I V Biological Services Program FWS/QBS-77/3 OCTOBER 1977 COASTAL MARSH PRODUCTIVITY A BIBLIOGRAPHY "'40 .. , ,. .... ..... "'"~"':''-( / Fish and Wildlife Service U.S. Department of the Interior The Biological Services Program was established within the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to supply scientific information and methodologies on key environmental issues that impact fish and wildlife resources and their supporting ecosystems. The mission of the program is as follows: * To strengthen the Fish and Wildlife Service in its role as a primary source of information on national fish and wild­ life resources, particularly in respect to environmental impact assessment. a To gather, analyze, and present information that will aid decisionmakers in the identification and resolution of problems associated with major changes in land and water use. e To provide better ecological information and evaluation for Department of the Interior development programs, such as those relating to energy development. Information developed by the Biological Services Program is intended for use in the planning and decisionmaking process to prevent or minimize the impact of development on fish and wildlife. Research activities and technical assistance services are based on an analysis of the issues a determination of the decisionmakers involved and their information needs, and an evaluation of the state of the art to identify information gaps and to determine priorities. This is a strategy that will ensure that the products produced and disseminated are timely and useful. Projects have been initiated in the following areas: coal extraction and conversion; power plants; geothermal, mineral and oil shale develop­ ment; water resource analysis, including stream alterations and western water allocation; coastal ecosystems and Outer Continental Shelf develop­ ment; and systems inventory, including National Wetland Inventory, habitat classification and analysis, and information transfer. The Biological Services Program consists of the Office of Biological Services in Washington, D.C., which is responsible for overall planning and management; National Teams, which provide the Program's central scientific and technical expertise and arrange for contracting biological services studies with states, universities, consulting firms, and others; Regional Staff, who provide a link to problems at the operating level; and staff at certain Fish and Wildlife Service research facilities, who conduct inhouse research studies. FWSIOBS-7713 October 1977 COASTAL MARSH PRODUCTIVITY A BIBLIOGRAPHY Prepared by Gulf South Research Institute 8000 GSRI Avenue Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70808 Project Leader - J. D. Bdgur GSRI Project No. 216-836-11 Contract No. 14-16-0008-2113 OBS Project Officer - H. S. Rienstra National Coastal Ecosystems Team U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service National Space Technology Laboratories NSTL Station, Mississippi 39529 Performed for the Coastal Ecosystem Project Office of Biological Services Fish and Wildlife Service U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR DISCLAIMER The opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this report are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Office of Biological Services, Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S. Depart­ ment of the Interior, nor does mention of trade names or commercial products constitute endorse­ ment or recommendation for use by the federal government. PREFACE The coastal mars'ies of the United States are viewed herein as an eco­ system, even though many of the articles listed in this bibliography are specific to only a narrow aspect of the ecosystem. The value of the marshes is shown in many ways: habitat for wildlife species, producer of nutrients, nursery areas, and protected rearin areas for juveniles. The report consists oF an introduction prepared primarily by Dr. Armando A. de la Cruz and a bibliography compiled by Gulf South Research Institute. The bibliography consists of five major sections: Marshes and Marsh Vegeta­ tion; Primary Productivity of Marsh Plants; Detritus in the Food Cnain; Marsh Estuaries as Fish Havens and; Marshes as Habitat and Feeding Grounds for Wildlife. Each of the major sections is divided into subsections that fall into a logical pattern so that a reader may work his way progressively through the materials, seeing a story unfold. References were obtained by utilizing the abundant resources of Louisiana State University. In each case the relevant article or book was obtained and an abstract was written in terms of the specific interests of the study. As much pertinent substance as was practical was abstracted from each source with the goal that the bibliography would contain infor­ mation, rather than serving merely as a reference source. The literature survey, abstracting, and report preparation were con­ ducted by the Resources Planning and Management Division of Gulf South Research Institute, under contract with U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The project leader was Jacques D. Baqur. Workinq under his direction were Gene A. Stephens, Harriet A. Davis, Barbara L. Woods, and Larry M. Hubbard. The initials of the person responsible for each annotation are desianated in parentheses at the end of the abstract. In thQse cases, where the author's abstract suited the purpose of the bibliography, the reader will find the abbreviation "A.A." in parentheses. Comments concerninn the biblionraohy and requests for copies may be addressed to: Information Transfer Specialist National Coastal Ecosystemr Team U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service National Space Technology Laboratories NSTL Station, Mississippi 39529 iii COASTAL MARSH ECOSYSTEMS PRODUCTIVITY IN COASTAL MARSHES A marsh means many things to many people depending on the point of view of the individual. To some it is an evil smelling eyesore, a treacherous bog infested with mosquitoes. 7o others it represents a piece of valuable real estate with great aesthetic value. To many others, hunters and naturalists, it is a haven for a variety of wildlife. And recently, to a growing body of scientists, it represents a dynamic system of unique biological, geological and ecological interest and importance (Matthiessen 1962). Regardless of how a marsh is described, the fact remains that it is one of the most productive types of natural ecosystems in the world. Marsh vascularvegetation, such as grasses, rushes, and sedges, produces an enormous amount of organic material that enables marshes to equal or exceed the productivity of most terrestrial communities of comparable size, even some of the most intensively managed cropland. A great quantity of litera­ ture, of both a scientific and non-scientific nature, has been published during the last decade on the subject of tidal marshes. Much of this literature extols the biological productivity of the marsh environment and emphasizes the important role this type of environment plays in the fertility of estuarine and coastal marine ecosystems. The high fertility of tidal marshes is due basically to physical phenomena and biological processes unique to marsh estuaries (Odum 1961). Nutrient-rich estuarine waters periodically bathe these intertidal zones. Dissolved organic nutrients (e.g., phosphates and nitrates) and detrital material3 enter the marsh-estuary from inflowing rivers. The saltwater wedge pushed along the estuary bottom by the iicoming tide brings in other nutrients of near-shore marine orinin. Currents and tides circulate and recirculate fresh and salt water, thus distributing, and to a certain extent trapping, dissolved and suspended matter. Deposition of suspended materials and flocculation of dissolved substances fertilize the marsh substrate. The plant life of the marsh, which flourishes in the nutrient­ rich waters, is thus geared to year-round high production. This plant life includes vascular vegetation (grass, rush, and sedge), benthic algae (diatoms), epiphytic and mud-encrusting algae, and submerged grasses on intertidal sediments. Vascular plants growing in marshes periodically die and enter the aquatic food chain in the form of particulate detritus, which is laden with bacteria and other microorganisms. During low tides, runoff waters and interstitial water seeping out of the mud transport high concentrations of dissolved subs tances such as silica, phosphate, bicarbonate, and ammonia. The estuarine waters are therefore enriched in return by the high produc­ tion processes on the marshes. PREVIOUS, PACE BJi The productivity of plants, referred to as primary production, is the plant rate at which the energy of sunlight is captured and used to build Primary tissues upon which all consumer organisms are ultimately dependent. may be determined by measuring changes in oxygen, carbon productivity or pH, or available raw materials; by using radioactive tracers; dioxide, pro­ by determining chlorophyll content and assimilation ratio. Primary of vascular plants in marshes is usually measured by the harvest duction during method, in which estimates are made of the increase in plant biomass of the growing season (Keefe 1972). The procedure involves the harvesting of this plant samples periodically during the growing season. Modifications as method take into consideration life history and phenology of the plant, well as sampling procedures. These modifications have enabled investigators to arrive at more reliable productivity values (de la Cruz 1977). The amount of information on the primary productivity of tidal coastal marshlands has increased steadily