be a system where tidal flow con- 

 tributes significantly to the trans- 

 port of nutrients. Nutrient con- 

 centrations within a tide are not 

 as critical to the determination of 

 net flux as is the flow rate between 

 flood and ebb tides. The fact that 

 similar amounts of nitrogen and phos- 

 phorus were imported into the Nueces 

 marsh suggests that both of these 

 forms could be limiting nutrients 

 for this system. 



The transport data generated in 

 this study are meaningful in that 

 they begin to describe the nutrient 

 flux of a rather unique estuary. 

 However, in order to fully describe 

 nutrient transport in the Nueces 

 marsh, a study period of 12 to 24 

 months should be employed. In addi- 

 tion, as many of the point and non- 

 point sources of nutrients as pos- 

 sible (such as agricultural runoff, 

 rainfall, sewage contamination, river 

 spills, etc.) should be considered in 

 the experimental design of the study. 

 Vegetational and sediment exchange 

 rates would also be very helpful in 

 the determination of nutrient flux 

 within as well as between the marsh 

 and the estuary. Only in this way 

 can nutrient transport between the 

 Nueces marsh and Nueces estuary be 

 accurately assessed. 



ance. The manuscript was typed by 

 Ms. Sharon Dumas and Ms. Elaine Cur- 

 ry. Figures were drafted by Ms. 

 Julie Kerestin. 



LITERATURE CITED 



American Public Health Association. 

 Standard methods for the exa- 

 mination of water and wastewa- 

 ter. 14th ed. Washington, D.C: 

 APHA; 1975; 874p. 



Armstrong, N.E.; Gordon, V.N. Ex- 

 change rates for carbon, nitro- 

 gen, and phosphorus in Nueces 

 and San Antonio Bay marshes. Re- 

 port to the Texas Water Develop- 

 ment Board for IAC (76-77)-06l0 

 by the Center for Research in 

 Water Resources. Austin, TX: 

 The University of Texas at Aus- 

 tin. CRWR-152, EHE 77-05. 1977. 



Armstrong, N.E.; Hinson, M.O. Jr. In- 

 fluence of flooding and tides on 

 nutrient exchange from a Texas 

 marsh. Proceedings of the Forth 

 Biennial International Estuarine 

 Research Conference. 1977, Oc- 

 tober 2-5. Estuarine Research 

 Federation, Mt . Pocono, PA., (in 

 press) . 



ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 



Results reported in this paper 

 are a portion of a larger study of 

 the Nueces Corpus Christi Bay System 

 funded by the U.S. Department of In- 

 terior, Fish and Wildlife Service 

 (contract No. 14-16-0009-77-074). 

 Project officer for this study was 

 Dr. Nicholas Funicelli. Principal 

 investigators were Dr. Don E. Hen- 

 ley and Mr. Don G. Rauschuber. Mr. 

 Ted Tyndall provided invaluable field 

 and fisheries identification assist- 



Benton, A.R. , Jr.; Hatch, S.L.; Kirk, 

 W.L.; Newman, R.M. ; Shell, W.W. ; 

 Williams, J.G. Monitoring of 

 Texas coastal wetlands. Col- 

 lege, Station, Texas A&M Remote 

 Sensing Center, Texas A&M Uni- 

 versity, TX; 1977. 



Chanley, P.E. Survival of some ju- 

 venile bivalves in water of low 

 salinity. Proc. Natl. Shellfish 

 Association. 48:52-56, 1957. 



486 



