... as much as 1/300000 of its original value (www.biome.ac.uk). Most land plants are used to water that has an osmotis potential close to zero, however salt marsh plant communities have to exist in water conditions of much lower osmotic potential, approximately -2 Mpa. Most land plants subjected to such low osmotic potentials would loose water to its environment and die (www.biome.ac.uk). It is the aim of this paper to discuss some of the common mechanisms which plants colonising salt marsh habitats have evolved to make effiecient use of what oxygen is available and be able to exclude salt and absourb water or excrete any excess salt that is absourbed as a result, with reference to specific salt marsh species. Salt-marsh plants are halophytes (Gr halos:salt + phyton:plant), meaning they can tolerate excessive salinity levels (e.g.>0.5% NaCl), and have characteristics of both terrestrial and marine environments (Pomeroy & Wiegert 1981). ...

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