Agriculture. Agriculture on the eastern Coastal Plain primarily consists of paddy. Other crops include Linseed, Wheat, Jowar, Gram and Groundnut.

Agriculture. Tobacco has traditionally been the cash crop of the northern Coastal Plain. Timber, cotton, corn and soybeans are important crops found throughout the entire Coastal Plain.

The existence of waterways rich with fish and other foods made this a prime area for population growth and development. Fish and other aquatic creatures were common for both diet and other uses amongst the people of this area.

Plants for the Gulf Coast Prairies and Marshes

• Trees. Sugarberry. Water oak. Willow oak. Shumard red oak.
• Succulents. Prickly-pear cactus. Spanish dagger.
• Vines. Pipevine. Cross-vine. Trumpet creeper. Carolina Jessamine.
• Grasses. Big blue stem. Bushy bluestem. Inland sea-oats.
• Wildflowers. Lance-leaf coreopsis. Coralbean. Spider lily.

Millions of migrating birds such as geese, ducks, and songbirds find a winter home on these coastal wetlands. The state shell, the lightning whelk, is found on the shorelines. Other wildlife found in this region includes alligators, fiddler crabs, spoonbills, and sea turtles.

Millions of birds migrate to the coastal plain every summer, some from as far away as South America and New Zealand. The wetlands provide abundant food and nesting areas for the birds, as well as animals like polar bears and musk oxen. A coastal plain is a flat, low-lying piece of land next to the ocean.

Coastlines only make up about 8 percent of the Earth’s land, but they have about 26 percent of all biological diversity. This world of seabirds, clams, crabs, starfish, anemones, fish, kelp, and marine mammals, among many others, is a beautiful place, with many different types of natural communities.

Common Plant and Animal List

• black bear Ursus americanus.
• black-tailed jackrabbit Lepus californicus.
• bobcat Lynx rufus.
• brush rabbit Sylvilagus bachmani.
• coastal black-tailed deer Odocoileus hemionus.
• coyote Canis latrans.
• feral pig, from wild boar Sus scrofa.
• field mouse (vole) Microtus californicus.

Plants for Coastal Areas

• Carpinus betulus. Hornbeam – Deciduous.
• Crataegus monogyna. Hawthorn – Deciduous.
• Cupressus macrocarpa. Monterey cypress – Evergreen.
• Elaeagnus x ebbingei. Evergreen.
• Euonymus japonicus. Japanese spindle – Evergreen.
• Griselinia littoralis.
• Laurus nobilis.
• Olearia x haastii.

Here are the downsides of coastal living, ranging from annoying to downright devastating.

• Visitors. Seaside dwellers often find that their home is in high demand for the holidays of others.
• Sand. Sand, sand and more sand.
• Salt and sea breezes.
• Repairs and insurance.
• Extreme weather, coastal erosion and rising sea levels.

Coastal Processes

• Waves.
• Tides.
• Near-Shore Currents.
• Shoreline Weathering.
• Coastal Erosion.
• Sediment Transport and Deposition.
• Organic Activity.
• Changes in Sea Level.

Coasts have many different features, such as caves and cliffs, beaches and mudflats. Tides, waves, and water currents (flow) shape the land to form these coastal features. Some coasts are also changed by the flow of glaciers, which are huge rivers of ice, and lava from volcanoes.

Coastal oceans have three major components, the estuarine and nearshore areas, the continental shelf, and the continental slope.

The coastal zone is not a stable and constant environment, but a dynamic place that can change rapidly in response to natural processes such as seasonal weather patterns. Waves, winds, currents, tides and storms are the major forces on the coast.

Coasts are places where the land meets the sea. Australia is an island and has a huge coastline that has many different habitats. Coastal habitats include beaches, rock pools, estuaries and mangroves.

Originally the coastal and marine environment was seen as a source of food, but uses have expanded to include transport, shipping, whaling stations, waste discharge, industry, recreation, marinas, residential development and aquaculture in recent times.

The main geological factors—sediment type, arrangement and resistance of sediment structures, and isostasy—are the basis of the morphological processes and the development of coastal relief.