FIGURES 



Number Page 



1 Great Barnstable Marsh, Massachusetts 2 



2 Growth of Barnstable Great Marsh 6 



3 Sediment cores from Barn Island Marsh 8 



4 Experimental plots at Great Sippewissett Salt Marsh 10 



5 Spartina al term' flora growing on banks of tidal creeks 11 



6 Salt crystals on a leaf of Spartina 13 



7 Respiration of Spartina leaves grown at different salinities 13 



8 Growth of Spartina at different salinities 13 



9 Ascophyllum nodosum growing at the base of Spartina stems 15 



10 Clapper rail at Great Sippewissett Salt Marsh 19 



11 Snow geese concentrated on a salt marsh 20 



12 Canada geese landing on a salt marsh 21 



13 Male fiddler crab on salt marsh 22 



14 Distribution of silversides and mummichogs in a tidal creek 24 



15 Mummi chog 24 



16 Comparison of resident and non-resident fishes of Great 

 Sippewissett Salt Marsh in summer 26 



17 Biomass of Spartina in fertilized plots 29 



18 Redox profi les in marsh sediments 29 



19 Results of aboveground decomposition experiments at Great 

 Sippewissett Salt Marsh 32 



20 Decay of Spartina in different nitrogen conditions 33 



21 Diagram of nitrogen fluxes between a salt marsh and 



surroundings 37 



22 Net exchanges of inorganic nitrogen between Great 

 Sippewissett Salt Marsh and Buzzards Bay and between the 



bay and ground water 38 



23 Comparison of nitrate input from ground water, nitrate export 

 by tides, and grass denitrification in Great Sippewissett 



Salt Marsh 39 



24 Beggiatoa growing at the low edge of the salt marsh 41 



25 Annual cycle of C0 2 production and 2 respiration in Great 

 Sippewissett Salt Marsh 42 



26 Lead distribution in marsh cores 46 



27 Distribution of fiddler crabs in experimental plots receiving 



sewage si udge 48 



28 Nitrogen content of Spartina in fertilized plots 49 



29 Herbivorous insect abundance on experimental marsh plots 50 



30 Responses of two marsh grasses to nitrogen fertilization 50 



31 Peak biomass of Spartina in marsh fertilization experiments 



50 



32 Changes in vegetation with time in experimental marsh plots 51 



vii 



