II-B-36 



Harper, R.M. 1918. Some dynamic studies of Long Island vegetation. 

 Plant World 21:38-46. 



This was one of the first studies to be made of the productivity of 

 natural herbaceous vegetation. During 1916, the author studied seven 

 separate areas of herbaceous vegetation in the western part of Long 

 Island. Four of these were marsh areas: 1) a brackish marsh with a 

 pure stand of Spartina patens ; 2) a nearby marsh dominated by Typha 

 latifolia ; 3) the same marsh, but that portion dominated by Phraqmites 

 communis ; and 4) a fresh marsh dominated by Typha auqustifolia . One 

 square yard was the unit of area selected for each sample. The produc- 

 tivity values, expressed in pounds per acre, were as follows: 



1. 

 2. 

 3. 



4. 



L^^e 



Fresh 



Dry 



Ash 



(J.B.) 

 Keywords: 



productivity, aquatic plants, freshwater marsh, saltwater marsh. 

 Long Island 



II-B-37 



Nixon, S.W., and C.A. Oviatt. 1973. 

 Ecological Monographs 43:463-498. 



Ecology of a New England salt marsh. 



Measurements of the abundance of major populations, their metabolism, 

 and the seasonal patterns of total system metabolism throughout a year 

 were used to develop energy flow diagrams for a New England salt-marsh 

 embayment. The annual ecological energy budget for the embayment indicates 

 that consumption exceeds production, so that the system must depend 

 on inputs of organic detritus from marsh grasses. Gross production 

 ranged from almost zero in winter to about 5 g O2 m"^ day"' in summer. 

 Respiration values were similar, but slightly higher, with the maximum 

 difference observed in fall. Populations of shrimp and fish were largest 

 in fall, with a much smaller peak in spring. Few animals were present 

 in the embayment from May to July, but fall populations of shrimp 

 ranged from 250 to 800 m'^ and fish averaged over 10m". Birds 

 were most abundant in winter and spring. In spite of high numbers, 

 no evidence was found that the marsh embayment exported large amounts 

 of shrimp or fish to the estuary. Production of aboveground emergent 

 grasses on the marsh equaled 840 g m-2 for tall Sparti na alterni flora , 



432 g m-2 for short S_^ alterni flora , and 430 g m"-^ for S^ patens . 



61 



