Teal, J.M., and J. Kanwisher. 1961. Gas exchange in a Georgia salt 

 marsh. Limnology and Oceanography 6:388-399. 



There is a broad band of salt marshes running along the southeast 

 coast of the United States which, because of their relative simplicity, 

 make good subjects for ecological research. Most of the primary pro- 

 duction can be attributed to Spartina alterni flora , the only important 

 higher plant growing in the marshes. The remainder is due to the algae 

 growing on the surface of the marsh mud. Considerable detritus is formed 

 from products of primary production and much of this accumulates on the 

 mud surface producing a black mud, rich in organic matter. In and on 

 this mud live most of the marsh consumers from fiddler crabs to nema- 

 todes and bacteria. This paper is concerned with the role of the mud 

 and its micro-fauna in the marsh energy budget and also with some of 

 the properties of the mud that are important to organisms living in 

 it. (A. A. -modified) 



Keywords: gas exchange, salt marsh, Spartina alterniflora , Georgia 



III-E-6 



Teal, J.M. 1959. Energy flow in the salt marsh ecosystem. Pages 101-107 



ir[ Proceedings of the salt marsh conference, Sapelo Island, Georgia. 



University of Georgia, Athens. 



An energy flow diagram was constructed to evaluate the role of the 

 salt marsh in the estuary-marsh system along the Georgia coast and to 

 aid in understanding the trophic relationships of the various organisms 

 1 iving in the marsh. 



The value for total light energy was divided equally between the two 

 primary producers on the marsh, Spartina alterniflora and algae living 

 on the mud surface. Data for Spartina production were taken from pre- 

 vious measurements of the standing crop in the Sapelo Island marshes. 

 The data for the algae were taken from a previous study, as were the 

 data for assimilation and transformation of energy by insects. 



Marsh consumers transform less than half (46 percent) of the total 

 primary production of the marsh. This means the salt marsh is pro- 

 ducing and exporting enough energy to support a larger community than 

 that living on the marsh. Much of the bacterial action upon Spartina , 

 considered a part of the marsh system, actually takes place in the 

 water. Sufficient energy is fixed in the salt marsh to support a 

 large population of shrimp, fish and bottom organisms in the tidal 

 creeks and estuaries and in the Georgia salt marsh region. Energy 

 production by the local estuarine plankton community, as measured by 

 oxygen changes, is negative. This suggests that most aquatic organisms 



124 



