Production and dynamics of experimentally enriched salt marsh vegetation: Belowground biomass1
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Abstract:
Root growth increased during the early growing season in Spartina alterniflora salt marsh plots. While fertilization with nitrogenous fertilizer did not affect initial growth, a marked decrease in root biomass followed the spring peak particularly where nutrient doses were highest. A sharp reduction in roots occurred in enriched areas covered by Spartina patens, although, as with S. alterniflora, aboveground biomass increased. Roots disappeared during autumn leaving rhizomes as the only part of the plants to overwinter. The maximum standing crop for roots was 0–2 cm deep, for rhizomes 2–5 cm. Net annual underground production was calculated from annual increments in dead matter belowground. Total production, underground and aboveground, exceeds that of any marine vegetation, ranging from 3,900 to 6,600 g m‒2 yr‒1 in S. alterniflora areas and 3,200 to 6,200 g m‒2 yr‒1 in S. patens areas. Fertilization increased production particularly aboveground where dead plant parts are subject to export.read more
Citations
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Journal ArticleDOI
Global patterns of root turnover for terrestrial ecosystems
TL;DR: There are global patterns in rates ofRoot turnover between plant groups and across climatic gradients but that these patterns cannot always be used for the successful prediction of the relationship of root turnover to climate change at a particular site.
Journal ArticleDOI
Coastal eutrophication as a driver of salt marsh loss
Linda A. Deegan,David Samuel Johnson,David Samuel Johnson,R. Scott Warren,Bruce J. Peterson,John W. Fleeger,Sergio Fagherazzi,Wilfred M. Wollheim +7 more
TL;DR: It is shown that nutrient levels commonly associated with coastal eutrophication increased above-ground leaf biomass, decreased the dense, below-ground biomass of bank-stabilizing roots, and increased microbial decomposition of organic matter, demonstrating that nutrient enrichment can be a driver of salt marsh loss.
Journal ArticleDOI
Centuries of Human-Driven Change in Salt Marsh Ecosystems
TL;DR: It is concluded that the best way to protect salt marshes and the services they provide is through the integrated approach of ecosystem-based management.
Book ChapterDOI
Between Coastal Marshes and Coastal Waters — A Review of Twenty Years of Speculation and Research on the Role of Salt Marshes in Estuarine Productivity and Water Chemistry
TL;DR: In the salt marsh ecosystem of Sapelo Island, Georgia, Teal's work brought out a number of interesting points, but I think the reason the paper is most often cited is because of its last sentence as mentioned in this paper, which concluded that the tides remove 45% of the production before the marsh consumers had a chance to use it and in so doing permit the estuaries to support an abundance of animals.
Journal ArticleDOI
Comparative ecology of tidal freshwater and salt marshes
TL;DR: Historically, tidal freshwater environments have been ignored by limnologists because of the presence of oceanic tidal influence, and neglected by marine ecologists because they are bathed by freshwater and inhabited primarily by freshwater organisms.
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