such as short-eared owl and kestrel. However, saltmarshes are not known for rare mammal populations, although the otter may be attracted to larger sites because of the relative lack of disturbance. In areas where adjacent land is intensively cultivated or urbanised, these saltmarshes may provide the only "natural" land for some of the commonest creatures. Thus the occasional fox, rabbit, hare, badger and other typically terrestrial mammals are also present.

For marine mammals, the use of the edges of the marsh and saltmarsh creeks can be important and in some sites, such as the Wash, common seals use these regularly. Breeding colonies occur on many east coast and a few west coast estuaries, where they common seals may pup on tidal banks or saltmarsh creeks.