WET SEASON: Plants take 

 up nutrients; animals 

 consume POC. Sediments 

 are deposited in channels. 



DRY SEASON: No input 

 from the watershed; 

 organisms filter food from 

 water; salts accumulate in 

 intertidal soils. 



*ANMKWww^WMM 



FLOOD EVENT: Biological 

 filters may break down; 

 physical phenomena 

 predominate. 



Sediment, 

 > Salt ) 



Marsh 



Channel 



Ocean 



Figure 4.11. Conceptual model of filtering functions during nonflood 

 years and during catastrophic flooding; white arrows indicate fresh 

 water; black arrows indicate sea water (from Zedler and Onuf 1984, with 

 permission from Academic Press). 



98 



