separately. A further two aspects are anthropocentric: agriculture, 

 with an emphasis on the importance of the saprophytic activity of plant 

 pathogenic fungi; and the increasingly important composting of urban 

 waste. One article from Part III has been chosen for review in this 

 bibliography. (See III-A-5.) (Author's summary and J.B.) 



Keywords: marsh plants, decomposition, plant litter 



III-A-5 



Perkins, E.J. 1974. Decomposition of litter in the marine environment. 



Pages 683-722 in^ C.H. Dickinson, ed.. Biology of plant litter decomposition. 



Vol. 2. Academic Press, New York. 



This chapter is part of a 2-volume, comprehensive study of the de- 

 composition processes for all types of plant litter. The chapter 

 covers the marine and terrestrial sources of litter in the sea, the 

 amount of litter in estuaries, the transport and deposition of litter, 

 and the breakdown of litter. The role of marshlands in litter production 

 is discussed. (J.B.) 



Keywords: primary productivity, plant litter, estuaries 



III-A-6 



Darnell, R.M. 1967. The organic detritus problem. Pages 374-375 vn_ 



G.H. Lauff, ed., Estuaries. American Association for the Advancement 



of Science, Washington, D.C. 



The literature dealing with the organic detritus problem is described 

 as diffuse, widely scattered, and written in a variety of languages. 

 Thus, it is difficult for the individual worker to gain an overall 

 insight into the complexities of the subject. Further, much of the 

 important detritus work has not been carried out in estuaries. It is, 

 therefore, necessary to transpose and translate this knowledge into 

 the estuarine context. 



Organic detritus is defined as all types of biogenic material in 

 various stages of microbial decomposition that represent potential 

 energy sources for consumer species. Thus, organic detritus includes 

 all dead organisms as well as the secretions, regurgitations, excretions, 

 and egestions of living organisms, together with all subsequent products 

 of decomposition which still represent potential sources of energy. 



A brief history of the research that has been done on organic detritus 

 Is presented. The author feels that with the advent of radioactive 

 tracer techniques and germfree procedures it is now possible to approach 

 this subject experimentally and to provide quantitative data rather than 

 speculative hypotheses. 



92 



