Salt Marsh Nitrogen Analysis

Salt Marsh Nitrogen Analysis PDF Author: Thomas M. Leschine
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Biological productivity
Languages : en
Pages : 64

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Book Description
A five compartment schematic model of the flow of nitrogen through Great Sippewissett Marsh is presented. Flows are described in terms of annual inputs, outputs and intercompartmental transfers of nitrogen. The nitrogen in all forms occurring in the marsh is considered, though dissolved organic nitrogen is disaggregated from the total flow. A computer aided input - output analysis is performed on the model to assess the degree to which nitrogen inputs to the marsh surface are linked to nitrogen outputs in the form of net growth in marsh shellfish. In this way the effects of both direct and indirect flows linking the two compartments involved are considered. The analysis is done to assess the likelihood that a large scale application of fertilizer to the marsh surface will signjficantly enhance shellfish growth in marsh tidal creeks. While no definitive answer to this question can be given, it is argued that the present level of understanding of the marsh nitrogen cycle does not support an expectation that shellfish growth will be enhanced. This argument is supported by a comparative analysis which shows a strong likelihood that Spartina growth is enhanced by fertilization, an effect which has already been observed.

Salt Marsh Nitrogen Analysis

Salt Marsh Nitrogen Analysis PDF Author: Thomas M. Leschine
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Biological productivity
Languages : en
Pages : 64

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Book Description
A five compartment schematic model of the flow of nitrogen through Great Sippewissett Marsh is presented. Flows are described in terms of annual inputs, outputs and intercompartmental transfers of nitrogen. The nitrogen in all forms occurring in the marsh is considered, though dissolved organic nitrogen is disaggregated from the total flow. A computer aided input - output analysis is performed on the model to assess the degree to which nitrogen inputs to the marsh surface are linked to nitrogen outputs in the form of net growth in marsh shellfish. In this way the effects of both direct and indirect flows linking the two compartments involved are considered. The analysis is done to assess the likelihood that a large scale application of fertilizer to the marsh surface will signjficantly enhance shellfish growth in marsh tidal creeks. While no definitive answer to this question can be given, it is argued that the present level of understanding of the marsh nitrogen cycle does not support an expectation that shellfish growth will be enhanced. This argument is supported by a comparative analysis which shows a strong likelihood that Spartina growth is enhanced by fertilization, an effect which has already been observed.

The Use of Network Analysis to Compare the Nitrogen Cycles of Three Salt Marsh Zones Experiencing Relative Sea-level Rise

The Use of Network Analysis to Compare the Nitrogen Cycles of Three Salt Marsh Zones Experiencing Relative Sea-level Rise PDF Author: Cassondra R. Thomas
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Nitrogen cycle
Languages : en
Pages : 418

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Concepts and Controversies in Tidal Marsh Ecology

Concepts and Controversies in Tidal Marsh Ecology PDF Author: M.P. Weinstein
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 0792360192
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 862

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Book Description
Tidal salt marshes are viewed as critical habitats for the production of fish and shellfish. As a result, considerable legislation has been promulgated to conserve and protect these habitats, and much of it is in effect today. The relatively young science of ecological engineering has also emerged, and there are now attempts to reverse centuries-old losses by encouraging sound wetland restoration practices. Today, tens of thousands of hectares of degraded or isolated coastal wetlands are being restored worldwide. Whether restored wetlands reach functional equivalency to `natural' systems is a subject of heated debate. Equally debatable is the paradigm that depicts tidal salt marshes as the `great engine' that drives much of the secondary production in coastal waters. This view was questioned in the early 1980s by investigators who noted that total carbon export, on the order of 100 to 200 g m-2 y-1 was of much lower magnitude than originally thought. These authors also recognized that some marshes were either net importers of carbon, or showed no net exchange. Thus, the notion of `outwelling' has become but a single element in an evolving view of marsh function and the link between primary and secondary production. The `revisionist' movement was launched in 1979 when stable isotopic ratios of macrophytes and animal tissues were found to be `mismatched'. Some eighteen years later, the view of marsh function is still undergoing additional modification, and we are slowly unraveling the complexities of biogeochemical cycles, nutrient exchange, and the links between primary producers and the marsh/estuary fauna. Yet, since Teal's seminal paper nearly forty years ago, we are not much closer to understanding how marshes work. If anything, we have learned that the story is far more complicated than originally thought. Despite more than four decades of intense research, we do not yet know how salt marshes function as essential habitat, nor do we know the relative contributions to secondary production, both in situ or in the open waters of the estuary. The theme of this Symposium was to review the status of salt marsh research and revisit the existing paradigm(s) for salt marsh function. Challenge questions were designed to meet the controversy head on: Do marshes support the production of marine transient species? If so, how? Are any of these species marsh obligates? How much of the production takes place in situ versus in open waters of the estuary/coastal zone? Sessions were devoted to reviews of landmark studies, or current findings that advance our knowledge of salt marsh function. A day was also devoted to ecological engineering and wetland restoration papers addressing state-of-the-art methodology and specific case histories. Several challenge papers arguing for and against our ability to restore functional salt marshes led off each session. This volume is intended to serve as a synthesis of our current understanding of the ecological role of salt marshes, and will, it is hoped, pave the way for a new generation of research.

Sources of Inorganic Nitrogen Utilized by Salt Marsh Macroalgae

Sources of Inorganic Nitrogen Utilized by Salt Marsh Macroalgae PDF Author: Henry M. Page
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Nitrogen
Languages : en
Pages : 50

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Dynamics of Carbon and Nitrogen in a Southern California Salt Marsh

Dynamics of Carbon and Nitrogen in a Southern California Salt Marsh PDF Author: Theodore Paul Winfield
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Halophytes
Languages : en
Pages : 102

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Nitrogen Retention and Export in Experimental Salt Marsh Plots Exposed to Chronic Nutrient Addition

Nitrogen Retention and Export in Experimental Salt Marsh Plots Exposed to Chronic Nutrient Addition PDF Author: Lindsay Devon Brin
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 100

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The Effect of Nitrogen and Phosphorus Enrichment on Salt Marsh Community Structure

The Effect of Nitrogen and Phosphorus Enrichment on Salt Marsh Community Structure PDF Author: William Henry Wilcox
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Nitrogen
Languages : en
Pages : 144

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The Ecology of a Salt Marsh

The Ecology of a Salt Marsh PDF Author: L. R. Pomeroy
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 1461258936
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 277

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Book Description
Ecologists have two long-standing ways to study large ecosystems such as lakes, forests, and salt-marsh estuaries. In the first, which G. E. Hutchinson has called the holological approach, the whole ecosystem is first studied as a "black box," and its components are investigated as needed. In the second, which Hutchinson has called the merological approach, the parts of the system are studied first, and an attempt is then made to build up the whole from them. For long-term studies, the holological approach has special advantages, since the general patterns and tentative hypotheses that are first worked out help direct attention to the components of the system which need to be studied in greater detail. In this approach, teams of investigators focus on major func tions and hypotheses and thereby coordinate their independent study efforts. Thus, although there have been waves, as it were, of investigators and graduate students working on different aspects of the Georgia salt-marsh estuaries (personnel at the Marine Institute on Sapelo Island changes every few years), the emphasis on the holo logical approach has resulted in a highly differentiated and well-coordinated long-term study. Very briefly, the history of the salt-marsh studies can be outlined as follows. First, the general patterns of food chains and other energy flows in the marshes and creeks were worked out, and the nature of imports and exports to and from the system and its subsystems were delimited.

The Role of Denitrification in the Nitrogen Cycle of New England Salt Marshes

The Role of Denitrification in the Nitrogen Cycle of New England Salt Marshes PDF Author: Michael Robert Hamersley
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Denitrification
Languages : en
Pages : 188

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(Cont.) Allochthonous denitrification accounted for 39% of total sediment denitrification (2.7 mol N m−2 yr−1). 46% of remineralized ammonium was denitrified, while the contribution of autochthonous denitrification to 02 and C02 fluxes was 18% and 10%, respectively. A 15N-ammonium tracer was used to study competition between plants and nitrifying bacteria for remineralized ammonium. In undisturbed sediments of Spartina alterniflora, plant uptake out-competed nitrification-denitrification, with plant uptake accounting for 66% of remineralized ammonium during the growing season. Under N fertilization (15.5 mol m−2 yr−1), both plant N uptake and denitrification increased, but denitrification dominated, accounting for 72% of the available N. When plant uptake was hydrologically suppressed, nitrification-denitrification was stimulated by the excess N, shifting the competitive balance toward denitrification.

A Study of Nitrogen Cycling in a Coastal Salt Marsh Ecosystem

A Study of Nitrogen Cycling in a Coastal Salt Marsh Ecosystem PDF Author: Shaiful Azni Bin Abd Aziz
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages :

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