Nematode worms feast on these swarms of bacteria. Each worm species has mouth parts designed for a particular prey. Without the worms, much of the bacterial production could not be transferred to the larger predators at the surface of the mud. Some biologists believe that nematodes are the most abundant multi-celled animals on earth. In salt marshes, up to five million nematodes per square metre have been recorded.
Biologists also estimate there are more species of nematodes than any other group of organisms.
The crustaceans are eaten by juvenile fish and many types of birds. These food chains in the mud distribute the energy captured by plants to all the users of this habitat, and create the great productivity of this ecosystem. The delayed release of energy by these food-webs in the mud provides nutrition for birds and other winter users of the estuary long after the growing season. The energy consumed here radiates out into other habitats via transient animals or those that spend their youth in these nursery areas then migrate away. More than 130 species of birds from 20 countries and 3 continents breed, over winter or migrate through the Strait of Georgia region.