During the growing season, the floating debris was composed of fresh 

 S. alterniflora stalks and leaves, while for the remainder of the year 

 it consisted of border zone litter. No net contribution of suspended 

 particulate material was observed during the tidal cycles monitored. 

 Decomposition of floating debris into detrital size material occurs 

 more within the aquatic community than on the salt marsh proper and 

 is incorporated into the food web of the estuarine communities. (A. A.) 



Keywords: primary productivity, algae, phytoplankton, Spartina . 

 detritus. New Jersey 



II-B-33 



Potera, G.T., and E.E. MacNamara. 1972. Sparta (sic) alterniflora (tall) 



productivity in a polluted New Jersey estuary. Bulletin of the 



New Jersey Academy of Science 17(1):13-14. 



Net primary productivity for the cordgrass S^. alterniflora (tall) 

 was measured at several harvest sites in a polluted northern New 

 Jersey estuary. Average productivity for the New Jersey sites was 

 more than 40 percent greater than cordgrass productivity reported for 

 Hempstead, Long Island. The significant increase in productivity 

 was attributed to a slightly longer growing season. (J.B.) 



Keywords: primary productivity, Spartina alterniflora (tall), 

 cordgrass. New Jersey 



II-B-34 



Squiers, E.R., and R.E. Good. 1974. Seasonal changes in the productivity, 



caloric content, and chemical composition of a population of salt-marsh 



cord-grass ( Spartina alterniflora ). Chesapeake Science 15:63-71. 



During the 1972 growing season, the productivity of short form and 

 tall form of Spartina alterniflora was studied by the harvest method in 

 the vicinity of the Rutgers Marine Sciences Center on Great Bay near 

 Tuckerton, New Jersey. The aboveground biomass of living and dead grass 

 was determined, and subsamples were analyzed for caloric equivalents, ash, 

 nitrogen, crude protein, crude fiber, ether extract, and nitrogen-free 

 extract. 



2 

 S. alterniflora had peak standing crops of 1,592 g/m for tall form 



and 592 g/m^ for short form. Standing crops of crude fiber, ether extract, 



nitrogen-free extract, and caloric values are a function of dry matter 



production, while nitrogen components seem to be influenced by some 



other factor. Seventy percent of the crude protein was present in early 



summer at a time when dry weight was less than 5 percent of its maximum 



value. The data indicate that the amount of nitrogen that the plant accumulates 



59 



