Mud Flat Mud flat habitats are areas of mud and sandy mud exposed between the extreme high tide and extreme low tide marks. They form from the deposition of mud in sheltered tidal water, particularly in estuaries where there is a large sediment supply.
Primary production is limited to diatoms and other algae, and cord grass.
Most energy enters the system from plankton, or as organic detritus from the land or adjacent tidal marshes. There can be large populations of molluscs, amphipods and polychaete worms. The animal and plant species are affected by the substrate and tidal conditions. The best mud flats are in Minas Basin, Cobequid Bay and Cumberland Basin. Here, large populations of a few species of benthic infauna support large flocks of migrating shore birds, an important ecological feature of Nova Scotia.