bluegill ( Lepomis macrochirus ) were the dominant predators during 

 most of the year. They fed heavily on marsh-creek species including 

 the common fiddler crab ( Uca pugnax ) and the grass shrimp ( Palaemonetes 

 pugio ). 



The marsh-creek system imported particulate detritus via the tidal 

 creek when heavy river discharge or strong winds produced high concen- 

 trations of suspended particulate matter in the water and exported 

 detritus when good weather prevailed and the detrital concentration 

 of the water was low. (A. A. -modified) 



Keywords: tidal creek, detritus, biomass, tidal marshes, crabs, sippi 

 menhaden, Mississippi 



III-D-13 



Heinle, D.R., and D.A. Flemer. 1976. Flows of materials between poorly 

 flooded tidal marshes and an estuary. Marine Biology 35:359-373. 



Flows of particulate carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus, chlorophyll a., 

 crude fiber, carbohydrate, adenosine tri-phosphate, dissolved nitrogen, 

 and phosphorus between Gotts' marsh and the Paxtuent estuary, Maryland, 

 were measured over a 2-year period. Virtually no carbon was exchanged 

 from this low-salinity marsh. Net flows of nitrogen and phosphorus 

 were from the marsh to the estuary, principally in dissolved forms. 

 (J.B.) 



Keywords: mineral nutrition, phosphorus, carbon, chlorophyll a, 

 coastal marshes, estuaries, Maryland 



III-D-14 



Woodwell, G.M., P.H. Rich, and C.A. Hall. 1973. Carbon in estuaries. 

 Pages 221-240 in G.M. Woodwell and E.V. Pecan, eds.. Carbon and the 

 biosphere. Technical Information Center, Office of Information Services, 

 United States Atomic Energy Commission. 



A crude estimate of the world's estuaries indicates a total area g o 

 of about 1.7 x IQO km^ of which 3.8 x 10^ km*^ is marsh and 1.4 x 10 km 

 is open water. Despite the large amount of research on estuaries 

 in recent decades, there is little basis for an evaluation of 

 equations that define relationships between net primary production 

 gross projection, and various segments of total respiration in 

 estuaries. 



A survey of the literature suggests that net primary production 

 of estuarine marshes ranges from low rates averaging 1000 g (dry 

 organic matter)/year in high latitudes to as much as 5000 g in the 

 tropics. An average middle-latitude net production for the shallow 

 water of estuaries seems to be about 1500 g (dry organic matter)/year. 



119 



