CONTENTS 



Page 



PREFACE i i 1 



CONVERSION TABLE iv 



F IGURES vi i 



TABLES xii 



ACKNOWLEDGMENTS xi v 



INTRODUCTION 1 



MAN IN THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER DELTA l 



HISTORY OF DELTA RESEARCH 4 



WETLAND DEFINITIONS, TYPES, LOCATION, AND EXTENT 5 



CHAPTER ONE. THE REGIONAL SETTING 9 



THE CLIMATE, THE OCEAN, AND THE RIVER 9 



Insolation 9 



Temperature 10 



Water Balance 10 



GEOLOGICAL PROCESSES 14 



Pleistocene sea levels 14 



Modern Mississippi Delta 18 



CHAPTER TWO. TEMPORAL AND SPATIAL GRADIENTS IN DELTA 



MARSHES 28 



TEMPORAL GRADIENTS 28 



SPATIAL GRADIENTS 32 



Flooding 33 



Soils 34 



Sal t 35 



Soil Nutrients 36 



Vegetation 37 



CHAPTER THREE. ECOLOGICAL PROCESSES IN DELTA MARSHES... 43 



PRIMARY PRODUCTION 43 



Emergent Vascular Plants 44 



Epiphytic Algae 54 



Benthic Microflora in Marsh Ponds 55 



Submerged Grasses in Marsh Ponds 55 



DECOMPOSI TION 55 



CONSUMERS 60 



Benthos 60 



Nekton 61 



Wildlife 63 



Carbon Budget 71 



NUTRIENT CYCLES 74 



Nitrogen 74 



Phosphorus 76 



Sulfur 77 



STORMS 77 



