Ecosystems
Wadden Sea
VAH-den
Also Known As Waddenzee The Dutch name for the same site. · Wattenmeer The German name for the same site.
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The largest unbroken system of intertidal sand and mud flats in the world, a band of channels, tidal flats, salt marshes and barrier islands running along the North Sea coast of the Netherlands, Germany and Denmark. Twice-daily tides expose and reflood roughly half the ecosystem's area, and the vast biomass of worms, shellfish and other invertebrates living in the exposed flats makes the Wadden Sea one of the most important staging and wintering grounds on the East Atlantic Flyway, hosting more than ten million migratory shorebirds and waterbirds in an average year. The Netherlands and Germany jointly inscribed the site as a UNESCO World Heritage property in 2009, extended to the Hamburg Wadden Sea in 2011 and to the Danish Wadden Sea in 2014, bringing the full trilateral site to roughly 11,500 square kilometers.
Facts
Area (sq km)The formal UNESCO World Heritage property is cited at approximately 11,434 to 11,500 square kilometers; some sources describe the broader trilateral wadden region, outside the strict World Heritage boundary, at closer to 10,000 square kilometers. Cross-Tradition Connections
Demonstrates
In Biome
Marine, Biomes An intertidal, saline system at the boundary of marine and freshwater river influence; classified here under the Marine biome for its dominant tidal and saline character.
In the Other Atlases
- Also in Geography Atlas: Wadden Sea, the same subject.
Sources
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